Football: Back at the Desk Episode 4
Powell and David sit down with defensive end E.J. Wilson to talk about music, hair styles and Saturday's game against Virginia.
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Powell and David sit down with defensive end E.J. Wilson to talk about music, hair styles and Saturday's game against Virginia.
It’s the elephant in the room for North Carolina — turnovers.The Tar Heels have a defense that, even after their beating by Georgia Tech, ranks near the top of the ACC.They have an offense featuring a veteran quarterback, a two-headed monster at running back and a host of youthful wide receivers.But while UNC stands in the top half of the ACC in almost every category, there is one area where the Tar Heels are lagging seriously behind.UNC stands ninth in the ACC in turnover margin at minus three. UNC has turned the ball over 10 times this season — six interceptions and four fumbles lost. UNC has forced seven turnovers thus far.The defense that was tabbed in the preseason as one of the best in the nation has only four picks thus far, and none in the last two games.“I’m real surprised,” cornerback Charles Brown said when asked about the recent dearth of interceptions. “I was waiting on one to come last game.”Brown mentioned that the UNC coaches have spent the week harping on snagging some passes from opponents.“You can take the ball away from somebody and score or just give it back to the offense and take away possessions from the other team,” Brown said. “And just the change of field position — that’s real important.”And while the turnovers haven’t been flowing recently, UNC’s seven takeaways is tied for fourth in the ACC. The minus three number and subpar turnover margin stem from the Tar Heels’ 10 giveaways.UNC has thrown six interceptions this season. That’s more than any other team in the ACC. Only Maryland has more total turnovers than the Tar Heels in 2009.Nowhere was the turnover battle more evident than in North Carolina’s 24-7 loss to Georgia Tech. In that game, the Tar Heels gave the ball up three times and forced zero turnovers.“You can’t turn the ball over three times and not get any turnovers and expect to probably have much of a chance against good teams,” coach Butch Davis said.Last season, UNC had the Division-I leader in interceptions roaming the backfield in safety Trimane Goddard.This season, Da’Norris Searcy stepped into that spot but has yet to intercept a pass. Fellow safety Deunta Williams has picked off two passes, but both of those were during North Carolina’s season-opening rout of The Citadel.But for certain, Brown, Williams and the rest of the UNC defense will be looking for some passes to pick off Saturday against Virginia.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
ATLANTA — Offensive tackle Kyle Jolly summed it up: “It’s a tough loss, just because they beat our ass so well.”He quickly apologized for his language, but Jolly’s comments were a succinct — and accurate — assessment of Georgia Tech’s 24-7 shellacking of North Carolina on Saturday.On its first offensive possession, Ga. Tech (3-1, 2-1) rammed an 88-yard scoring drive down UNC’s throat for the first touchdown of the game.“It’s nothing scheme-wise or anything like that,” linebacker Bruce Carter said. “They just came to play, and we didn’t.”All told, the Yellow Jackets racked up 317 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns.Coming off an impressive offensive performance against East Carolina, UNC’s attack stagnated in the face of Georgia Tech’s defense.For the third straight game, the Tar Heels opened with a three-and-out possession, and T.J. Yates completed only one pass in the first quarter — a dump-off to Shaun Draughn.Yates came into the game completing almost 70 percent of his passes but couldn’t find the mark in Atlanta. Yates went 11-of-26 with two interceptions. While freshman Erik Highsmith had another 100-yard receiving game with six catches, many of Yates’ throws were behind receivers or in the dirt.“Certainly early, balls were behind guys or short of guys,” Davis said. “And then all of a sudden you start pressing a little bit, you try to make a throw.”Yates couldn’t find anything close to a break Saturday. Under pressure in the second quarter, Yates lofted a pass toward open freshman wideout Jheranie Boyd, who could have easily corralled it. But Boyd wasn’t aware that the pass was coming, and the ball fell just feet in front of him.In the second quarter, with the Tar Heels driving into Georgia Tech territory for the first time all game, a miscommunication with center Cam Holland sent the snap past Yates when he wasn’t looking, and Georgia Tech recovered the loose ball.And Yates got precious little help from the UNC running game. Draughn entered Saturday’s matchup as the No. 3 rusher in the ACC, but managed only 26 yards on seven carries. Ryan Houston gained 24 yards on six carries.For the game, UNC had 18 rushes for 17 yards, and Davis only had to hear that statistic repeated to him once before interjecting.“Our effectiveness on first-and-ten on offense was disastrous because on every single possession it seemed like it was second-and 10, second-and-nine, second-and 11,” Davis said. “That’s just no recipe to play well offensively.”UNC’s first four possessions lasted only three plays, and three more had four or fewer plays.