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North Carolina at Oklahoma Position by Position August 20, 2001 Quarterback- Nate Hybl vs. Ronald Curry Nate Hybl will get his first chance to wrestle with that monkey that will be on his back all year, the legend of Heupel. Hybl has a great surrounding cast and tremendous physical skills. Curry is a exceptional athlete who poses problems for most defenses because of his great speed and rifle arm. Curry doesn't have close to the surrounding cast that Hybl has, but does have a strong receiver in Bosley Allen and has much more experience. Advantage- North Carolina
Running Back- Quentin Griffin vs. Willie Parker / Brandon Russell Brandon Russell had a rough freshman season with 508 yards in eight games then lost his job to Willie Parker who rushed for a total of 355 yards in 2000. Put them together and they still don't come close to Quentin Griffin. You won't see Oklahoma be outplayed at running back too many times this season if Griffin stays healthy, expect big things from #22 this year. Advantage- Oklahoma
Receiver- Savage, Fagan, Woolfolk, Mackey, Norman, etc. vs. Allen, Bailey, Aiken, etc. No need to go too in-depth here. Bosley Allen is pretty talented, but that's about it. Oklahoma's talent pool is extremely deep. Advantage- Oklahoma
Offensive Line- Oklahoma has 3 returning starters. North Carolina has 1 returning starter. Oklahoma is in much better shape than UNC with three guys coming back to the Heels one, but it goes far beyond that. The Sooners have been questioned for the last two years before the season at this position and ended up with terrific crews. Why? Mark Mangino was last year's national assistant coach of the year. Advantage- Oklahoma
Defensive Line- Heinecke, Klein, Harris, & Cody vs. Peppers, Sims, Chapman, & Evans. When it comes to stars the Tar Heels may have the best player in the country in Julius Peppers and have a rising star in tackle Ryan Sims. However, Oklahoma has overachievers Cory Heinecke (once a walk-on) and Kory Klein back along with the sophomore year for freshman standout Dan Cody who put on 40 pounds in the off-season. Oh, and the other guy is named Tommie Harris, I heard he could play. Advantage- Oklahoma
Linebacker- Calmus, Lehman, & Moore vs. Thornton, Harris, & Monk. Oklahoma lost Torrance Marshall, but returns the nation's best linebacker in Rocky Calmus, an experienced senior in Brandon Moore, and a talented sophomore by the name of Teddy Lehman who runs a 4.38 40-yard dash. The Heels lost Sedrick Hodge and Brandon Spoon and their only returning starter was beat out in spring. Advantage- Oklahoma
Secondary- Strait, Everage, Williams, & Woolfolk vs. Waddell, Greenwood, Reid, & Hood. North Carolina's secondary is a lot better than most want to give them credit for and will be a good test for Nate Hybl in his first ever start. Hood can flat out play and the others are good college DB's. However, Oklahoma has the best safety and one of the best corners in the country with Derrick Strait. Woolfolk and Everage aren't too shabby either. OU has the nation's best. Advantage- Oklahoma
Special Teams- Ferguson and Duncan vs. Reed and Lafferty A week ago things looked interesting with Jeff Ferguson against brother Zack Ferguson, but Zack left UNC leading to a verbal attack from Head Coach John Bunting that was almost Bob Knight caliber. Jeff Reed is a solid kicker, but Tim Duncan may be the best in the country. North Carolina almost makes it even with Bosley Allen as a return man and Oklahoma's Perkins and Clayton unproven. Advantage- Oklahoma
Coaching- Stoops vs. Bunting. We don't know how good Bunting is, but we do know how good Oklahoma is. This is a category that Oklahoma is pretty dominant in. Advantage- Oklahoma
Intangibles- (Home Field, Upperclassmen, Return Starters, Recent W/L Percentage) The intangibles in this game are a landslide, the Sooners lost three more lettermen and return one more starter, have the home field where they are unbeaten under Stoops, and are coming off of a National Championship while UNC went 6-5 in 2000. Advantage- Oklahoma
Summary- It may look ridiculous when one team leads all but one category, especially when a team with a respectable past like North Carolina comes to town. Get used to it, Oklahoma's match-ups will look a lot like this for the rest of the season, they're just that good.
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