1997 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

1997 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Gator Bowl champion
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 6
Record11–1 (7–1 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGreg Davis (2nd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorCarl Torbush (10th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
Home stadiumKenan Memorial Stadium
1997 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 3 Florida State $   8 – 0     11 – 1  
No. 6   7 – 1     11 – 1  
Virginia   5 – 3     7 – 4  
No. 25 Georgia Tech   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Clemson   4 – 4     7 – 5  
NC State   3 – 5     6 – 5  
Wake Forest   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Maryland   1 – 7     2 – 9  
Duke   0 – 8     2 – 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Tar Heels played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team was coached by Mack Brown and finished the season 11–1 overall, 7–1 in the conference.

At the end of the season, Brown left for the University of Texas at Austin and did not coach in the Gator Bowl victory over Virginia Tech. Carl Torbush, who was the defensive coordinator during the regular season, became the head coach when Brown left. North Carolina credits the regular season to Brown and the Gator Bowl victory to Torbush.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 612:00 p.m.Indiana*No. 7
ESPN2W 23–657,800[1]
September 136:00 p.m.No. 17 Stanford*No. 7
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ESPN2W 28–1757,800[2]
September 2012:00 p.m.at MarylandNo. 6
JPSW 40–1430,084[3]
September 2712:00 p.m.VirginiaNo. 5
ABCW 48–2057,800[4]
October 48:05 p.m.at TCU*No. 5
W 31–1029,415[5]
October 1112:00 p.m.Wake ForestNo. 5
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)
JPSW 30–1257,000[6]
October 186:00 p.m.at NC StateNo. 4
ESPN2W 20–751,500[7]
October 308:00 p.m.at Georgia TechNo. 5
ESPNW 16–1345,126[8]
November 87:30 p.m.No. 3 Florida StateNo. 5
ESPNL 3–2062,000[9]
November 153:30 p.m.at ClemsonNo. 8
ABCW 17–1071,514[10]
November 2212:00 p.m.DukeNo. 8
JPSW 50–1453,500[11]
January 1, 199812:30 p.m.vs. Virginia Tech*No. 7
NBCW 42–354,116[12]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1997 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 4 Ocatvus Barnes Sr
QB 15 Chris Keldorf Sr
WR 18 Na Brown Jr
WR 23 LC Stevens Jr
OT 77 John Surigao Jr
RB 27 Jonathan Linton Sr
OT 51 Mike Baxter Sr
G 63 Mike Hobgood Sr
C 64 Jeff Saturday Sr
TE 86 Ebenezer Ekuban Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
S 2 Omar Brown Sr
S 3 Greg Williams Sr
LB 9 Keith Newman Jr
CB 29 Robert Williams Jr
CB 31 Dré Bly  So
LB 41 Brian Simmons Sr
LB 53 Kivuusama Mays Sr
DT 84 Nate Hobgood-Chittick Sr
DT 85 Chris Mintz  So
DE 87 Greg Ellis Sr
DT 90 Vonnie Holliday Sr
DE 91 Mike Pringley Jr
DE 96 Russell Davis Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 23 Brian Schmitz So
K 37 Josh McGee So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Rankings

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP7 (4)7 (4)7 (4)7 (2)6 (1)5 (2)5 (2)5 (2)4 (2)4 (2)5 (2)5 (2)888776
Coaches Poll8 (1)8 (1)8 (1)8 (1)7 (1)5 (1)5 (1)5 (1)4 (1)4 (1)55986554

Game summaries

Vs. Virginia Tech (Gator Bowl)

North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech
(Gator Bowl)
Team 1 234Total
• No. 7 Tar Heels 16 6614 42
Hokies 0 030 3
See also: 1997 Virginia Tech Hokies football team and 1998 Gator Bowl

[13]

Players in the 1998 NFL Draft

See also: 1998 NFL draft
Player Position Round Pick NFL club Ref
Greg Ellis DE 1 8 Dallas Cowboys [14]
Brian Simmons LB 1 17 Cincinnati Bengals [14]
Vonnie Holliday DE 1 19 Green Bay Packers [14]
Omar Brown S 4 103 Atlanta Falcons [14]
Kivuusama Mays LB 4 110 Minnesota Vikings [14]
Robert Williams CB 5 128 Kansas City Chiefs [14]
Jonathan Linton FB 5 131 Buffalo Bills [14]

References

  1. ^ "Indiana can't find end zone in loss". The Indianapolis Star. September 7, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Cardinal streak snapped". Santa Cruz Sentinel. September 14, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Tar Heels thump Terrapins". The Charlotte Observer. September 21, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Reversal of fortune; UNC rallies for huge win over Cavs". The Chapel Hill News. September 28, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "TCU's rally falls short vs. Tar Heels". The Atlanta Journal. October 5, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "North Carolina has its flaws, but does enough to top Wake Forest". Press of Atlantic City. October 12, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Heels find another win". The Herald-Sun. October 19, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Tar Heels nip Jackets". Winston-Salem Journal. October 31, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "FSU downs Heels". The Index-Journal. November 9, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "North Carolina deals Clemson near-fatal blow". Florence Morning News. November 16, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Heels make big bowl plea". The News and Observer. November 23, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "North Carolina makes statement in rout". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. January 2, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "In Gator, UNC Gives Hokies a 'Good Whuppin',' 42-3". The Washington Post. January 2, 1998. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g "1998 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com.
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