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2009 North Carolina

8–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Butch Davis. Officially 0–⁠5: the NCAA vacated eight regular-season wins.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “In 2011, North Carolina vacated all its wins from the 2008 season and 2009 seasons.”

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 2009, game by game: won vs. The Citadel 40–6; won at UConn 12–10; won vs. East Carolina 31–17; lost at Georgia Tech 7–24; lost vs. Virginia 3–16; won vs. Georgia Southern 42–12; lost vs. Florida State 27–30; won at No. 14 Virginia Tech 20–17; won vs. Duke 19–6; won vs. No. 12 Miami 33–24; won at Boston College 31–13; lost at NC State 27–28; lost vs. No. 17 Pittsburgh 17–19+34−17Won 40–6 vs. The Citadel+34The CitadelWon 12–10 at UConn+2UConnWon 31–17 vs. East Carolina+14East CarolinaLost 7–24 at Georgia Tech-17Georgia TechLost 3–16 vs. Virginia-13VirginiaWon 42–12 vs. Georgia Southern+30Georgia SouthernLost 27–30 vs. Florida State-3Florida StateWon 20–17 at No. 14 Virginia Tech+3No. 14 Virginia TechWon 19–6 vs. Duke+13DukeWon 33–24 vs. No. 12 Miami+9No. 12 MiamiWon 31–13 at Boston College+18Boston CollegeLost 27–28 at NC State-1NC StateLost 17–19 vs. No. 17 Pittsburgh-2No. 17 Pittsburgh
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsThe CitadelW 40–⁠6vacated86%
Sep 12atUConnW 12–⁠10vacated41%
Sep 19vsEast CarolinaW 31–⁠17vacated64%
Sep 26atGeorgia TechL 7–⁠2446%
Oct 3vsVirginiaL 3–⁠1674%
Oct 10vsGeorgia SouthernW 42–⁠12vacated78%
Oct 22vsFlorida StateL 27–⁠3054%
Oct 29at14Virginia TechW 20–⁠17vacated22%
Nov 7vsDukeW 19–⁠6vacated63%
Nov 14vs12MiamiW 33–⁠24vacated50%
Nov 21atBoston CollegeW 31–⁠13vacated36%
Nov 28atNC StateL 27–⁠2867%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvs17PittsburghMeineke Car Care BowlL 17–⁠1940%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Pittsburgh 19–⁠17 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 36th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 24
  4. Wk 4: 22
  5. Wk 13: 23
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 19
Points
309–⁠222
Coach
Butch Davis
Elo
1600 +57 this season
SP+ rating
8.5 No. 39 of 120; offense No. 86, defense No. 15, special teams No. 37
SRS
8.4 No. 26 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 12
Offensive coordinator
John Shoop
Defensive coordinator
Everett Withers
Captains
Jordan Hemby, Kyle Jolly, Quan Sturdivant, Cam Thomas, Kennedy Tinsley and E.J. Wilson
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense99th of 120
  • Defense9th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted111th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted6th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0138%0.8199th of 120
Defense-0.0339%0.809th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.00 off
-0.03 def		39% off
38% def		—111th off
6th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.4own 323% allowed
Defense-0.2own 345% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsT.J. Yates QB2,136 yds
Passing touchdownsT.J. Yates QB14 TD
Rushing yardsRyan Houston 713 yds
Rushing touchdownsRyan Houston 9 TD
Receiving yardsGreg Little WR724 yds
Receiving touchdownsGreg Little WR5 TD
InterceptionsDeunta Williams S6 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Donte Moss WDE★★★★★No. 26
Jheranie Boyd WR★★★★No. 41
Bryn Renner PRO★★★★No. 76
Donavan Tate ATH★★★★No. 116
Justin Dixon ILB★★★★No. 154
Jared McAdoo DT★★★★No. 167
Brennan Williams OT★★★★No. 174
Josh Hunter CB★★★★No. 241

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.964
Running backs13.00.857
Receivers43.50.884
Offensive line23.50.888
Defensive line24.50.956
Linebackers33.70.882
Defensive backs33.70.872
Athletes and specialists43.30.863
Whole class203.60.888

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 4E.J. Wilson DESeattle Seahawks
Rd 5Cam Thomas DTSan Diego Chargers

Roster 101

The 2009 roster

101 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

2009 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia Tech7–⁠111–⁠313
Virginia Tech6–⁠210–⁠310
Clemson6–⁠29–⁠524
Miami5–⁠39–⁠419
Boston College5–⁠38–⁠5
North Carolina4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida State4–⁠47–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠55–⁠7
Duke3–⁠55–⁠7
NC State2–⁠65–⁠7
Virginia2–⁠63–⁠9
Maryland1–⁠72–⁠10

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