UNC recorded its first shutout since 1999 last week against Elon. PHOTO: Robert Willett

CHAPEL HILL — After North Carolina’s 62-0 victory against Elon on Saturday, coach Larry Fedora and others made it clear that the Tar Heels still had much work to do. The most glaring of those issues involved the pacing on offense, which Fedora and offensive coordinator Blake Anderson found far too slow.

But what about the defense? The Tar Heels on Saturday shut out an opponent for the first time. They allowed less than 3 yards per play. Was there anything that stood out there, like the pacing on offense, that clearly needed work? I asked Fedora that on Wednesday.

“No, not really,” he said. “Not really. You held them to 1.2 yards a rush. You created four turnovers. You did some really nice things. But there were a couple of third down situations we’d have liked to have got off the field and eventually we stopped those drives but you’d like to get off earlier.”

I wrote a story you can read here about what, exactly, UNC took from such a dominant defensive performance – but one that came against a clearly-overmatched opponent.

UNC players Jonathan Cooper, James Hurst, Kevin Reddick and Sylvester Williams are all on preseason award watch lists. PHOTO: Robert Willett

CHAPEL HILL — The lead up to a college football season means a lot of things. Preseason magazines. Preseason polls. And, of course, preseason award watch lists. North Carolina has four players on watch lists that came out today.

No suspensions will be assessed to North Carolina’s Kevin Reddick or N.C. State’s Jarvis Williams for their roles in an end-zone scuffle Saturday, ACC associate commissioner Michael Kelly said today.

Both players were given personal fouls and ejected from the 29-25 N.C. State win, but referee Brad Allen’s report categorized them as flagrant fouls, not fighting fouls. The latter would have warranted one-game suspensions.

North Carolina linebacker Kevin Reddick and defensive lineman Mike McAdoo awoke in a hotel this morning after their Durham apartment was destroyed by fire Saturday.

Reddick and McAdoo lost everything, and while they have renter's insurance, there's plenty they can't replace, including the ring commemorating the state title Reddick won at New Bern, or the iPad full of pictures of his 11-month-old daughter.

“I’ve just been trying to stay focused and not let it get me down,” Reddick said. “It got me down the first couple days. I’m just trying to blow it off, but it’s not the easiest thing to blow off.”

UNC released its two-deep chart for Saturday's opener against The Citadel (6 p.m.). There were few surprises but among the highlights:

• Sophomore Zach Brown will get the starting nod at weakside linebacker over freshman Kevin Reddick. Brown, the hero of timing day with a 4.28 in the 40, played primarily on special teams last season.

Football recruits Kevin Reddick and Josh Adams are both enrolled at UNC for the spring semester, a school spokesman confirmed, meaning they will be able to participate in spring drills and get a jump-start on the 2009 season.

But with the February 4 signing date approaching, it's still not totally certain who all will join them on the team next fall.