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ON TOP: Nicks gets UNC receiving mark with show of patience
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Published: November 10, 2008
CHAPEL HILL
Saturday was a tough day for Hakeem Nicks for catching passes at North Carolina, but he never worried how the afternoon would turn out.
He was confident that UNC would hold off Georgia Tech, and he never lost faith that he would become one of the school's most prolific receivers in the process.
Late in the fourth quarter of a 28-7 win, Nicks caught a 28-yard pass from quarterback T.J. Yates to become UNC's career leader in pass reception yards in his junior season.
"I didn't know how late in the game after the first half that I was going to get it," Nicks said. "I knew the coaches would make sure that I got the record. It was a matter of me blocking in the run game and being patient."
Nicks has 2,472 yards receiving in his UNC career. The old mark was 2,447 set in the 1993 season by Corey Holliday. Nicks broke the record in 32 games. Holliday set his record in a 47- game career.
Holliday is still in the UNC program. He is an associate athletics director for football administration and has an office in the Kenan Football Center. Holliday was among Nicks' biggest supporters last week for eclipsing his 15-year-old record.
"He was encouraging me to break it," Nicks said. "My hat goes off to him. Holliday was one of the best receivers here in school history, so it's a privilege to have broken that record."
UNC led 7-0 at halftime but Nicks was no closer to getting the record than he was at kickoff. He did not catch a pass in the first half because of a combination of Georgia Tech's tight coverage, a pass rush by the defensive line that had quarterback Cameron Sexton scrambling out of the pocket, and UNC's decision to rely on its rushing attack.
Nicks needed 48 yards receiving to vault to No. 1.
"It was a bit surprising but at the same time I remained patient," he said. "I knew that it would come. That's all I did was be patient."
Nicks' first catch, which covered 13 yards, came with 10:44 left in the third quarter. His second catch covered 31 yards for a touchdown on a pass from Sexton with 4:11 left, but left him three yards short.
Yates took care of the matter and Nicks was at least slightly relieved.
"I wouldn't say I was worried but I would have rather broken it in front of my home crowd than at Maryland," Nicks said. "That's the only thing that did cross my mind. We've got a few more games left and there are some things that can still be reached."
The school record is Nicks' second. Last season he set the school record for catches in a season with 74. He needs 15 catches to break Jarwarski Pollock's school record for catches in a career of 177 set in 2005.
Nicks has 17 career touchdown receptions and needs three to break Octavus Barnes' record of 19 set in 1997. Two more touchdown catches this season will top Marcus Wall's school record of nine set in 1994.
Coach Butch Davis said he won't be shocked to see Nicks get additional marks with three games left in the regular season.
"He is one of the best big-stage players that I've ever been around," Davis said. "He loves to compete. He loves to play. He's humble.
"What the fans and the media see on Saturday … is just a minor glimpse of what you see in practice. Every single day during practice he runs his routes (precisely). He's making circus catches. He never mails it in."
Nicks was told late Saturday afternoon that his records aren't going to last long. Jheranie Boyd, a receiver from Gastonia who committed to UNC last Thursday, attended the game, met Nicks after it was over and predicted that he would break all of Nicks' marks.
"It means a lot that I've got this record in three years," Nicks said. "At the same time I want to remain humble. I look forward to breaking many other records."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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