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UNC-Texas Football Game Notes
Sept. 4, 2001
UNC-Texas Game Notes (PDF Format)
at TEXAS
Date: Saturday, September 8, 2001
CAROLINA TRAVELS TO TEXAS Saturday's game will be the second straight for the Tar Heels against a top five team. Oklahoma was No. 3 when UNC played the Sooners two weeks ago. Carolina has never defeated a team ranked in the top five. The last time Carolina defeated a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 was 1997 when the Tar Heels defeated No. 17 Stanford, 28-17, in Chapel Hill. Texas (1-0) is coming off a 41-7 victory over New Mexico State on Saturday. The Longhorns are coached by Mack Brown, who compiled a 69-46-1 record as the Tar Heels' head coach from 1988-1997. Brown left for Texas following the 1997 regular season and did not coach in Carolina's 42-3 victory over Virginia Tech in the 1998 Gator Bowl. Brown is tied with Bill Dooley for second place with 69 career victories at Carolina, three behind Dick Crum's 72 wins.
CAROLINA SCORES EARLY, BUT NOT OFTEN AGAINST MARYLAND Despite gaining more yards than its opponent for the second consecutive week, Carolina could not put points on the scoreboard. Much of Carolina's inability to sustain a drive was due to poor field position throughout the game. Five of Carolina's first seven possessions started inside its own 15-yard line, including drives that started at the UNC 1-yard line, 9-yard line and 10-yard line. Maryland punter Brooks Barnard, who averaged 50.4 yards on eight punts, pinned the Tar Heels deep on several occasions. Carolina had 276 yards of offense compared to 247 for Maryland. Carolina's defense, led by Julius Peppers, who had three sacks to tie Marcus Jones for second on the UNC career sack list, forced five three-and-outs and limited Maryland to just 154 yards through the first three quarters. However, in the fourth quarter, Maryland had two long scoring drives (65 & 54 yards) to put the game out of reach. Parker finished with 102 rushing yards - the second consecutive time he has rushed for at least 100 yards against Maryland. He had 158 yards rushing in last year's 13-10 victory in Chapel Hill. It was the 20th time a Tar Heel tailback has rushed for over 100 yards against Maryland. His 77-yard touchdown run tied for the 17th longest in school history and it was the longest by a Tar Heel since Curtis Johnson scored on a 90-yard run vs. Maryland in 1993.
TAR HEELS GAIN CONFIDENCE IN LOSS TO SOONERS Bunting saw his squad rally for 20 unanswered points and put a mild scare into 75,000 Sooner fans who thought the game was over at halftime. After committing five turnovers and allowing 31 points in the first quarter, Carolina finally settled down and played well enough to win. The Tar Heel defense allowed just 286 yards - the fewest for Oklahoma dating back prior to last season's national championship run - and the offense rebounded to score 14 fourth-quarter points. When the final snap was made that evening, Carolina was deep in OU territory on the verge of scoring again. "That was the most courageous defensive performance I've ever seen," said Bunting in the postgame press conference. "With the field position situations they had to deal with, it was a great performance." Carolina forced Oklahoma to punt on nine consecutive occasions in the second half and no second-half Sooner drive was longer than 29 yards. Offensively, Darian Durant, a redshirt freshman from Florence, S.C., came off the bench in the second half to lead Carolina on two fourth-quarter scoring drives. Durant completed 3 of 4 passes and had a nifty 19-yard run on the first drive. He capped the six-play scoring drive with his first career touchdown pass - a 26-yard dart to wide receiver Chesley Borders with 11:59 remaining. On Carolina's next possession, Durant led the Tar Heels 80 yards in just over two and a half minutes. The biggest play of the drive came on 4th-and-10 from the OU 45-yard line when Durant delivered a strike to Kory Bailey on a crossing route. Bailey turned the corner and raced down the sideline before being pushed out at the Oklahoma 3-yard line. Two plays later, Durant found Brandon Russell in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Statistically, Carolina's offense had more total yards (290-286), more first downs (20-12) and ran more plays (76-64) than Oklahoma.
SERIES AGAINST THE LONGHORNS This is the first regular-season meeting between the two schools since 1952. The three most recent meetings were all bowl games. Carolina defeated Texas in the 1980 Bluebonnet and 1982 Sun Bowls. In the most recent matchup, Texas beat Carolina, 35-31, in the 1994 Sun Bowl. Mack Brown was Carolina's head coach in that game.
TIES TO TEXAS
THORNTON CONTINUES TO EXCEL In his first career start at Oklahoma, Thornton had 15 tackles (12 solo, 3 assists), including four tackles for loss and one sack for five yards. The following week at Maryland, he made 13 tackles (9 solo, 4 assists). In addition to his play on the football field, Thornton is one of the Tar Heels' most active players off the gridiron. Among the community service projects he is involved with are: minority student recruitment volunteer at UNC, tutor and mentor for Upward Bound, volunteer reader for local elementary schools, volunteer coach for local intramural girls basketball team, motivational speaker for Hargrave Community Center. He is also a member of UNC's Student Recreational Center Board of Directors and a Senior Marshall. He is majoring in exercise and sports science.
REID COMFORTABLE IN STARTING ROLE
UNC SACK RECORD UNDER ATTACK
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