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Still in the running

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Staff

By Eddy Landreth
Staff Writer

The records are identical and the similarities in the statistics are eerily similar between UNC and the University of Miami football teams.

The thought of this would have been unimaginable at the turn of this century, with Carolina struggling to field winning teams and Miami playing for national championships. But since, Butch Davis, who rebuilt Miami from NCAA probation (created by his predecessor) into a national contender again, has come to Carolina and evened the playing field.

The Tar Heels have defeated Miami in all three games the two have played since Davis became the Tar Heels’ head coach. And it is not an exaggeration to say that this week’s 7:30 p.m. game between the two in Florida (to be televised on ESPN2) is the most important so far.

In spite of all the distractions, having players declared ineligible for taking money from agents and an administration that declared another group of players guilty of academic fraud and forced them to prove their innocence, UNC is 4-2 overall, 2-1 in the conference and is in the running for a spot in the ACC title game.

“I’m very proud of the effort these kids have made,” Davis said. “And I’m very proud of the way our coaches have handled this.”

The distractions have been enormous. Almost daily, someone is twisting information into pretzels in an effort to call for Davis to resign. Yet the further we get into the season, the more we see the major infraction has been several kids, on their own, taking illegal gifts from agents and then lying about it to the NCAA and school officials.

On Saturday, none of that is going to matter. Miami is going to hit the Tar Heels with its usual collection of speed and athletic ability, and Carolina is probably going to have to play its finest game of the season to win.

“The team we are playing this week is the most physically gifted football team we’ve played, and they are playing extremely well,” Davis said. “They’ve played one of the tougher schedules of anybody we’ve played.”

Miami leads the league in total defense, allowing 305 yards per game. The Hurricanes are No. 1 in pass defense. They lead in pass interceptions. They are third in quarterback sacks with 20 in six games.

In comparison, UNC has eight sacks in six games.

The positive news for Carolina is the Tar Heels are second in interceptions with 11 to Miami’s 12. UNC is second to Miami in pass defense. The Tar Heels are fourth in total defense and trail Miami by fewer than 30 yards per game. More important, Carolina is second (19.3 ppg) to Florida State in scoring defense (16.1 ppg). Miami is fourth at 19.7 ppg.

The biggest factors in this game will be in the heat of south Florida and a lack of defensive depth for Carolina because of suspensions.

But this team has not made excuses all season, and Saturday will be no time to start.

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