Mack Brown was 1-1-1 in his first three games against Georgia Tech.
The Tar Heels go to Atlanta this weekend, and all the preseason hype they generated caused Georgia Tech to move the game from cozy-and-crowded Grant Field to massive Mercedes Benz Stadium, home of the NFL Falcons and many big-time college and pro events.
Not only will it be a thrill for the Carolina team, there won’t be a capacity crowd (71,000) in the massive, modern structure, which should mitigate much of the Yellow Jackets’ on-campus, home-field advantage.
Brown recalled his first three games against Tech as the UNC coach — a win, a loss and a tie, each with a story behind it.
All Carolina fans (plus the ABCers) remember Brown was 1-10 and 1-10 in his first two seasons in Chapel Hill. The 1988 game was in Kenan Stadium, and the two head coaches agreed on one thing.
“Bobby Ross was their head coach,” Brown said, “and he predicted we were about to play the worst game in the history of college football.”
It was UNC’s only victory in that first 1-10 season, a 20-17 win in Kenan Stadium, when Brown started freshman Todd Burnett at quarterback after losing his first six games, mostly blowouts, with other QBs.
Burnett threw a touchdown pass and Kennard Martin ran for 92 yards and a score; Tech missed a potential tying field goal on the last snap. The two head coaches agreed afterward it was a bad game.
The next year, the Tar Heels lost a three-pointer in Atlanta, one of 10 straight defeats after Carolina blew out VMI in the opener. But the teams were improving. “It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when,” Brown said of the program he was building.
In 1990, both teams entered the October 20 game with winning records, UNC at 4-2 and Georgia Tech undefeated and ranked. The Heels led 13-10 before the Jackets kicked a field goal in the 4th quarter.
“Our students tore down the goal posts, and Georgia Tech went on to win the national championship,” Brown recalled. “Someone said, ‘Well, at least you tied Georgia Tech.’ I said, ‘No, they tied us.’”
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