2012 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The 2012 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by first-year head coach Larry Fedora and played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium. The Tar Heels finished the season 8–4 overall and 5–3 in ACC play to tie for first in the Coastal Division with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Miami Hurricanes. Due to NCAA sanctions imposed in the wake of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill football scandal, North Carolina was ineligible for the conference title and banned for postseason play for the 2012 season.

2012 North Carolina Tar Heels football
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
DivisionCoastal
2012 record8–4 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBlake Anderson (1st season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorDan Disch (1st season)
Base defense4–2–5
CaptainGiovani Bernard, Jonathan Cooper, Pete Mangum, Kevin Reddick, Sylvester Williams
Home stadiumKenan Memorial Stadium
(capacity: 62,980)
2012 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Atlantic Division
No. 10 Florida State xy$  7 –1   12 –2  
No. 11 Clemson x  7 –1   11 –2  
NC State  4 –4   7 –6  
Wake Forest  3 –5   5 –7  
Maryland  2 –6   4 –8  
Boston College  1 –7   2 –10  
Coastal Division
Georgia Tech xy  5 –3   7 –7  
North Carolina†  5 –3   8 –4  
Miami‡  5 –3   7 –5  
Virginia Tech  4 –4   7 –6  
Duke  3 –5   6 –7  
Virginia  2 –6   4 –8  
Championship: Florida State 21, Georgia Tech 15
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • † North Carolina ineligible for ACC title, championship game, and bowl game due to NCAA sanctions.[1]
    ‡ Miami ineligible for ACC title, championship game, and bowl game due to self-imposed sanctions.[1]
Rankings from AP Poll

Sanctions from scandal
Main article: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill football scandal

On March 12, 2012, the university was notified of penalties issued by the NCAA Committee on Infractions for violations discovered in the 2010 season. North Carolina was banned from all postseason play in 2012, including bowl games and the ACC Championship Game.[2] Also, UNC was placed probation for three years and lost five scholarships per season for three seasons beginning with the recruiting class of 2013.[3]

Recruiting

National Signing Day was on February 1, 2012 and was the first chance for high school seniors to officially declare which university or college they will be attending for their college career. North Carolina had 23 high school seniors sign a National Letter of Intent to play football with them. Terrance Knox and Shakeel Rashad both graduated from high school early and enrolled at UNC in January 2012.[4]

Coaching staff

New football coach Larry Fedora officially took over as the head coach at UNC on January 1, 2012. He signed a 7-year contract worth more than $1.7 million annually.[5] He takes over a team that is banned from a bowl game for the 2012–13 season.

Name.[6]PositionSeasons in Position
Larry Fedora Head Coach 1st
Deke Adams Defensive Line 1st
Blake Anderson Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks 1st
Walt Bell Tight Ends 1st
Gunter Brewer Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers 1st (6th Overall at UNC)
Dan Disch Defensive Coordinator 1st
David Duggan Defensive Assistant/Special Teams Coordinator 1st
Randy Jordan Running Backs Coach 1st
Chris Kapilovic Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line 1st
Vic Koenning Associate Head Coach for Defense 1st
Lou Hernandez Strength and Conditioning Coordinator 1st

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 112:30 p.m.Elon*
ACCNW 62–050,500
September 83:00 p.m.at Wake Forest
ACCRSNL 27–2829,526
September 153:30 p.m.at No. 19 Louisville*
ABC/ESPN2L 34–3953,334
September 223:30 p.m.East Carolina*
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ESPNUW 27–659,500
September 293:30 p.m.Idaho*
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ACCRSNW 66–032,000
October 612:30 p.m.Virginia Tech
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ACCNW 48–3454,000
October 132:30 p.m.at Miami (FL)
ESPNUW 18–1458,954
October 207:00 p.m.at Duke
ESPNUL 30–3333,941
October 2712:30 p.m.North Carolina State
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)
ACCNW 43–3562,000
November 1012:30 p.m.Georgia Tech
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ACCNL 50–6850,000
November 157:30 p.m.at Virginia
ESPNW 37–1345,760
November 243:00 p.m.Maryland
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ACCRSNW 45–3844,000
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Elon
Week 1: Elon Phoenix
1 2 34Total
Phoenix 0 0 000
Tar Heels 14 21 27062

at Kenan Memorial Stadium

  • Date: September 1, 2012
  • Game time: 12:30 pm
  • Game weather: 89 °F (32 °C), sunny
  • Game attendance: 50,500
  • Referee: David Epperley
  • TV: ACC Network
Game information

North Carolina started a new era under head coach Larry Fedora with the first shutout since beating Duke 38–0 to finish the 1999 season. The last time UNC scored 62 points was in the 1995 season against Ohio, which is only 3 points shy of the school record. Giovani Bernard scored 3 touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving, and one punt return), all before sitting out the entire second half of the game. Carolina also completed passes to 14 different receivers, including one reception by quarterback Bryn Renner. The Tar Heels also set a school and ACC record with 260 punt return yards during the game.[7]

