UNC notes: Preparation is key

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Winning a Thursday night game and breaking the 20-game losing streak outside the state of North Carolina was a positive step for the Tar Heels program, coach Butch Davis said.

But he’s hoping his team learned another valuable lesson by blowing out Rutgers 44-12: if you work hard before, you’ll get the results after.

“The preparation we had prior to tonight’s ballgame was about as good as we’ve had in the 18 months I’ve been a head coach,’’ he said. “We were very disappointed in ourselves, and the way we played a week ago against McNeese State, and I think our players really responded.

“We were tough on them in practice, we challenged them in everything that we did. We challenged them in the running game, we challenged them in covering kicks, we challenged them in getting to the quarterback, making good decisions. Tonight’s performance was a by-product [of that].”

TATE, AGAIN: After setting a school record with 397 all-purpose yards in Week One, senior wide receiver Brandon Tate caught four passes for a career-best 138 yards (including a career-long 69-yarder for a touchdown) Thursday.

And he wasn’t surprised that he was able to follow one outstanding performance with another.

“After the game I had last week, I just wanted to keep getting better and better,’’ he said. “… I pretty much knew I was going to come in and do OK.”

Said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano: He did the same stuff he did on tape – double moves, two double moves, he ran double moves all last year. It was all stuff that they had done.”

Yet the Scarlet Knights couldn’t stop it.

GREAT ON THIRD: Carolina’s defense snagged four interceptions and had one sack, but another sign of its solid play: Rutgers finished 0-for-9 on third-down conversions.

“When you have success on third downs … it’s almost not about third down, but how you played first and second down,’’ Davis said. “If you’re at third-and one, two or three, you’re probably not going to do a very good job of keeping them from making third downs.

“If you’re having some success in your pressure and batting some balls down – I thought our pass defense at times was very, very good – that brought up a lot of second-and-10s and second-and-12s. … If you can take teams and put them off track, it gives you a chance for better third down defense.”

APOLOGIES: Rutgers fans started booing in the second quarter, and exiting in the third. Schiano said he was sorry about his team’s performance.

“It was a night game, and if you fall behind like we did, fans want to get home and get to bed,’’ he said. “We didn’t play very well. We didn’t give our loyal fans something to stick around for, and I think I speak for all our team when I say that we apologize for that. We have great fans that support us and we need to do our part. We will go back to work. Don’t count us out, is all I can say."

ELZY OK: With 9:46 left in the first quarter, fullback Anthony  Elzy had to be helped off the field after he missed a pass from Yates, and went forehead-first into the ground on a tackly by linebacker Kevin Malast. He was diagnosed with a strained neck, but returned later in the quarter.

BRIEFLY: Davis said Wednesday he had decided on a back-up quarterback, but wouldn't disclose who it was.

Looks like it's Mike Paulus, who intered the game in the fourth quarter and was 0-for-1.