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2002 North Carolina

3–⁠9 (1–⁠7 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by John Bunting.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 2002, game by game: lost vs. Miami (OH) 21–27; won at Syracuse 30–22; lost vs. No. 3 Texas 21–52; lost vs. Georgia Tech 13–21; won at Arizona State 38–35; lost vs. No. 14 NC State 17–34; lost at Virginia 27–37; lost at Wake Forest 0–31; lost vs. Maryland 7–59; lost vs. Clemson 12–42; lost at No. 15 Florida State 14–40; won at Duke 23–21+8−52Lost 21–27 vs. Miami (OH)-6Miami (OH)Won 30–22 at Syracuse+8SyracuseLost 21–52 vs. No. 3 Texas-31No. 3 TexasLost 13–21 vs. Georgia Tech-8Georgia TechWon 38–35 at Arizona State+3Arizona StateLost 17–34 vs. No. 14 NC State-17No. 14 NC StateLost 27–37 at Virginia-10VirginiaLost 0–31 at Wake Forest-31Wake ForestLost 7–59 vs. Maryland-52MarylandLost 12–42 vs. Clemson-30ClemsonLost 14–40 at No. 15 Florida State-26No. 15 Florida StateWon 23–21 at Duke+2Duke
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsMiami (OH)L 21–⁠2767%
Sep 7atSyracuseW 30–⁠2235%
Sep 14vs3TexasL 21–⁠5244%
Sep 28vsGeorgia TechL 13–⁠2149%
Oct 5atArizona StateW 38–⁠3538%
Oct 12vs14NC StateL 17–⁠3447%
Oct 19atVirginiaL 27–⁠3739%
Oct 26atWake ForestL 0–⁠3144%
Nov 2vsMarylandL 7–⁠5936%
Nov 9vsClemsonL 12–⁠4244%
Nov 16at15Florida StateL 14–⁠4012%
Nov 23atDukeW 23–⁠2158%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Duke 23–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 115th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 2002.

Record
3–⁠9
Conference
1–⁠7 8th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
223–⁠421
Coach
John Bunting
Elo
1415 −161 this season
SP+ rating
-4.4 No. 73 of 117; offense No. 76, defense No. 71
SRS
−7.5 No. 80 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 49
Offensive coordinator
Gary Tranquill
Defensive coordinator
Dave Huxtable
Captains
Sam Aiken, Dexter Reid and Ronald Brewer
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Top recruits in the 2002 class

Michael Gilmore CB★★★No. 670
Mahlon Carey ATH★★★No. 670
D.J. Walker APB★★★No. 670
Whit Efird OT★★★No. 670
Rashaad Tindall ATH★★No. 898

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2002 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.800
Receivers12.00.767
Offensive line22.50.783
Defensive line22.00.767
Defensive backs32.30.778
Athletes and specialists22.50.783
Whole class112.40.779

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2003

The 2003 draft
Rd 4Sam Aiken WRBuffalo Bills

All-ACC

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2002 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2002 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida State7–⁠19–⁠521
Maryland6–⁠211–⁠313
Virginia6–⁠29–⁠522
NC State5–⁠311–⁠312
Georgia Tech4–⁠47–⁠6
Clemson4–⁠47–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠57–⁠6
North Carolina1–⁠73–⁠9
Duke0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.