12 -NC State game notes-ROB.qxp - University of Miami Athletics

GAME 12 - NOV. 29, 2008MIAMI VS. NC STATENORTH CAROLINA GAME RECAPMIAMI VS. NORTH CAROLINA NOTESSTOPPING THE RUN... The Hurricanes kept the TarHeels to just 35 yards rushing for a 1.1 yard per carry average.Miami's defense had kept opponents to just 2.4 yardsper carry entering today's game, while North Carolina'soffense had averaged 6.1 yards per carry entering thegame.PASSING LANE... Kayne Farquharson caught a nineyardtouchdown pass from Robert Marve with 11:02remaining in the opening quarter to help the Hurricanestake the early 7-0 lead. It marked the second-straightgame in which Marve and Farquharson have connectedfor a score.FAST STARTS... With that Farquharson TD today, theHurricanes have scored on their opening drives in three offour games this season and in two straight.CAREER BEST... With a four-yard touchdown pass inthe fourth quarter to Aldarius Johnson - putting theHurricanes ahead 24-14, Robert Marve threw for a careerhighthree touchdowns in today's game to three differentreceivers (Farquharson, Cooper, Johnson). It also markedJohnson's first collegiate touchdown. It is also the mosttouchdown receptions for the Hurricanes since a 35-0 winover Florida International on Oct. 14, 2006, when KyleWright had three touchdown passes.SUPER COOPER... Graig Cooper's 11-yard touchdownwith 39 seconds remaining in the opening quarter markedhis season-high tying fifth touchdown in four games thisseason. In 11 games last season, he recorded five. With110 rushing yards today, Cooper notched his secondstraight100-yard rushing game and the fourth of hiscareer. He ran for 128 yards at Texas A&M last week.IN THE ZONE... Including today's 4-5 effort, theHurricanes are a near-perfect 14-of-16 in the red zone onoffense this season. UM has converted 10 touchdownsand four field goals. Entering today's game, Miami led theACC with a 90.9 percentage.AT THE HALF... The Hurricanes have outscored theiropponents 72-26 during first-half play this season.Entering today's game, opponents are averaging just130.7 yards of total offense in the opening half. Miami limitedNorth Carolina to 87 yards of total offense in the firsthalf, including just 19 rushing yards.ACC OPENERS... With today's loss, the Hurricanes fallto 2-3 in ACC openers and 3-2 in ACC home openers. TheHurricanes had won three-straight ACC home openersentering today's game. Today's loss also marks the firstdefeat of the Hurricanes at Dolphin Stadium, movingMiami to 4-1 all-time and 1-1 this season at DolphinStadium. It marked Miami's first September loss to anunranked opponent since Sept. 25, 1999, when theHurricanes fell to an unranked East Carolina, 27-23.GAME 4 - NORTH CAROLINA 28, MIAMI 24SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 - DOLPHIN STADIUM, MIAMI GARDENS, FLA.ATTENDANCE: 35,830MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) - Cameron Sexton threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brooks Foster with 46seconds left, Trimane Goddard had two interceptions in the final minutes, and North Carolina rallied from anearly 14-point deficit to beat Miami 28-24 on Saturday.Sexton - playing because North Carolina starter T.J. Yates will miss six weeks with a broken left ankle -relieved starter Mike Paulus early and completed 11 of 19 passes for 243 yards, including two fourth-quarterscores. He found Hakeem Nicks with a 74-yard pass with 9 minutes remaining, then coolly found Foster in theright corner of the end zone in the final minute to give North Carolina (3-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) itsfirst lead of the day.Miami had one more chance, getting the ball at its own 31. Robert Marve found Kayne Farquharson for a29-yard gain that took the Hurricanes to the North Carolina 20 with 15 seconds remaining. Marve nearly hookedup with Farquharson again on the final play of the game, but Goddard's second pick of the quarter sealed theTar Heels' win. Farquharson had his hands on the ball in the end zone, yet Goddard was the one who woundup with possession.Marve threw three touchdown passes for Miami (2-2, 0-1), and Graig Cooper rushed for 113 yards plus hada receiving TD for the Hurricanes, who lost to the Tar Heels for the second straight season.A year ago, Miami almost pulled off a stunning comeback against North Carolina, nearly rallying from a 27-0 halftime deficit. This time, the Tar Heels showed the Hurricanes how to pull one of those off.Down 24-14 midway through the fourth quarter after Marve connected with Aldarius Johnson on a 4-yardtouchdown pass, the Tar Heels went to work. Nicks caught the ball ahead of a diving Bruce Johnson for the firstNorth Carolina touchdown of the final quarter, seeming to stun the Hurricanes a bit, and then Sexton deliveredthe perfect touch pass at the end.It was a stirring