1998 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

1998 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Las Vegas Bowl champion
Las Vegas Bowl, W 20–13 vs. San Diego State
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	7–5 (5–3 ACC)
Head coach	Carl Torbush (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Darrell Moody (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Na Brown Ebenezer Ekuban Deon Dyer Keith Newman Brandon Spoon
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
Seasons ←  1997 1999  →

1998 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Florida State $+		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 9 Georgia Tech +		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 18 Virginia		6	–	2					9	–	3
North Carolina		5	–	3					7	–	5
NC State		5	–	3					7	–	5
Duke		2	–	6					4	–	7
Wake Forest		2	–	6					3	–	8
Clemson		1	–	7					3	–	8
Maryland		1	–	7					3	–	8
$ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Tar Heels played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team was led by head coach Carl Torbush.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	6:00 p.m.	Miami (OH) *	No. 12	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		L 10–13	60,100	[1]
September 19	6:30 p.m.	at Stanford *		Stanford Stadium (I) Stanford, CA	FSN	L 34–37	34,198	[2]
September 26	7:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPN	L 21–43	59,500	[3]
October 3	3:30 p.m.	Clemson		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ABC	W 21–14	56,650	[4]
October 10	1:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh *		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		W 29–10	50,900	[5]
October 24	12:00 p.m.	at Wake Forest		Groves Stadium (II) Winston Salem, NC (rivalry)	JPS	W 38–31	25,841	[6]
October 31	7:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Florida State		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN	L 13–39	80,050	[7]
November 7	12:00 p.m.	Maryland		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPN2	W 24–13	51,200	[8]
November 14	3:30 p.m.	at No. 21 Virginia		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry)	ABC	L 13–30	47,000	[9]
November 21	12:00 p.m.	at Duke		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Victory Bell)	JPS	W 28–6	25,740	[10]
November 28	1:00 p.m.	vs. NC State		Ericsson Stadium Charlotte, NC (rivalry)	ABC	W 37–34 OT	68,797	[11]
December 19	6:00 p.m.	vs. San Diego State *		Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV (Las Vegas Bowl)	ESPN2	W 20–13	21,249	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	12	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches Poll	11	24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
BCS	Not released								—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

Game summaries

Miami (OH)

	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks					0
No. 12 Tar Heels					0

See also: 1998 Miami RedHawks football team

at Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels					0
Cardinal					0

See also: 1998 Stanford Cardinal football team

Georgia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets					0
Tar Heels					0

See also: 1998 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

Clemson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers					0
Tar Heels					0

See also: 1998 Clemson Tigers football team

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers					0
Tar Heels					0

See also: 1998 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

at Wake Forest

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels					0
Demon Deacons					0

See also: 1998 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team and North Carolina–Wake Forest rivalry

at No. 5 Florida State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels					0
No. 5 Seminoles					0

See also: 1998 Florida State Seminoles football team

Maryland

	1	2	3	4	Total
Terrapins					0
Tar Heels					0

See also: 1998 Maryland Terrapins football team

at No. 21 Virginia (South's Oldest Rivalry)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels					0
No. 21 Cavaliers					0

See also: 1998 Virginia Cavaliers football team and South's Oldest Rivalry

at Duke (Victory Bell)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels					0
Blue Devils					0

See also: 1998 Duke Blue Devils football team and Victory Bell (Duke–North Carolina)

vs. NC State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolfpack					0
Tar Heels					0

See also: 1998 NC State Wolfpack football team and North Carolina–NC State football rivalry

vs. San Diego State (Las Vegas Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aztecs					0
Tar Heels					0

See also: 1998 San Diego State Aztecs football team and 1998 Las Vegas Bowl

References

1. "RedHawks stun No. 12 Tar Heels". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 6, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Stanford win worth the wait". The San Francisco Examiner. September 20, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Back on their Heels; Jackets send UNC, Torbush to 0–3 start". News and Record. September 27, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Tigers' sad slide sinks deeper as UNC prevails". Anderson Independent-Mail. October 4, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Tar Heels smother Panthers". Rocky Mount Telegram. October 11, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Tar Heels hang on against Demon Deacons". The Herald-Sun. October 25, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "'Noles pour it on Heels". The Herald-Sun. November 1, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Quiet assassin; Na Brown leads UNC over Maryland 24–13". The Salisbury Post. November 8, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "U.Va. sticks it to Tar Heels". Daily Press. November 15, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Tar Heels rip Blue Devils". Winston-Salem Journal. November 22, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "UNC bounces back to nip N.C. State 37–34 in overtime". The Clarion-Ledger. November 29, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Aztecs get blown away in Las Vegas". Reno Gazette-Journal. December 20, 1998. Retrieved July 26, 2024– via Newspapers.com.