PAGE 10
SCOREBOARD
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WIN PROPELS TAR HEELS TO NO. 18 IN AP POLL
BY DAVID ELY
SENIOR WRITER
North Carolina thought it had secured a last
second win.
The then-No. 22 Tar Heels stormed the field
in celebration after Notre Dame quarterback
Jimmy Clausen’s spike attempt came as the
clock expired.
But just as the UNC coaching staff readied
to congratulate the Fighting Irish, the referee
intervened and said the previous play was
under review.
For several minutes, the Tar Heels waited to
see whether ND sophomore receiver Michael
Floyd had fumbled the ball inside the North
Carolina 10-yard line.
The officials ruled the play
a turnover Notre Dame’s
fifth of the game —and UNC
took over, taking a knee to
FOOTBALL
Notre Dame 24
UNC 29
secure a 29-24 come-from-behind win Saturday
at Kenan Stadium.
“It was the worst,” junior receiver Hakeem
Nicks said of the last-second delay. “Everybody
was just basically biting fingernails hoping that
it went our way.”
The Floyd fumble was just one moment
in a series of big plays and momentum shifts
throughout the afternoon.
From the get-go, the Fighting Irish came
out firing. On its first series, Notre Dame (4-2)
opened with five-receiver sets and picked apart
the UNC secondary en route to a quick touch
down.
North Carolina defense steps up big again
BY POWELL LATIMER
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Jimmy Clausen had no chance.
On first and 10 from the North
Carolina 46, Notre Dame’s quar
terback couldn’t even look down
field before defensive tackle Aleric
Mullins was in his face.
Clausen cocked his arm to fire,
but Mullins bulled his way to the
ball. Two seconds later, the ball
was underneath big No. 97 for a
turnover.
Mullins’ sack and fumble recov
ery was one of several early blows
from North Carolina’s second-half
defense not to be confused with
the unit that took the field in the
first half.
That group got burned by
Clausen’s arm and Notre Dame’s
Tar Heels notch shutout No. 8
BY LOUIE HORVATH
SENIOR WRITER
For most of the first half, it
seemed as though the No. 2 North
Carolina women’s soccer team
was shooting at a goal with a lid
ofr it.
Fortunately for the Tar Heels,
the Virginia Ttech defense broke
the lid with an own goal for UNC’s
first score,
and things got
worse from
there for the
Hokies.
The score-
WOMEN'S
SOttra
Virginia Tech 0
UNC 4
card originally credited the goal
to Ali Hawkins, but when she
admitted postgame that she never
touched the ball, the scorers gave
it to Yael Averbuch with a Virginia
Tech deflection.
SEE SOCCER, PAGE 9
Sports Monday
WOMEN'S GOLF T-2nd, Mercedes-Benz Championship
The Irish’s offensive efficiency didn’t end
with that drive. Notre Dame scored on three of
its four first-half drives as Clausen dictated the
game’s pace with a combination of deft strikes
to receivers and designed draws.
“We got it put to us early, especially in the
first quarter,” coach Butch Davis said. “It’s a
credit to their coaching staff to try and change
the tempo and change the pace of the ball game
they had us reeling.”
To its credit, North Carolina (5-1) remained
composed throughout the onslaught.
Quarterback Cameron Sexton methodically
drove the Tar Heels for three first-half field
goals to keep UNC within striking distance.
Sexton repeatedly connected with Nicks,
who became the prominent target in the pass
ing game once Brandon Tate exited with a
sprained right knee in the first half.
Nicks caught seven passes for 116 yards in
the first half, with many of those receptions
resulting in first downs.
But at the rate Notre Dame was going, the
field goals Sexton and Nicks created wouldn’t
be enough for North Carolina to rally.
TVailing 17-9 at the half, Davis told his team
in the locker room that they needed a big play
something to swing the momentum back to
the UNC sideline.
And on a day dominated by offense, the game
swung on a play by the defense.
On the first snap of the second half, lineback
er Quan Sturdivant picked off a Clausen pass
and rumbled 32 yards for a touchdown.
BDTH ONLINE: Check out a
photo slideshow of Saturday's
game at dailytarheel.com
five-wideout set to the tune of 199
passing yards in the opening two
quarters.
So UNC changed things up. Butch
Davis decided that he’d had enough
of Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis’
offensive gimmicks and threw in
some wrinkles of his own.
North Carolina brought in
Da’Norris Searcy as a third safety,
a package that Davis said his team
hadn’t even practiced.
“We just kind of scratched it in the
dirt and said, “You’re going in, and
you’re going to play this position.”
Improvisational as the scheme
was, the package paid immedi
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DTH/ZACH GUTTERMAN
Senior midfielder Yael Averbuch recorded two goals and one assist
against Virginia Tech, bringing her total to five scores on the season.
www.dailytarheel.com
“We talked about it in the locker room. We
need something good to happen,” Davis said. “It
just electrified the whole football team. It kinda
got our mojo going again.”