“I’m behind the offense, but to be honest, they’ve got to help us some,” defensive end Robert Quinn said. “But if they couldn’t get it done, we should’ve put it on our shoulders and went out there and try to keep them from scoring so many.”For much of the game, North Carolina’s defense did manage to keep Georgia Tech out of the endzone and off the scoreboard. But the drastic difference in time of possession (42:06 for Ga. Tech, 17:54 for UNC) combined with UNC’s missed field goal at the end of the first half meant that any comeback attempt was too little, too late.UNC also saw itself drift out of the AP top 25 for the first time this season. UNC opened the season at No. 18 and was No. 22 before facing Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets made the poll this week at No. 25.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
ATLANTA — No. 22 North Carolina couldn't break the streak.
Ten minutes out of every practice during preseason, Butch Davis had his team take some time to prepare for the most unique offense they would face in the ACC.Davis and No. 22 North Carolina were prepping for Georgia Tech and the Yellow Jackets’ triple-option attack.“They’ve added some things … to get the ball to the perimeter that last year really and truly weren’t there for them, just because of the added talent that they’ve got on their roster,” Davis said of Georgia Tech. “Which makes it even more difficult. “So you’ve got to play disciplined. You’ve got to tackle well.”It will be a key matchup for the two teams Saturday, since Georgia Tech leads the ACC in rushing offense with 243.7 yards per game, and UNC leads the conference in rushing defense, allowing a stingy 52.3 yards per game.Also, UNC hasn’t won in Atlanta since 1997.Georgia Tech’s unusual offense carried the team to a 9-4 record in 2008 and a berth in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Yellow Jackets also return the 2008 ACC player of the year, running back Jonathan Dwyer.Dwyer was limited for most of Georgia Tech’s last game with a shoulder injury. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt leads the Yellow Jackets with 71 rushing yards per game.Both are behind UNC tailback Shaun Draughn, who is third in the ACC with 74.4 yards per game.And while Saturday’s contest doesn’t figure to turn into a pass-heavy shoot-out, it is important to note that in Georgia Tech’s last game, the Yellow Jackets gave up 270 passing yards to Miami in a 33-17 loss.In UNC’s last game against ECU, the Tar Heels had their first 100-yard receiver. Freshman Erik Highsmith reeled in six catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.When the two teams met in 2008, UNC used wideout Hakeem Nicks to jump out to an early 21-0 lead and never looked back, winning 28-7.“We got kind of a head start going into this week,” junior linebacker Quan Sturdivant said. “It’s a complicated offense. Last year’s game, we played pretty good, so I think last year’s game helps us out a lot with the experience we had playing against it.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
Four members of the UNC varsity swimming and diving team delivered a written apology to The Daily Tar Heel on Thursday after admitting to throwing away about 600 newspapers.Freshmen Katie Nolan, Amber Leiker, Carly Smith and Rebecca Brooks claimed responsibility for removing the papers from three racks in the Ram’s Head Plaza sometime before 7:30 a.m.The actions are considered theft. One copy of the DTH is free. Each subsequent copy costs 25 cents.The student-athletes replaced the newspapers at about 12:30 p.m. and apologized to DTH staff later in the afternoon.The newspapers removed included an article reporting suspensions of five other swimming and diving team members. A party at a team captain’s house resulted in citations early Sunday morning, according to Chapel Hill police reports.The citations included two charges of underage possession of alcohol, one charge of giving a malt beverage to a minor, one charge of disorderly conduct and one charge of false ID use, reports state.None of the student-athletes who stole papers Thursday was mentioned in Wednesday’s article.The DTH learned that student-athletes were removing newspapers from bins and contacted the athletic department at about 11 a.m.Athletics officials met with the team and asked those involved to take responsibility.“We are sorry for our actions,” said a statement signed by the four athletes. “We understand by taking those papers, we were preventing other students from reading the news. It was done in jest and was very immature and childish.“To make up for our damage, we went back around 12:30 p.m. and put as many as we could back. … It was the result of shame and embarrassment, but we understand the staff of The Daily Tar Heel was just doing their job by reporting it. We fully take responsibility for our actions.”Athletic department spokesman Steve Kirschner said further disciplinary actions would be taken.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
Powell Latimer and David Reynolds talk about last week's game with ECU and give their predictions for Saturday's football game against Georgia Tech.