Wake Forest
Week 2: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
1 2 34Total
Tar Heels 7 7 10327
Demon Deacons 7 14 0728

at Groves Stadium

  • Date: September 8, 2012
  • Game time: 3:00 pm
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), rainy then overcast
  • Game attendance: 29,526
  • Referee: Gary Patterson
  • TV: Regional Sports Network
Game information

Louisville
Week 3: Louisville Cardinals
1 2 34Total
Tar Heels 0 7 72034
Cardinals 15 21 0339

at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium

  • Date: September 15, 2012
  • Game time: 3:30 pm
  • Game weather: 76 °F (24 °C), partly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 53,334
  • Referee: B. Allen
  • TV: ESPN2/ABC
Game information

East Carolina
Week 4: East Carolina Pirates
1 2 34Total
Pirates 0 6 006
Tar Heels 7 3 14327

at Kenan Stadium

  • Date: September 22, 2012
  • Game time: 3:30 pm
  • Game weather: 83 °F (28 °C), sunny
  • Game attendance: 59,500
  • Referee: Brad Roger
  • TV: ESPNU
Game information

Idaho
Week 5: Idaho Vandals
1 2 34Total
Vandals 0 0 000
Tar Heels 28 17 14766

at Kenan Stadium

  • Date: September 29, 2012
  • Game time: 3:30 pm
  • Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C), light rain
  • Game attendance: 32,000
  • Referee: Walt Davenport
  • TV: RSN
Game information

Virginia Tech
Week 6: Virginia Tech Hokies
1 2 34Total
Hokies 14 6 6834
Tar Heels 14 14 17348

at Kenan Stadium

  • Date: October 6, 2012
  • Game time: 12:30 pm
  • Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C), sunny
  • Game attendance: 54,000
  • Referee: Jim Hyson
  • TV: ACCN
Game information

Miami (FL)
Week 7: Miami Hurricanes
1 2 34Total
Tar Heels 7 8 3018
Hurricanes 0 7 7014

at Sun Life Stadium

  • Date: October 13, 2011
  • Game time: 2:30 pm
  • Game weather: 84 °F (29 °C), partly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 58,954
  • Referee: J. Magallanes
  • TV: ESPNU
Game information

Duke
Week 8: Duke Blue Devils
1 2 34Total
Tar Heels 3 3 32130
Blue Devils 10 10 31033

at Wallace Wade Stadium

  • Date: October 20, 2012
  • Game time: 7:00 pm
  • Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), clear
  • Game attendance: 33,941
  • Referee: Jeff Heaser
  • TV: ESPNU
Game information

NC State
Week 9: NC State Wolfpack
1 2 34Total
Wolfpack 14 14 7035
Tar Heels 25 0 01843

at Kenan Stadium

  • Date: October 27, 2012
  • Game time: 12:30 pm
  • Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C), mostly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 62,000
  • Referee: Ron Cherry
  • TV: ACC Network
Game information

Georgia Tech
Week 10: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
1 2 34Total
Yellow Jackets 14 14 301068
Tar Heels 14 15 14750

at Kenan Stadium

  • Date: November 10, 2012
  • Game time: 12:30 pm
  • Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C), sunny
  • Game attendance: 50,000
  • Referee: Brad Allen
  • TV: ACC Network
Game information

Virginia
Week 11: Virginia Cavaliers
1 2 34Total
Tar Heels 7 13 01737
Cavaliers 3 7 3013

at Scott Stadium

  • Date: November 15, 2012
  • Game time: 7:30 pm
  • Game weather: 41 °F (5 °C), Partly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 45,760
  • Referee: Jeff Flanagan
  • TV: ESPN
Game information

NFL Draft
Round[8]PickPlayerPositionNFL Team
17Jonathan CooperGArizona Cardinals
128Sylvester WilliamsDTDenver Broncos
237Giovani BernardRBCincinnati Bengals
389Brennan WilliamsTHouston Texans
7214Travis BondGMinnesota Vikings

References
  1. "2018 ACC Media Guide" (PDF). theacc.com. ACC. p. 115. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  2. "UNC banned from 2012 postseason". ESPN. 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  3. Carter, Andrew (March 13, 2012). "UNC's Thorp Calls NCAA Penalties 'Painful'". The News & Observer. Raleigh. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  4. "2012 North Carolina Football Signees List". tarheelblue.com. 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  5. "Larry Fedora takes over Tar Heels". ESPN. 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  6. "University of North Carolina Football Roster". tarheelblue.com. 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  7. "North Carolina embarrasses Elon in coach Larry Fedora's debut". ESPN. 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  8. "2013 NFL Draft Tracker". NFL. 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
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