With that, the North Carolina defense gained
an edge on Notre Dame, and the Tar Heel
offense turned those field goal opportunities
into touchdowns.
Ryan Houston scored from one yard out with
5:14 left in the third, and Sexton leapt across
the goal line on the first play of the fourth
quarter. That touchdown gave the Tar Heels a
29-24 advantage their first and only lead of
the game.
The offense was not the only unit that raised
its play after halftime. The Fighting Irish still
drove the ball at will ND finished the game
with 472 total yards —but when the game
was on the line, the Tar Heels’ defense didn’t
break.
Notre Dame’s last four drives ended in turn
overs, the final three coming in UNC territory.
With both offenses playing at a high level,
North Carolina’s plus-five advantage in take
aways was the key in the comeback the Tar
Heels’ second rally since their Sept. 20 melt
down against Virginia Tech.
“We enjoy coming back and winning, and we
know how to do it,” Sexton said.
“If that’s the way it’s gonna be, I think we’re
good at it.”
Contact the Sports Editor
atsports@unc.edu.
ate dividends. Just 12 secpnds into
the second half, Quan Sturdivant
snatched an interception land took
it to the house, setting the stage for
UNC’s frantic late-game comeback.
“The key was that we played much
better coverage,” Davis said. “There
was not the immediate quick throws.
The quarterback had to hold the ball,
he had to scramble a little bit, he had
to throw it into coverage.”
The UNC defense frustrated
Clausen for most of the second
half. Many of his throws were
into coverage and on the run, and
the extra defensive backs allowed
North Carolina to break up three
passes and intercept two others in
the games’ final two periods.
SEE DEFENSE, PAGE 9
FIELD HOCKEY UNC 0 BC 2; UNC 3 Yale 1
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DTH/DAVID ENARSON
UNC's E.J. Wilson (92) and Mark Paschal (41) work on a takedown of
Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen, who was sacked four times on the day.
MEN'S SOCCER
#
Shriver leads Tar Heels
to victory in Durham
BY RACHEL ULLRICH
SPORTS EDITOR
DURHAM As the teams
made their way back onto the field
during Friday’s North Carolina
Duke soccer
game, AC/DC’s
“Hell’s Bells”
blasted out of
the loudspeak
ers.
MEN'S
SOCCER
UNC 2
Duke 0
“Oh, man,” the North Carolina
sports information director said in
the press box. “That’s just going to
get the Thr Heels fired up.”
He was right.
It started with midfielder Garry
Lewis air-guitaring on midfield
waiting for play to start.
Then the Thr Heels managed to
MEN'S TENNIS Fogleman/Donato, T-3rd, D'Novo/ITA
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ABOVE LEFT DTH/ANTHONY HARRIS; ABOVE DTH/DAVID ENARSON
Cameron Sexton again had little to do but manage the offense in UNC's
win against the Irish, but he did manage a leaping TD in the second half.
double their lead and barely let the
Blue Devils cross midfield in the
halfs first 30 minutes.
By the end of it, UNC had a 2-0
win against Duke and an improved
conference record to boot.
“It’s a huge step forward,” senior
striker Brian Shriver said. “This
is the first game I feel like we’ve
played a complete 90 minutes
and put it together for the entire
time.”
And coming off a tough 1-0 loss
to Virginia last week, the No. 16
Thr Heels (9-2-1,2-2 ACC) needed
a boost especially in its confer
ence record, now back at .500.
“More or less for us to bounce
SEE SHRIVER, PAGE 9
Sailg HM
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2008
ONLINE ‘9BYS
The women’s soccer team has
been bolstered by countless attacking
options. Go online for the story.
The men's soccer team's 4-5-1 might
not be the normal formation, but it
worked Friday. Go online for the story.
Check up on the rowing, men's ten
nis and women's golf teams' play this
weekend. Go online for the briefs.
ACC SCORES
NO. 21 WAKE FOREST 12,
CLEMSON 7
Riley Skinner hit D.J. Boldin on
a 12-yard touchdown pass that
proved to be the difference with 5:28
remaining in the fourth quarter.
VIRGINIA
Cedric Peerman ran for 173 yards
and two long touchdowns, and
Virginia turned back a second-half
East Carolina rally.
GEORGIA TECH 10,
GARDNER-WEBB 7
Derrick Morgan tipped a 43-yard
field goal attempt by Gardner-
Webb's Ryan Gates with three sec
onds left, helping GT squeak out an
unexpectedly difficult victory.
MIAMI 20, UCF 14
Graig Cooper had a career-high 23
rushes for 90 yards, including the
clinching touchdown after a muffed
punt return late in the fourth quar
ter and Miami snapped a two-game
losing streak. i
OPEN DATES
BOSTON COLLEGE, DUKE, FLORIDA
STATE, MARYLAND. N.C. STATE, NO
18V1RGINIATECH