Five members of the UNC varsity swimming and diving team received suspensions from the team after three were cited for alcohol violations, a fourth for disorderly conduct and a fifth for using a false ID last weekend, according to Chapel Hill police reports.Police cited the swimmers early Sunday morning at a party at a team captain’s house where high school recruits were present, Department of Athletics officials said.Senior captain Hank Browning, who rents the property where the party occurred, was cited for giving a malt beverage to a minor, reports state.Senior captain Alison Clemens, junior Rebecca Kane and one other UNC student were cited for underage possession of alcohol, reports state.Browning, Clemens and Kane have all been suspended from the team until Nov. 1, coach Rich DeSelm said.Junior swimmer Tyler Smith was charged at 2:30 a.m. Sunday with disorderly conduct, reports state. Police said Smith was at the party but he was arrested later that morning at the corner of Rosemary and Church streets.Smith was suspended from the team indefinitely, DeSelm said.Freshman diver Michelle Mudge was also cited for using a false ID, reports state.Mudge is redshirting this season, but DeSelm said she will receive a suspension next year.Several high school recruits were present at the party, Deselm said, adding that he spoke to several recruits and their families about the incident. No other citations were listed for that address.“There were questions, but certainly I think we’re moving forward with each and every recruit that was here this weekend,” Deselm said.Police responded to a loud music complaint at 10:28 p.m. Saturday at 703 N. Columbia St, reports state.Officer Mitch McKinney of the Chapel Hill Police Department was present and said Chapel Hill Police called Student-Athlete Services that night when they determined the party involved team members.“If it’s a UNC student-athlete, we have agreed to make the athletic department aware of it also,” McKinney said. “Normally we’ve only done that after the fact. But we received a lot of resistance from everyone involved in that call.”Once the athletics department was notified, senior associate athletic directors Larry Gallo and John Blanchard went to the house and helped break up the party, athletic director Dick Baddour said.“They went to try to bring some calmness to the residents of the house, and that’s what they did,” Baddour said. “And they actually got cooperation from some of the swimmers who were there.“To my knowledge, we’ve never been called out before.”The swimmers suspended until Nov. 1 will miss the first six meets of the season.DeSelm said the team plans to take part in community service.“This is a strong swim program. It’s got good kids in it,” Baddour said. “Bad decisions were made the other night, and sometimes a program needs some guidance. And coach DeSelm and his staff are providing that.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
For many members of the No. 22 North Carolina football team, Saturday’s win against East Carolina was a rivalry game.But for quarterback T.J. Yates and safety Da’Norris Searcy, the rivalry game isn’t until this weekend.When the Tar Heels take the field at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday, it will be a homecoming for Georgia natives like Yates and Searcy.“For me, I’m from Georgia, so to beat the hometown team would be great for me,” Searcy said.