No. 12 (AP/Coaches) North Carolina travels to Blacksburg for
a Coastal Division matchup with Virginia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 21 at noon.
With a win over the Hokies or a Pitt loss vs. Louisville, the Tar Heels would
win the Coastal Division and earn a spot in the ACC Championship Game vs. No. 1
Clemson.
Carolina has won nine in a row and is 9-1 overall and 6-0 in
league play. Virginia Tech is 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the Coastal. Saturday’s
game at Lane Stadium is Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer’s final home
game. Beamer, who was born in Mt. Airy, N.C., announced earlier this year he
was retiring after the season.
Carolina hopes to continue its recent offensive
explosiveness when it kicks off in Blacksburg. UNC set an ACC record with a combined
125 points in the last two weeks with a 66-31 win over Duke and a 59-21 victory
over Miami. Carolina leads the ACC and is ninth in the country, scoring 42.0
points per game. Defensively, the Tar Heels are 21st in the nation, allowing
just 18.8 points per contest.
Quarterback Marquise Williams is among the top signal
callers in the country. He is averaging 9.6 yards per pass attempt, which ranks
third nationally.
QUICK HITS
- Carolina's nine-game win streak is tied for the sixth-longest current streak in the country.
- Marquise Williams is just the fifth quarterback in ACC history with 2,000 career rushing yards.
- Williams ranks 12th in UNC history with 2,169 yards. He is fourth all-time at UNC with 31 rushing scores.
- Williams has been responsible for a school-record 87 career touchdowns, which ranks tied for fourth in ACC history. Williams has rushed for 31 scores (UNC record for QB), passed for 53 and has three receiving TDs.
- Williams is just 346 yards shy of Darian Durant’s school record for total offense.
- Tailback Elijah Hood has 12 rushing touchdowns, which ranks second in the league. He is fourth in the ACC with 94.5 rushing yards per game. He is just 55 yards shy of 1,000 yards.
- Carolina leads the ACC and ranks 12th in the country in passes defended (47 pass breakups, 12 INTs) Cornerbacks M.J. Stewart and Des Lawrence lead the ACC in pass breakups. Stewart leads the ACC in passes defended (12 PBUs, 3 INTs)
- Eleven current Tar Heels have made 20-or-more career starts. Quinshad Davis leads the way with 43, followed by OG Landon Turner (38), OT Jon Heck (34), LB Jeff Schoettmer (34) and OG Caleb Peterson (33).
- Carolina ranks 11th in the country in passing yards allowed, 13th in pass eff. defense and 21st in scoring defense.
- Carolina is ninth in the nation in scoring offense (42.0) and is one of just 10 teams in the country averaging more than 200 yards per game rushing (214.6) and 250 passing (280.4).
- Preseason first-team All-America guard Landon Turner will make his 39th career start Saturday against Virginia Tech. Turner has graded out at 90 percent or higher in eight of 10 games this season.
- Last season, North Carolina made just six field goals and none longer than 30 yards. This season, kicker Nick Weiler has made 16 of 18 attempts, including four from 46 yards-or-longer.
- Weiler has 49 PATs this season and is just one shy of tying the single-season school record.
- Senior wide receiver Quinshad Davis is the all-time leader at UNC in receptions (189) and touchdowns (23). He currently ranks third at UNC in career receiving yards.
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