North Carolina and Wake Forest face each other on the football field for the third year in a row and the second-straight season in Chapel Hill. Saturday’s game is the conclusion of a two-game, home-and-home non-conference series that began in 2019 when Wake held serve at home, 24-18.
Last season, Sam Howell threw for program records 550 yards and six touchdowns, and scored the go-ahead rushing TD with 4:11 left to help Carolina rally past Wake Forest, 59-53. Howell’s 20-yard keeper capped a comeback from 21 down in the third quarter, tying the program record for largest comeback in a win. That was part of a run of 35 unanswered points after falling behind 45-24.
The two in-state rivals met every season between 1919 and 2004 (minus 1943) until ACC expansion took hold in the mid-2000’s. Carolina enjoys a commanding 43-18-2 edge in games played at home against the Demon Deacons. The Tar Heels have won the last three games
played in Kenan in 2011, 2015 and 2020, and have averaged 52.7 points per game. The last setback for Carolina at home in the series came all the way back in 2006, a 24-17 win for Wake.
About UNC
- Quarterback Sam Howell eclipsed 10,000 yards of total offense last Saturday in just his 33rd career game. He is 238 yards from Marquise William’s school record 10,423.
- Sam Howell became the first Carolina QB to ever have back-to-back 100-yard rushing games and has joined Marquise Williams as the only two to have three games in a season with 100 rushing yards.
- Sophomore wide receiver Josh Downs has been Sam Howell’s favorite target each of the first eight games of the 2021 season. Downs leads the ACC (3rd nationally) with 70 receptions and 979 receiving yards (4th nationally), and is tied for third in the league (7th nationally) with eight receiving TDs. Leads ACC with 10 catches of 30+ yards, is second nationally with 593 yards after catch and fourth nationally with 42 first downs.
- Tennessee transfer Ty Chandler ranks fifth in the ACC with 83.9 rushing yards per game and
fourth with nine rushing touchdowns.
- Carolina ranks second behind Wake Forest (52.1%) in the ACC by converting 49.5 percent (49 of 99) of its third-down opportunities. Nationally, the Demon Deacons are fifth, while the Tar Heels are ninth.
- Carolina sits fifth in the ACC with 280.8 yards per game through the air. UNC’s 20 TD passes are fifth in the league, with 19 coming from Sam Howell.
- Carolina and Florida State lead the ACC and are tied for 7th nationally with six plays of 60
or more yards. UNC also leads the ACC with 10 plays of 50+ yards and ranks second nationally behind only Liberty with 30 plays of 30+ yards.
- Carolina is seventh in the ACC by limiting opponents to only 221.0 passing yards per game. UNC has allowed less than 200 passing yards in five of eight games.
- Carolina already has 10 takeaways on defense through eight games in 2021 and rank tied for seventh in the ACC with seven interceptions. The Tar Heels created just 11 turnovers in 2020. Ja’Qurious Conley, Cedric Gray and Cam’Ron Kelly each have a pair of interceptions to lead the Tar Heel defense. Conley, Desmond Evans and Trey Morrison have each made a fumble recovery. Morrison scooped up a fumble and scored from 63 yards out against Duke. UNC has also forced five fumbles in 2021.
About Wake Forest
- Wake Forest has now started its season 8-0 for the first time in program history. The Deacons eight-game win streak is the program’s longest in school history. Eight games also marks the longest home winning streak in program history, extending the streak on Saturday. The Demon Deacons are one of just six remaining unbeaten schools in the country, one of four in the Power-5 and the only in the ACC.
- Averaging 43.4 points per game, Wake Forest is on pace to smash the school scoring record set last season of 36.0 points per game.
- Through eight games, 11 different Wake Forest defenders have forced turnovers including a team-high five from Traveon Redd and two from Caelen Carson.
- The Demon Deacon defense forced six turnovers in the victory (three fumbles and three interceptions), the most in the Dave Clawson era. The previous high was five at Indiana on Sept. 24, 2016. Additionally, the six turnovers forced are the most forced by a FBS team in a single game this season. Additionally, the Deacs again rank among the best in turnover margin and leads all Power-5 schools.
- In addition to turning the ball over the Demon Deacon defense also see themselves inside of the top-25 in a number of other categories: Sacks (13th, 3.00 per game), Passes Intercepted (24th, 8), TFL/G (15th, 6.8), Turnovers Gained (10th, 17), Fumble Recovered (7th, 9), Red Zone Defense (19th, .750) and 4th Down Conversion Pct. Defense (18th, .333%).
- Sam Hartman threw for 402 yards on Saturday, his fourth 300-yard passing game in a row and the 10th of his career. He is the only Wake Forest passer to have four consecutive 300-plus games in program history Additionally, Hartman tossed five touchdown passes and is third all-time in Wake Forest history with 55 career TD passes. Dating back to last season, Hartman has now thrown at least one touchdown pass in nine straight games. Over that stretch he has 28 touchdown passes to seven different receivers.
- Nick Sciba is on his way to becoming the most accurate kicker in NCAA history. During his time at Wake Forest, he is 70-of-78 (.897), the best mark for any kicker in NCAA and ACC history (min. 50 att). Additionally, Sciba holds the school record with 369 points for his career, breaking the school record on his final kick of the Virginia game. He also is 10th in ACC history in points, two points away from ninth.
- Through the first eight games of the season, A.T. Perry is on pace to potentially break the school record for touchdowns in a single season. He has totaled eight touchdown receptions. Perry went on a five-game streak of finding the endzone with seven scores of that period. Perry led the Deacs with seven catches for 116 yards against the Blue Devils, marking his third-consecutive game with over 100 receiving yards. He enters this week’s game against North Carolina just one game away from the program record. Additionally, Perry has totaled 716 yards (89.5 yd/g) this season ranking fifth in the ACC while his eight touchdowns has him tied for second in the conference and tied for eighth in program history. One more score would move him into the top five for a single season.
How to Watch
Time: 12:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: ABC
Live Video: ESPN APP
Announcers: Sean McDonough, play-by-play; Todd Blackledge, analyst; Molly McGrath, sideline