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 finished the season 11–1 overall, 7–1 in the conference.
1997 North Carolina Tar Heels football | |
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Gator Bowl champion | |
Gator Bowl, W 42–3 vs. Virginia Tech | |
Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | No. 4 |
AP | No. 6 |
Record | 11–1 (7–1 ACC) |
Head coach |
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Offensive coordinator | Greg Davis (2nd season) |
Defensive coordinator | Carl Torbush (10th season) |
Captain | Greg Ellis, Vonnie Holliday, Jonathan Linton, Jeff Saturday, Brian Simmons |
Home stadium | Kenan Memorial Stadium |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 3 Florida State $ | 8 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 6 North Carolina | 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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
editDate | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
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September 6 | 12:00 p.m. | Indiana* | No. 7 | ESPN2 | W 23–6 | 57,800 | |
September 13 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 17 Stanford* | No. 7 |
| ESPN2 | W 28–17 | 57,800 |
September 20 | 12:00 p.m. | at Maryland | No. 6 | JPS | W 40–14 | 30,084 | |
September 27 | 12:00 p.m. | Virginia | No. 5 |
| ABC | W 48–20 | 57,800 |
October 4 | 8:05 p.m. | at TCU* | No. 5 | W 31–10 | 29,415 | ||
October 11 | 12:00 p.m. | Wake Forest | No. 5 |
| JPS | W 30–12 | 57,000 |
October 18 | 6:00 p.m. | at NC State | No. 4 | ESPN2 | W 20–7 | 51,500 | |
October 30 | 8:00 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | No. 5 | ESPN | W 16–13 | 45,126 | |
November 8 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 3 Florida State | No. 5 |
| ESPN | L 3–20 | 62,000 |
November 15 | 3:30 p.m. | at Clemson | No. 8 | ABC | W 17–10 | 71,514 | |
November 22 | 12:00 p.m. | Duke | No. 8 |
| JPS | W 50–14 | 53,500 |
January 1, 1998 | 12:30 p.m. | vs. Virginia Tech* | No. 7 | NBC | W 42–3 | 54,116 | |
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Roster
edit1997 North Carolina Tar Heels football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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Rankings
editWeek | ||||||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
AP | 7 (4) | 7 (4) | 7 (4) | 7 (2) | 6 (1) | 5 (2) | 5 (2) | 5 (2) | 4 (2) | 4 (2) | 5 (2) | 5 (2) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
Coaches Poll | 8 (1) | 8 (1) | 8 (1) | 8 (1) | 7 (1) | 5 (1) | 5 (1) | 5 (1) | 4 (1) | 4 (1) | 5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
Game summaries
editVs. Virginia Tech (Gator Bowl)
edit
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Players in the 1998 NFL Draft
editPlayer | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club | Ref |
Greg Ellis | DE | 1 | 8 | Dallas Cowboys | [2] |
Brian Simmons | LB | 1 | 17 | Cincinnati Bengals | [2] |
Vonnie Holliday | DE | 1 | 19 | Green Bay Packers | [2] |
Omar Brown | S | 4 | 103 | Atlanta Falcons | [2] |
Kivuusama Mays | LB | 4 | 110 | Minnesota Vikings | [2] |
Robert Williams | CB | 5 | 128 | Kansas City Chiefs | [2] |
Jonathan Linton | FB | 5 | 131 | Buffalo Bills | [2] |
References
edit- ^ "In Gator, UNC Gives Hokies a 'Good Whuppin',' 42-3". The Washington Post. January 2, 1998. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "1998 NFL Draft". pro-football-reference.com.