turnaround, especially considering how the game started.The Hurricanes needed only eight plays to go 89 yards - with Cooper rushing three times for 60 of them -on the opening drive, capped by Marve finding Farquharson with a 9-yard touchdown pass. A special-teamsblunder by the Tar Heels later in the opening quarter gave Miami a two-touchdown edge. North Carolina punterTerrence Brown dropped a snap, fell on the ball at the Tar Heels 11, and the Hurricanes quickly capitalized.Marve lofted the ball to Cooper on a middle screen that resulted in an 11-yard TD for a 14-0 lead. Miami madeit look easy in the first 15 minutes, outgaining North Carolina 127-24, limiting the Tar Heels to minus-4 yardsrushing and less than two yards per play.Suddenly, everything that went right in the first quarter suddenly stopped for Miami.Greg Little's 8-yard run early in the second quarter helped draw North Carolina within 17-7 at halftime, andRyan Houston scored from 2 yards out midway through the third to draw the Tar Heels within 17-14.Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 ScoreNorth Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . 28Miami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 24SCORING SUMMARY:Qtr Time Team Scoring play Conversion Plays-Yds TOP UNC UM1st 11:02 UM Kayne Farquharson 9 yd pass from Robert Marve (Matt Bosher kick) 8-89 3:58 0 71st 00:39 UM Graig Cooper 11 yd pass from Robert Marve (Matt Bosher kick) 3-11 0:50 0 142nd 12:49 UNC Greg Little 6-yd run (Jay Wooten kick) 7-58 2:50 7 142nd 05:07 UM Matt Bosher 34 yd field goal 14-62 7:42 7 173rd 09:38 UNC Ryan Houston 2 yd run (Jay Wooten kick) 10-60 5:22 14 174th 09:59 UM Aldarius Johnson 4 yd pass from Robert Marve (Matt Bosher kick) 8-37 4:00 14 244th 09:00 UNC Hakeem Nicks 74 yd pass from Cameron Sexton (Jay Wooten kick) 3-74 0:59 21 244th 00:46 UNC Brooks Foster 14 yd pass from Cameron Sexton (Jay Wooten kick) 7-56 2:03 28 24Stadium: Dolphin Stadium Attendance: 35830Kickoff time: 12:00 pm End of Game: 3:15 pm Total elapsed time: 3:15Officials: Referee: Tom Zimorski; Umpire: Danny Worrell; Linesman: Mike Pavese; Line judge: Jack Weiland; Back judge: WattsKey; Field judge: Dale Shaw; Side judge: Gary Patterson; Scorer: K. ColebrookTemperature: 84 deg. Wind: SE 12mph Weather: Part Cloudy; 71% humTEAM STATISTICS UNC UMFIRST DOWNS.................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18RUSHES-YARDS (NET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33-35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33-135PASSING YDS (NET)....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167Passes Att-Comp-Int........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24-13-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33-22-2TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57-299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66-309Fumble Returns-Yards.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0-0Punt Returns-Yards.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-56Kickoff Returns-Yards....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-67 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-41Interception Returns-Yards.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0-0Punts (Number-Avg).......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-36.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-37.8Fumbles-Lost................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-0Penalties-Yards............... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6-54Possession Time.............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33:37Third-Down Conversions....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 of 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 of 16Fourth-Down Conversions....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 of 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0 of 0Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4-5Sacks By: Number-Yards....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-18INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING: North Carolina-Little, G 14-38; Houston, R 5-18; Draughn, S 5-13; Elzy,A 2-5; Tate, B 2-1; Paulus, M 1-minus 3; Sexton, C 3-minus 18; Brown, Te 1-minus19. Miami (Fla.)-Cooper, G. 19-110; Benjamin, T. 2-11; Thomas, D. 3-10; Harris,J. 3-4; Marve, R. 6-0.PASSING: North Carolina-Sexton, C 11-19-0-242; Paulus, M 1-4-0-10; Tate, B1-1-0-12. Miami (Fla.)-Marve, R. 18-27-2-135; Harris, J. 4-6-0-39.PAGE 24RECEIVING: North Carolina-Nicks, H 5-133; Tate, B 3-62; Foster, B 2-27; Quinn,Ri 2-24; Pianalto, Z 1-18. Miami (Fla.)-Farquharson, K. 3-51; Cooper, G. 3-29;Collier, T. 3-22; Epps, D. 3-19; Johnson, A. 2-12; Jones, K. 2-10; Gordon, R.2-9; Johnson, D. 1-15; Shields, S. 1-5; Thomas, D. 1-1; Byrd, L. 1-1.MIAMI FOOTBALL GAME NOTES