THE SERIES All-Time Series ……………………………….. Tied at 1-1
At Neutral Site ……………………………….. Tied at 1-1
First Meeting…………………….1996, UNC 20-13 (N)
Last Meeting…………………… 2008, WVU 31-30 (N)
N. Brown vs. UNC………………………….First Meeting
N. Brown vs. M. Brown…………………..First Meeting
M. Brown vs. WVU ……………………………………..2-1
NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS NOTES:
KEY STORYLINES
Following the regular season, 13 Tar Heels were named All-ACC. Omarion Hampton, Bryson Nesbit and Cedric Gray were named first team. Drake Maye, Kaimon Rucker and Noah Burnette were second team. Newcomers Tez Walker and Willie Lampkin were named to the third team along with Power Echols. Spencer Rolland, Corey Gaynor, Myles Murphy and Alijah Huzzie were named honorable mention All-ACC.
Since the end of the regular season, Omarion Hampton has garnered multiple All-America awards. Hampton was named a first-team Walter Camp All-American and a second-team All-American on the AFCA, AP, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports/247Sports and Sporting News lists. He was also named to the College Football News All-American Honorable Mention team. JUNC has scored 30 or more points in 14 of its last 20 games.
Carolina has scored 50 times in 56 drives in the red zone this season. The Tar Heels have scored 35 TDs and have made 15 field goals when advancing into the red zone.
Mack Brown’s five bowl victories are the most by a head coach in North Carolina history.
In both matchups with the Mountaineers, the game was decided by seven points or less.
FROM THE NOTES
» Under Brown, the Tar Heels are 47-1 when they score 40-plus points and 71-8 when they score 30-plus points. » Since Mack Brown returned to take over the UNC program in 2019, Carolina owns a 38-26 overall record. 16 of the 26 losses have been by seven points or less with four setbacks coming in overtime. » Carolina opened the season in Charlotte with a 31-17 victory over South Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. » Following the regular season, four Tar Heels rank in the Top-50 for All-Purpose yards in the ACC. Omarion Hampton ranks second, J.J. Jones is 38th, Bryson Nesbit is 49th and wide receiver Nate McCollum is 50th. » The Tar Heels have only allowed points on their opponents’ opening drive three times this season. Last year, Carolina allowed points on their opponents’ opening drive in eight out of their 14 games. » In Conner Harrell’s lone appearance this season against Campbell, his 61-yard rush was the third longest from scrimmage and his 41-yard pass to Chris Culliver was the 15th longest pass this season for the Tar Heels. Both plays resulted in touchdowns in North Carolina’s 59-7 win over the Fighting Camels. » The 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl is the first game North Carolina will have a different quarterback other than Drake Maye behind center since Sam Howell started the 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl. » Omarion Hampton’s 1,442 rushing yards are the third most in a season by a Tar Heel. With a few yards separating third and second place, Hampton only needs 21 yards to move up to second place. » Hampton rushed for 100 yards in six straight games earlier this season. He became the first Tar Heel to rush for 100 yards in six straight games since Don McCauley ran for 100 yards in eight straight games in 1970. » Hampton became the first Tar Heel to have seven 100-yard rushing games in a season since Giovani Bernard in 2011. » Hampton is the first Tar Heel running back to have five games with multiple rushing touchdowns in a season since Javonte Williams in 2020. » Hampton’s 15 rushing touchdowns equal the sixth most in a single season in UNC history. » Hampton is currently tied with Amos Lawrence for the 9th most rushing attempts in a single season (234). » Hampton is one of three running backs in the country that has rushed for over 1,400 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. » Against Duke, Bryson Nesbit tied the UNC record for career touchdown receptions by a tight end. Nesbit and former teammate Kamari Morales currently share the UNC record with 10 touchdown catches. » Kaimon Rucker ranks third in the ACC with 8.5 sacks this season. Rucker needs a half sack to tie Greg Ellis and William Fuller for the 9th most sacks in a single season at UNC. » Rucker’s 81 sack yards are the most in the ACC and are tied for eighth in the FBS. » Carolina has recorded an interception in eight of its 11 games this season. The Tar Heels have recorded two interceptions in four of its 11 games this season.
WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS NOTES:
NOTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
• The 2023 season marks West Virginia’s 131st season of football. The Mountaineers are the 15th winningest program in college football • The Duke’s Mayo Bowl is WVU 40th bowl appearance in school history. The Mountaineers are one of 15 Power 5 teams who have reached a bowl game in 19 of the past 22 years • The Mountaineers are 16-23 all-time in bowl games and 1-1 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl • This marks the third time that WVU has played in the Charlotte-based bowl game, winning 31-30 against UNC in 2008 (Meineke Car Care Bowl) and dropping a contest with Virginia in the inaugural Charlotte bowl game (Continental Tire Bowl) in 2002. WVU also split a pair of regular-season games in the stadium, defeating Tennessee, 40-14, in 2018, and losing 30-23 to East Carolina in 1999 • Junior center Zach Frazier was one of 16 student-athletes nationally to be selected as a member of the National Football Foundation’s Scholar-Athlete team • Beanie Bishop Jr. and Frazier were WVU’s 111th and 112th All-America selections, including 48th and 49th since 2002. Bishop was the program’s 13th consensus All-American, second since 2020, earning a spot on nine teams. Frazier was named on eight All-America teams
2023 DUKE’S MAYO BOWL GARRETT GREENE
• Bishop and Frazier earned spots on the All-Big 12 Conference First Team and juniors offensive lineman Wyatt Milum and tight end Kole Taylor were on the second team • Freshman running back Jahiem White was named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America Team and On3’s True Freshman All-America Team, marking the eighth time in the past 10 years that WVU has had a player named to a freshman All-America team and 14th since 2005 • West Virginia has 2,812 rushing yards in 2023, ranking No. 1 among Power 5 schools. In Big 12 games, WVU was the only school to finish with more than 2,000 rushing yards (2,211) • WVU is No. 1 in the Big 12 and tied for No. 2 for fewest sacks allowed per game (9) • Among Power 5 schools, WVU has the longest streak of games with 140 or more rushing yards (15), three more than any other team • West Virginia’s defense has produced 6.1 tackles for loss per game, ranking No. 38 nationally • WVU has thrown seven interceptions in 2023, ranking No. 22 nationally for fewest number of interceptions thrown • WVU has produced 274 first downs this season, ranking No. 32 nationally • WVU is averaging 14.73 passing yards per completion this season, ranking No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 8 nationally • In Big 12 games, the Mountaineers lead the league in rushing yards per game (245.67) and in rushing touchdowns (24) • WVU is ranked No. 4 nationally in punt return defense, giving up 0.00 yards per punt • The Mountaineers are ranked No. 8 nationally in passing yards per completion (14.73) • Quarterback Garrett Greene is ranked No. 1 nationally in quarterback rushing touchdowns (13), No. 3 in passing yards per completion (16.13), No. 11 in rushing yards per carry (6.38), No. 18 in points responsible for per game (15.6), No. 19 in rushing touchdowns (13) and No. 20 in yards per pass attempt (8.57) • Bishop leads the nation in passes defended (24), breakups (20) and forced incompletions (17) and is No. 16 in interceptions (4). He needs just two breakups to become WVU’s single-season leader (22)
ON TURF
• Since 1980, West Virginia is 271-128-5 in games played on artificial turf surfaces. • WVU was 57-29 on turf in the 1990s, 66-21 on turf in the 2000s, 61-40 during the 2010s and 22-15 during the 2020s on turf
IN BOWLS
• The 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl is WVU’s 40th bowl appearance. West Virginia holds a 16-23 all-time record in bowl games, dating back to the 1922 East-West Game. • West Virginia went to a school-record 11 straight bowl games (2002-12) until the streak was snapped in 2013. A streak of five straight bowl games was played from 2014-18 before that streak ended in 2019. • This bowl game marks Neal Brown’s third in his five-year tenure as the head coach at West Virginia.
OVERTIME GAMES • The 27-21, double-overtime win over Baylor in 2020 marked the 15th and most recent overtime game in West Virginia history. The Mountaineers own a 7-8 record in overtime games. • West Virginia played its first overtime game against Pitt in 1997, dropping a three-overtime thriller, 41-38.
BROWN’S BOWL HISTORY • The 2023 Duke’s Mayo Bowl marks the sixth bowl game in which Neal Brown has coached in as a head coach. • However, it is the 11th bowl game in which he has coached as an assistant or head coach, in- cluding the third at West Virginia, three as the head coach at Troy, two as the assistant coach at Texas Tech and three as an assistant at Troy.
AGAINST THE BIG 12 • West Virginia is 81-61 all-time against current members of the Big 12 Conference. WVU is 8-4 vs. Baylor; 2-0 against BYU; 17-3-1 vs. Cincinnati; 0-1 against Houston, 6-5 against Iowa State; 10-2 vs. Kansas; 6-7 against Kansas State; 3-12 vs. Oklahoma; 5-10 against Oklahoma State; 8-5 vs. TCU; 6-6 against Texas; 7-6 vs. Texas Tech and 3-0 against UCF.
ON GRASS
• Since 1980, West Virginia is 58-72 in games played on natural grass. The Mountaineers were 20-20 during the 2010 decade, are 3-7 during the
AVERAGE PER DOWN
• Here’s a breakdown of how the 2023 West Virginia offense is operating on first, second, third and fourth down: • On first down, the Mountaineers have run 377 plays and have gained 2,500 yards for a 6.7 average. On second down, the Mountaineers have run 271 plays for 1,712 yards and a 6.3 average. On third down, the Mountaineers have run 161 plays for 901 yards and a 5.6 average gain. West Virginia has run 34 plays on fourth down for 145 yards and a 4.3 average. • WVU’s touchdowns have come 22 times on first down (14 rush/8 pass), 15 times on second down (10 rush/5 pass), eight times on third down (5 rush/3 pass) and three times on fourth down (2 rush/1 pass).
OFFENSIVE ANALYSIS
• Breaking down the West Virginia offensive numbers for the 2023 season shows that the Mountaineers have run 843 plays, 535 on the ground and 308 through the air. • The rushing game has totaled 2,812 yards, an average of 5.3 yards per carry and 31 touchdowns. The passing attack has totaled 2,446 yards, 17 touchdowns and an average of 14.7 yards per completion. • Combine the two and the Mountaineers have turned in 5,258 yards of total offense, 48 touchdowns, an average of 6.2 yards per play and an average of 31.6 points per game. • Deeper analysis shows that the Mountaineer offense has gained 152 first downs by the run and 95 via the pass. On average, West Virginia has totaled 234.3 yards per game on the ground, 203.8 yards per game passing and 438.2 yards per game of total offense.
AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
• Beginning with a 27-0 loss to Fordham on Oct. 18, 1941, West Virginia has played 171 games against nationally ranked teams. Of those, 51 have been Mountaineer victories. • Since 1999, WVU has posted 27 victories over ranked teams. Penn State was ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press and AFCA Coaches Polls and Oklahoma was No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 15.
NIGHT GAMES
• West Virginia is 88-77-3 all-time in games played after 5 p.m., including 45-49-1 on the road, 36-17-2 at home and 7-11 at a neutral site. • The first night game in WVU history was played at George Washington (L 19-0) in 1940.
