UNC Football Moving into 2010
Jan. 4, 2010

As in the season finale against NC State, UNC’s turnovers and penalties led to another disappointing loss, this time in the Car Care Bowl against the Pittsburgh Panthers.  Of course, Greg Little made a spectacular catch early in the game and proceeded to punt the ball into the stands.  While his action didn’t affect the score, it is an area to be improved.  Several other key plays either cost UNC points or led directly to a Pitt score.

After a reception in the first quarter, Erik Highsmith fumbled giving Pitt good field position.  They scored a field goal on that possession.

TJ Yates threw an interception in the red zone after having goal to go for the UNC offense.

After a UNC field goal, Casey Barth misdirected his squib kick just before the half, and it went out of bounds.  Pitt took advantage and led 13-10 following a field goal to close the half.

Finally, with the final minutes ticking away, Pitt lined up for a long field goal on 4th and short to take the lead.  Unfortunately, Cam Thomas jumped offside giving Pitt a first down.  They continued the drive finishing with a shorter field goal and left less than a minute for UNC’s offense.

UNC was unable to generate any points in its final desperate drive.  Pitt claimed a 19-17 victory.

UNC has now lost in the Car Care Bowl in consecutive years, and its bowl victory drought extends to 8 years (2001 Peach Bowl).

However, Butch Davis & Co. received some good news which will make the continued growth of the program more feasible in the coming year.  All draft-eligible underclassmen will be returning for their senior seasons.

DT – Marvin Austin
OLB – Bruce Carter
OLB – Quan Sturdivant
CB – Kendric Burney
S – Deunta Williams

Each player came to an individual decision, but all decided to return to UNC because as Marvin Austin put it, “We believe we can be special, not only as a defense, but as a team.”

I’m excited to see the continued development on both sides of the ball.  Butch & Co. hit the recruiting trail looking for key impact players for next year and to build for the coming years.

The annual spring game will be held on April 10.

Yeah, we are in the Chik-fil-a kickoff game against LSU, which is just a spotlight game on the first weekend (Sept 4).  It'll be in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome.

From most bloggers and sports writers, it appears that Bryn Renner, who redshirted this season, will be the starter next season over TJ Yates.  He was the #6 rated quarterback by ESPN in the 2009 recruiting class.  But I would be hesitant to say he's the starter yet.  If he has a good spring, he should be the starter and the future at quarterback for the team.

But TJ has been the anointed guy so far under Butch.  If Bryn is named the named the starter, TJ may decide to graduate since this is his fourth year on campus.

As far as new recruits, Butch has said that since he's now had three recruiting classes come in, he can be more selective in his search for players to fit with the team rather than taking the best athletes to offer.  And it helps that all of our juniors are coming back.