The more things change for North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates, the more they stay the same.
After spending three years as a target of criticism, it had seemed Yates had turned a corner. Two weeks ago at Florida State, Yates had a career day, throwing for a school-record 439 yards and three touchdowns.
But Saturday against Virginia Tech, Yates’ longtime bugaboo — the interception — came back to haunt him, as the senior doubled his season tally with four picks and contributed to UNC’s six total turnovers in a 26-10 loss.
“The turnovers, those are just killers,” UNC coach Butch Davis said. “If you turn the ball over six times and you don’t create any turnovers yourself then it’s almost impossible to win a game.”
The four interceptions were as many as Yates had thrown throughout what has been a stellar senior campaign.
Three of the passes were thrown from inside Virginia Tech territory, one of which was ripped from the hands of UNC receiver Erik Highsmith in the VT end zone and would have given the Tar Heels a 10-point lead.
On Monday, Yates said most of the interceptions were caused more by Va. Tech’s talent than by any fault of his own.
“They were very skilled in the defensive backfield, a lot more than we originally had thought,” Yates said. “They did a good job of tracking a lot of balls down in the air. Me and (offensive coordinator John) Shoop talked about it. Three of those four interceptions I would have thrown the same ball again.”
The turnovers through the air were exacerbated by a pair of lost fumbles, including one that was lost at the goal line. All of the lost possessions put increased pressure on the UNC defense to come up with a turnover of its own.