“Half of those guys I grew up with, playing Little League. We didn’t go to the same high school, but we’d see each other’s highlights on Fox channels down there. We used to call each other every night saying, ‘Do your job.’”Georgia Tech’s running back and 2008 ACC Player of the Year Jonathan Dwyer spent his high school years at Carlton J. Kell High School in Marietta, Ga., where he was often pitted against Pope High School and their quarterback, Yates.But when asked if he was recruited by the Yellow Jackets, Yates responded with a quiet “no” and a cryptic smile.If Yates feels any chagrin toward Georgia Tech, it can only be further chafed by the fact that North Carolina hasn’t won at Bobby Dodd Stadium since 1997.It didn’t help matters that just two years ago in Atlanta, Georgia Tech capped a late-game comeback with a field goal with 15 seconds remaining to beat UNC, 27-25.“We kind of let one slip away from us a little bit two years ago down there,” Yates said. “We kind of had the game and let it go. But as opposed to two years ago when we went down there, we’re such a better team, offense, defense, special teams, so I think we’re going to put a better team on the field.”In its latest bid to break that streak, UNC brings a top-25 ranking and a veteran defense into the contest Saturday. To boot, the Tar Heels managed to shut down Georgia Tech last season in Chapel Hill and win 28-7.But, at least for Searcy, the return to his old stomping grounds will be as much about the homecoming as the rivalry he feels. Searcy turned down a scholarship offer from Georgia Tech to try to play somewhere farther from home.“They offered me, but I wanted to leave the state of Georgia because I’ve been there my whole life,” he said. “You can always go back home, but it’s nice to get away.”Searcy will have plenty of chances to both enjoy being home and show up his old high school rivals. As UNC’s main punt returner, Searcy is averaging 17.3 yards per return — good for sixth in the ACC thus far.Searcy also ripped off a 77-yard return for a touchdown in UNC’s season-opener against The Citadel.Both Searcy and Yates mentioned they had large numbers of family members and friends attending the game.“Everybody that’s from Atlanta or around there has a lot of friends and family in there and a couple of us have friends on the Georgia Tech team,” Yates said. “It’ll be a homecoming for us.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
His Airness. M.J. Air Jordan. Before Michael Jordan was any of these things, before he was the most recognizable athlete in the world, he was Mike Jordan, the freshman for North Carolina. Then he hit a game-winning shot in the 1982 national championship game, and Mike became Michael Jordan, who became all of the above.So it’s no surprise that the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame elected to induct Jordan in the first ballot he was eligible — six years after he officially retired from professional basketball in 2003.Jordan’s career stats speak to his unparalleled excellence better than any article could, but his impact on the University is equally difficult to quantify.“It’s one of those things you can’t put into words as his impact on the University,” Athletic Director Dick Baddour said.“All over the world, wherever you go, it’s Michael Jordan, 23 and North Carolina.”Jordan’s influence makes UNC one of the most recognizable University brands, and his presence in the “One Shining Moment” recruiting video is a huge bargaining chip in getting both students and student-athletes to come to UNC.And from a return to UNC to honor the 25th anniversary of the 1982 national championship game in 2007 to his appearance Sept. 4 to watch the alumni game, “His Airness” has celebrated his UNC roots.“Michael being so easy to work with — he said, ‘Coach, just tell me what you want me to do,’” coach Roy Williams said after the alumni game. And the basketball community at UNC will take a hefty amount of pride in Jordan’s induction.“He’s a great player and a great person,” former coach Bill Guthridge (1997-2000) said. “And we’re very proud of him.”Contact the Sports Editorat sports@unc.edu.
