CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina football coach Butch Davis said Monday that no decision has been made between T.J. Yates and Cameron Sexton about the starting quarterback job Saturday at Duke.
“We’re going to play the guy who will give us the best chance to win,” Davis said at his weekly media conference. “We’re going to watch both of them in practice and get them both prepared.”
Yates got the start in last weekend’s 41-10 loss to N.C. State in Kenan Stadium. He completed 10 of 22 passes for 116 yards and was intercepted once. Sexton relieved in the fourth quarter and threw two interceptions.
“There some mechanical things T.J. didn’t do well that hurt his performance,” Davis said. “We have to get some of those flaws fixed, but it’s awfully to fix those things during the course of a game.”
Davis added that his staff is preparing to see Duke’s Thaddeus Lewis at quarterback in the final regular-season game. Injuries forced Lewis and tailback teammate Clifford Harris to the sidelines in the Blue Devils’ 14-3 loss at Virginia Tech. Zack Asack subbed for Lewis but completed only two passes for 20 yards.
“Lewis,” Davis said, “is very similar to [State’s] Russell Wilson in that he throws the ball very well but also the ability to extend plays with his legs.”
But more than any of the Blue Devils, Davis made it clear that he’s primarily concerned about his team, which needs a win to stay in contention for a Chick-fil-A Bowl bid in Atlanta.
“This is about us. This isn’t about Duke,” Davis said. “It’s about us bouncing back and us playing up to our own expectations.”
Comments
We're going to be fine.
Tue, 11/25/2008 - 10:45 — tarheelvp91Duke is nothing. They are undermanned and undersized and underskilled. We barely schemed for them last season and beat them. They hired an offensive guru to face a Super-Bowl champion defensive guru? Uhhh, NO. He beat Weis and he'll beat what's-his-name from Dook. Like Davis said, this game is about us. We need to get back to playing Carolina football; KEEP Yates in because his upside is far better than Sexton's--that is, it exists; and make a good mark to ready for the bowl game.
GREAT point about recruiting. Even in light of this loss, the commits are pouring in. Make no mistake about it, O'Brien's statement was to try and bolster their recruiting, in a jealous light of ours. 5-6 is still what players see. I predict they'll lose to Miami and not even have a postseason. Anyone can start off horribly and then sneak up on everyone later. O'Brien is a good coach and we should have had our boys ready. Butch IS going to need to upgrade his view of in-state rivalries. They really do matter, and teams really are fired up at their mention.
We'll be fine. FAR too much talent from head to toe to be worried. Notice that Butch's retort to O'Briens recruitment attempt implicates many seasons ahead. :)
GO HEELS
I find it interesting
Mon, 11/24/2008 - 20:33 — UNC1998that 3 top recruits have commited to UNC since it's defeat at the hands of NCSU Sat. One recruit has switched from S. Carolina to UNC, one commited Sat. morning before the game, and one on Monday. UNC's class is rating as 9th best in the country by one "recruiting service". I do not normally pay attention to these things, but think it is evidence of UNC's program building plan. I was very disappointed, but am still excited about the future of the program.
How about the rest of the team join him,
Mon, 11/24/2008 - 19:01 — UNC1998and play. All kidding aside, I don't blame the coaches. It's there job to put the team in the best position to win. If that means whoever practices best on Friday, so be it.
They better go to Duke looking to play hard, because I'm sure Duke saw the last score, and they'll come out kicking.