FanHouse CameronSexton

Leading up to the game with North Carolina, Notre Dame fans were voicing their displeasure that their team was 4-1 and unranked. This was the first time the Irish have been4-1 and unranked. Well, North Carolina made that point moot today with a 29-24 victory. And they had a lot of help from Notre Dame not being able to hold on to the ball. Notre Dame turned the ball over five times, while the Tar Heels had zero turnovers.

Irish quarterback, Jimmy Clausen had a strong day passing the ball for 384 yards and two touchdowns. But one of his two interceptions was taken back for a touchdown. That play, at the start of the third quarter tuned the momentum of the game. From then on out, North Carolina looked and played like the better team, outscoring Notre Dame 20-7 in the second half.

On the next to last play of the game, Clausen hit Michael Floyd for 24 yards at the North Carolina 19. Floyd fumbled the ball on the play and North Carolina recovered. With the crowd going wild and both teams walking on to the field to shake hands, the play was reviewed for what seemed like 10 minutes before a ruling that the play on the field stood. It was a weird scene waiting for the results, and kept the final outcome in question with Notre Dame so close. But the luck of the Irish ran out today, and Notre Dame fans can go back to worrying about things other than their team being ranked.

North Carolina, on the other hand is right in the mix for a shot at the ACC title game. With Virginia, NC State, Duke, and Maryland still on the schedule, things are certainly looking up. Also, with backup turned starter Cameron Sexton coming on strong at quarterback and not making mistakes while moving the team, questions about the offense might be put to rest.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have played Furman five times in the past 104 years. The first meeting took place way back in 1902 with the "New Old Blue" winning in an offensive shootout 10-0.

The most recent meeting, however, was quite forgettable for the Heels, losing in embarrassing fashion 28-3 in 1999.

The sixth meeting between the two schools takes place Saturday when redshirt freshman quarterback Cameron Sexton makes his first career start for North Carolina.

If you're wondering whether Sexton will be motivated by the 1999 loss, don't count on it. He was just 13 years old at the time.

Here are all the scores from the UNC-Furman series:

1999 vs. Furman L 3-28
1992 vs. Furman W 28-0
1980 vs. Furman W 35-13
1916 vs. Furman W 46-0
1902 vs. Furman W 10-0

North Carolina football coach John Bunting announced today that Nebraska transfer Joe Dailey will start at quarterback for the Tar Heels against Rutgers this Saturday.

Dailey had been in a competetive battle with redshirt freshman Cameron Sexton for the starting job, however, Bunting did say that Sexton would also play in the opener.

Personally, I think this is a smart move on Bunting's part. Dailey's got game experience (although with mixed success) at Nebraska, while Sexton has yet to take a college snap.

And after reading Sexton's comments in the Fayetteville Observer this morning about Dailey being "the enemy," it sounds as if Sexton has yet to grasp the concept of being a team player.