North Carolina’s 2008 matchup against Connecticut was an embarrassment for both teams.UNC had to deal with a 22-minute delay after the Kenan Stadium lights shorted out, and the Huskies had to endure a 38-12 whooping.So for the rematch in 2009 in Storrs, Conn., the Huskies (1-0) are looking for a little revenge.It’s almost a reversal of fortunes for North Carolina, which comes into the second game of the season with a top-20 ranking and is fresh off thumping an inferior opponent in The Citadel.“The challenge is dramatically different than a week ago,” coach Butch Davis said. “Their football team is reflective of the success they’ve had. They were sixth in the nation last year in total defense.”In 2008, UConn took a No. 24 ranking and a series of wins against Big East teams to face the Tar Heels on their home field.This time around, UNC is away, the higher-ranked team and facing its first BCS opponent of the season on a hostile field.And while UConn was picked to finish sixth in the Big East in 2009, the Huskies return six defensive starters from a squad that went 8-5 last season.If North Carolina (1-0) expects to dominate in 2009 the same way they did in 2008, things will have to start with the defensive line. In 2008, the Tar Heels routinely pressured and flustered Zach Frazer, forcing three interceptions.In fact, UNC’s line has been tabbed as a strength this season — especially after manhandling a much smaller Citadel offensive line in the first game.But at UConn, the Huskies’ offensive line is much more imposing.That unit sports three starters who stand at or taller than 6 foot, 6 inches and tip the scales at more than 310 pounds. Every starter on the offensive line in UConn’s first game had spent at least three years in the program.That’s a sizable difference from the undermanned Citadel and one more comparable to the challenges UNC’s defense will face for the rest of the season. It should prove an interesting barometer for the Tar Heels.UNC’s focus in preparation has been the two-headed UConn rushing attack. Despite losing Donald Brown, a first-round pick in last summer’s NFL draft, the Huskies had two backs rush for more than 100 yards in the season-opener against Ohio. Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon combined for 257 yards.“One of the things that just immediately jumps off the film is their ability to hit home runs,” Davis said of the backs. “They are very fast.”Davis added that Todman and Dixon, when seen on film, reminded the coaching staff and players of the backs UNC saw at Miami last season — when Hurricane’s tailback Graig Cooper lit up UNC for 110 rushing yards.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
It was a night to remember — literally. Friday evening at the Smith Center, North Carolina’s professional basketball alumni came home to pay homage to both themselves and the history they are all a part of. “I mean, anyone who played here, was a manager here, we all went through the same things,” former power forward and national player of the year in 1998 Antawn Jamison said. “You put on that jersey, you represent this University and this community the same way. And for me to be part of, is something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.” Anyone who has watched UNC basketball during the last 16 years had a few flashback moments as the NBA alumni game opened a year-long celebration commemorating 100 years of basketball at North Carolina. “It’s a lot of things to soak in, 100 years,” Jamison said. “And I’m blessed and grateful to be a part of this, because I could have been playing 45, 50 years ago and missed this opportunity, but I had a great career here.” It was a roster of names that any program would be envious to have and reflective of the extensive history that comes with basketball at UNC. Try Vince Carter, Jamison, Jerry Stackhouse, Sean May, Raymond Felton and Jeff McInnis — along with many other names from the annals of UNC basketball. And though the game itself was a large part of the show, the night also featured more than enough theatrics of production. There were two new video montages, one for the national championship season and one for 100 years of North Carolina basketball. There was a surprise appearance of legendary former coach Dean Smith, and beside him sat the other unlisted guest — Michael Jordan. Jordan’s presence carried some of its own weight, as his name joined the Smith Center banner listing UNC’s Naismith Hall of Fame inductees. The entire production took place in front of a sold-out crowd, as Jordan, Smith, all of the players in the game and all the other coaches and participants were honored before the game. To boot, the 2008-09 national championship team also took the floor to be honored and watch as the banner they earned was dropped. “We had 22,000 people, and we had MJ back, and all this stuff, I think it’s a beautiful thing,” May, who led UNC to the 2005 national championship, said. “And it says a lot about this University and what basketball means to them.” Current coach Roy Williams, — who for once spent the evening in the stands instead of coaching on the bench — was also notably impressed by the event. “In my opinion, there’s no place in the country that could have done what we just did. I mean, it was 21,750 people, and every NBA player that was eligible to play. … It was a wonderful night, and I was fortunate to be a part of it. ” Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
