bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
CHAPEL HILL -- The North Carolina football team is back in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, a week after missing out on being ranked by one point. It's the first time UNC is back in the poll after being ranked the first four weeks of the season when it got as high as 19th.
The Tar Heels are also the fifth team from the ACC to be ranked -- Georgia Tech (7), Virginia Tech (14), Clemson (15) and Miami (19) -- to give the much-criticized conference the most ranked teams in the poll.
Four weeks ago it seemed unlikely that UNC would win another game, yet alone climb its way back into the rankings.
But with a 31-13 victory over Boston College on Saturday, the Tar Heels (8-3, 4-3) proved they are peaking at just the right time. UNC is on a four-game winning streak, the longest stretch of wins for the program since winning five consecutive games in 2001. It has a chance to tie that mark as it heads to N.C. State (noon, ESPN2) this week for its final game of the regular season. The Wolfpack (4-7, 1-6) are all that stand between the Tar Heels and the program's most wins since going 11-1 in 1997.
And there's no question that the defense has been the difference during this stretch. Saturday marked the second straight game UNC's defense has scored two touchdowns as it forced Boston College to turn the ball over six times. But while the defense has surged the past few weeks, the offense has struggled to score. The Tar Heels have just six offensive touchdowns the past four games and turned the ball over three times against BC.
"We're not really holding up our end of the bargain on offense. If the defense has half the day that it did [Saturday] we might have had a lot closer game than it was," said UNC quarterback T.J. Yates, who threw three interceptions. "It definitely takes a big burden off the offense but it's also frustrating at the same time because if our offense is on all cylinders we win that game by a lot more."
