Yates readies for Virginia Tech

As T.J. Yates walked off the field at Kenan Stadium following North Carolina’s 30-27 loss to Florida State, the home crowd let him know how they felt.

Fans screamed, and a small object flew from the stands and hit Yates in the helmet.

Yates couldn’t tell if it was a pen or coin, but there’s little doubt UNC’s junior signal caller has drawn a heap of criticism during the Tar Heels’ recent 1-3 skid to the bottom of the ACC standings.

“Fans are upset that we’re not producing on the field,” Yates said. “I wouldn’t take it to that extreme, but I understand the frustration.

“You can’t take that stuff personal. It’s just fans being fans, getting excited and angry for games.”

And while the quarterback position tends to draw a hefty share of both blame and praise, throwing objects from the stands is an especially emphatic statement of displeasure.

But the sentiments expressed by an angry fan at Kenan Stadium aren’t shared by Yates’ teammates. The team overwhelmingly voted him and offensive tackle Kyle Jolly as permanent offensive captains last week, coach Butch Davis said.

“I think it’s a show of leadership; it’s a show of work ethic,” Davis said. “For most of their career, most of those guys have been two- or three-year starters, and I think that’s a nice honor.”

But votes of confidence can only go so far against UNC’s next opponent, Virginia Tech. For the second straight week, the Tar Heels will take the field with a spotlight of national television and a Thursday night game.

This time it will be an away game against the nation’s No. 13th-ranked Hokies in raucous Blacksburg, Va.

“They have a huge scheme defense, which we’re not used to seeing,” Yates said. “It’s hard to run certain plays against them. They play eight in the box, but they also play cover two behind it.

“There’s things that have worked well in the past for us against Virginia Tech that we’re going to get back to,” he said.

And UNC’s 4-3 record leaves slim margin for error. The Tar Heels need to win three of their last five games to become bowl-eligible, as they sit in last place in the ACC at 0-3.

But Yates, at least, needs no motivation beyond last year’s contest against Virginia Tech. In that game, Yates led an upstart North Carolina team to a 17-3 lead before going down with an injury. The Hokies came back and won, 20-17.

The Tar Heels fell to Virginia Tech 17-10 in Blacksburg, Va., in 2007 — marking two years that UNC has played close games, albeit losses, against the Hokies.

“I’ve thought our coaches had a very good scheme offensively going into the games, and we’ve been able to move the ball offensively against them,” Yates said. “We’ve just got to stick to what we’ve done the last two years against them, and we’ll be fine.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.