T.J. Yates sits in the sparkling new fifth floor of the Kenan Football Center. Reporters crowd around him. Cameras are in his face.For question after question, North Carolina’s junior quarterback answers in the exact same inflection. His voice stays on a completely even keel, even as recorders and microphones creep uncomfortably close.“All summer long we’ve been working our tails off. All through summer camp we’ve been working really hard,” he said.It’s a stock answer to a stock question, but Yates is clearly comfortable and in command, even while a spotlight brighter than Kenan Stadium’s new lights has focused itself on the signal caller.It started heating up immediately after Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster all departed. Those three were the receiving core for UNC in 2008, and caught 114 of North Carolina’s 182 completed passes in 2008.That means that for the first time in his career, Yates, who set the bar high with UNC season-records of 2,655 passing yards and 14 touchdowns as a freshman in 2007, does not have a proven go-to receiver. Instead, he will rely on Greg Little, a highly-touted player out of high school who spent 2008 as a running back, and a host of freshmen.“We really haven’t changed much offensively at all, as far as concepts and schemes and everything,” Yates said. “There are more things we have to do offensively as far as spreading the ball around. We’re just becoming a smarter offensive team — which is helping us, I think.”Most of that distribution will be up to Yates, and thus most of the burden will fall to him to look to the third, fourth or fifth option on passing downs.If Yates feels pressure about the tremendous load placed on his shoulders, he’s not showing it.“My first season and a little bit of last season I was still trying to learn all the plays and learn all the offense,” Yates said. “But now, having that completely embedded in my memory, it’s more about preparing and watching film and getting ready for the defense we’re facing.”But teammates have noticed Yates taking command in the huddle and in practices, making sure that he is in control of the offense.“T.J.’s stepping up, definitely,” running back Shaun Draughn said. “If young guys in the huddle don’t know what to do, he makes sure they know what to do so we go out crisp, sharp. Everybody knows what to do.”Even if Yates is perfect on offense, he still has to stay healthy.Injuries bothered him for the first two years of his career, even sidelining him for six games in 2008. But Yates enters this season healthy, and the North Carolina coaching staff has been emphasizing footwork in the pocket — which should be vital, given that the offensive line is young and thin.More than anything, Yates finally has the stage to capitalize on the potential he has shown during the past two years. One way Yates will do that is by building chemistry with the tools he has returning — limited though they may be. Yates is relying extensively on Little and tight end Zack Pianalto.“Just knowing where he’s going to be, the way he runs his routes, and the way he leans, I have a read on him, how he’s going to break, how he’s going to read a certain zone,” Yates said of the player that will be his safety net in 2009. “It’s simple things that come with experience and getting a lot of offseason work.”But no matter how good Yates makes Little and Pianalto look, the spotlight is fixed on him — and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
For the past four years, special teams have been a strength of North Carolina's game plan. Things peaked in 2008, when the combination of Brandon Tate's electric kick returns and Bruce Carter's freakish knack for blocking punts made the Tar Heels a threat to score on every special teams play.But in 2009, things are less sure. Namely, Tate's departure leaves the team without a tested return man. For the outset of the season, Butch Davis has designated Kendric Burney as the punt returner, but Burney is also the team's No. 1 cornerback at a thin position, and coach Butch Davis wants to keep Burney's legs fresh for his all-important pass defense responsibilities.That may well mean punt return duties for players like Da'Norris Searcy and Johnny White. In fact, Searcy is listed ahead of Burney on the UNC depth chart for punt returns. But Searcy has never returned a punt in a college game, and Burney was UNC's second punt return man in 2008.While UNC's return game won't be as dynamic without Tate, it might not have to be. Carter returns, and in him UNC has the premier punt blocker in the conference, if not the nation. Carter's run of four straight kicks blocked through two straight games last season bordered on the supernatural, and Carter wants to have more of the same in 2009.But Carter's return might be the only spot in special teams that has been solidified. UNC's best return coverage man, backup safety Matt Merletti, went down with a torn ACL in the preseason. At punter, a position battle has intensified through training camp. Grant Schallock served as the backup last season and entered camp as the starter. But freshman C.J. Feagles has pushed Schallock throughout camp, and Davis is quick to note how much ground the freshman has gained on Schallock, going so far as to say that Feagles and Schallock might split punting duties during UNC's opener against Citadel. Feagles also possesses the family pedigree, as his father is Jeff Feagles, longtime punter for the New York Giants of the NFL."(Schallock) clearly had the edge from being here," Davis said. "But C.J. Feagles has come in over the last two weeks with his mechanics and he's cleaned up a few issues, and he's realized that in high school you might have had longer to get the ball off in high school than you will in college."Tops you're going to have 2.2 seconds to get the ball off your foot."Family pedigree is something that runs deep throughout the UNC kicking staff. Casey Barth returns after winning the kicking job last season. Barth always throws people familiar with North Carolina's history for a loop, since he is the spitting image of his older brother, Connor — the four-year starter at kicker before Casey arrived.Barth already made a name for himself in 2008 as the kicker for UNC, making 10-of-15 field goal attempts, and was perfect on extra points, on the way to edging out Jay Wooten during the course of last season. Wooten attempted six field goals, making four.
In 2008, North Carolina’s quarterback depth was more than secure: UNC had an established starter in T.J. Yates, an experienced backup in Cameron Sexton, and a young gunslinger in Mike Paulus.
When No. 21 North Carolina opens the football season this Saturday against The Citadel, they will do it without wide receiver Dwight Jones. Jones will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Friday at UNC hospitals, and will not be available, according to the UNC Athletic Department. It will be determined after the surgery how much time Jones will miss.
In 2008, North Carolina developed a two-headed rushing attack: Shaun Draughn would move the ball in normal downs and between the 20s, while Ryan Houston would come in to pound out tough yardage and be a red-zone back.The result was that Draughn’s 866 rushing yards led the team, but Houston’s eight scores were more than Draughn and Greg Little — who started the opening three games — combined.But Draughn and the other UNC backs spent the offseason working on their lower body strength so they won’t wear down and, in Draughn’s case, be able to finish plays from anywhere on the field. “Home run ability,” Draughn said. “I hope to get some home runs this year, so I won’t let Ryan come in there and steal my touchdowns.”And while Draughn’s added strength makes him more viable for every-down play, Houston wasn’t slacking this offseason either.“He’s shed a few more pounds from last year,” Draughn said. “He might be able to run past a couple people this year.”Either way, it figures that unless something changes, North Carolina’s backfield will remain the same, with the exception being the addition of Jamal Womble. Womble, a redshirt freshman, has already gained praise from coaches and teammates for his lightning-quick cuts and agility.First game a ‘special’ nightJust three days before the season-opener against the Citadel, Butch Davis and UNC feel confident in their rehearsal of just about every part of the game — except one.“You can’t scrimmage full speed,” Davis said. “You would be really rolling the dice from an injury standpoint if you ran full-speed live kickoff coverages and have guys blowing up wedges in practice.“So it’s a little dicey in these first couple of games as to how will you cover kicks. … It’s something we’ll have to wait until Saturday to figure out.”Acclaimed author visitingUNC also gained attention for the experiment the team is taking by using the CoreTemp pill. The pill contains a small computer that reads the internal body temperature of athletes, helping to assess when they are more susceptible to injuries, particularly concussions. Those efforts attracted a notable writer in Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell specializes in statistical analysis, and his book “Outliers” was an intensive look at how athletes are generated. “In some respects we were fortunate,” Butch Davis said. “Malcolm Gladwell … was here visiting with (UNC researcher) Kevin Guskiewicz and talking with the concussive study that UNC did.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
The ACC released its 2009-10 women’s basketball schedule on Friday, and North Carolina has yet another season filled with perennial national championship contenders.The Tar Heels open their season with a five-game home stand, including an exhibition game against Francis Marion, the Division II school that UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell led to two national championships before coming to UNC in 1986.The Tar Heels then travel to Las Vegas to take on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas for their first away game of the season.In fact, road trips seem to be a theme for UNC’s season this year.The schedule includes an away game at Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, a trip to Storrs, Conn., to take on the 2009 national champions in Connecticut, and a game against South Carolina in Myrtle Beach, S.C.The game against Connecticut gives the Tar Heels a chance to even the score — last season, UNC played UConn when the two teams were ranked No. 2 and No. 1,respectively. The result was a 30-point UNC loss at Chapel Hill, and the Huskies went on to go undefeated.North Carolina also features a sizeable slate of TV games. All told, nine of UNC’s 31 games are scheduled to be televised, including eight ACC games and the game at UConn.Another wrinkle in the schedule, continued from last year, is a game after the conclusion of the ACC Tournament but before the start of the NCAA Tournament. Because of the two-week delay between the two events, Hatchell has, for the past two years, tried to schedule a game in between in hopes of staving off rust heading into the NCAA Tournament.Last year’s opponent was South Dakota, and for this season, UNC stayed a little closer to home, booking North Carolina Central on March 14. Last year, Hatchell said the team was scheduling the pre-postseason game because she felt her team lost a bit of its edge by peaking during the ACC Tournament, before the long layoff leading up to the NCAA Tournament. To contrast, men’s basketball usually has just one week off between the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, as opposed to two weeks off.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
The ACC released its basketball schedule Tuesday, listing the dates of all games for North Carolina and the rest of the conference.But unusual in the 2009-2010 schedule for UNC are the number of tipoff times listed as “To Be Announced.”And while 27 of UNC’s 31 games this season have television networks lined up to broadcast them, four games do not — as opposed to the typical one or two TBA’s on the scheduleBasketball in the ACC is a highly televised enterprise. This year, ACC teams will make 162 appearances on national television networks, including 118 on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, 35 on Fox Sports Net and seven on CBS.While the ACC decides the conference schedule, each team compiles its own non-conference schedule, and the ACC’s TV partners choose from those games.“The TV partners from the conference have not completed their game choices yet,” Gallo said. “All this stuff, for the most part, is driven by TV deciding whether they’re going to televise and broadcast it or not. And it just seems to be a little bit more this year than in years past.”Two of North Carolina’s non-conference games are listed with times to be announced: Valparaiso on Nov. 15 and College of Charleston on Jan. 4. Neither game has a network broadcast listed.Two other games that are scheduled to be televised may not find a network willing to broadcast: a game against Albany on Dec. 30 and against Presbyterian College on Dec. 12.UNC has asked to play the game against Albany at 7:30 p.m., and according to Senior Associate Athletic Director Larry Gallo, UNC will play at that time, television or not.The game against Presbyterian College falls on an exam day, and Gallo said UNC would not play before 7:30 p.m.“It would be totally inappropriate to play a game in the afternoon when other students have exams,” Gallo said. “That’s not the way we do things around here. If it’s not on TV, so be it.” The game at College of Charleston is TBA because the Southern Conference, of which Charleston is a part, is still working out which TV networks will air which games — much like the ACC.Those games aside, few teams have as many games against marquee teams in with high potential audiences as North Carolina.In the formidable ACC, UNC takes on Wake Forest and Duke twice and travels to Maryland, where the Tar Heels fell in overtime last year. UNC also travels to Rupp Arena to face Kentucky and to Arlington, Texas to play the University of Texas in the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium. To top it off, the Tar Heels are slated to appear in a preseason tournament that could pit them against either California or Syracuse in New York’s Madison Square Garden.And while those high-profile games are bound to bring TV contracts, UNC also plays several smaller teams from North Carolina, such as Gardner Webb, N.C. Central University and an exhibition against Division-II Belmont Abbey.“Coach Williams is going to schedule the way that he thinks is most advantageous for our team and our fans, realizing that we cannot play the likes of Michigan State, Kentucky and Duke every time we step on the court,” Gallo said.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
Powell Latimer and David Reynolds discuss UNC's upcoming football season.