T.J. the QB and other notes:
Finally, after 91 seasons, a North Carolina alumnus will start an NFL game at quarterback.
Rookie T.J. Yates, Houston's fifth-round draft pick, will take the first snap against Atlanta on Sunday because backup-turned-starter Matt Leinhart broke his collarbone last weekend and No. 1 quarterback Matt Schaub injured a foot earlier.
Research by North Carolina's sports-information office turned up only one other NFL quarterback, Scott Stankavage, who played one game for Denver in 1984 and two games for Miami in 1987 but never started.
When Leinhart went out in the second quarter against Jacksonville, Yates led Houston to a field goal, firming up support from coach Gary Kubiak. The Texans (8-3) won 20-13 and maintained their two-game edge in the AFC South.
Reporters and fans have debated whether the team should take extreme measures — reviving Brett Favre, for instance — or hire another veteran to assist current backup Kellen Clemens. Houston signed Jake Delhomme after a workout Tuesday.
Substantial evidence endorses Yates as the finest Carolina quarterback: more than 40 school records, including career passing yards. As a senior in 2010, Yates helped hold together a team decimated by suspensions during the NCAA investigation. He completed 67 percent of his passes for 19 touchdowns and 3,418 yards, and he made crucial plays during the bowl win over Tennessee.
Bowl lineup taking shape
All the bowl dust hasn't settled yet, but the ACC forecast seems fairly clear, at least among nearby teams.
Virginia Tech can get another BCS invitation (probably to the Orange Bowl, against the Big East champ) by beating Clemson in the ACC title game.
The most likely choices down the line: N.C. State to Charlotte's Belk Bowl, Wake Forest to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., and North Carolina to the Military Bowl in D.C.
Other probable destinations (but not locks, given matchup issues and title games): Clemson to Atlanta, Florida State to Orlando, Georgia Tech to El Paso and Virginia to Nashville.
Elsewhere
- Syracuse gave Jim Boeheim the double-edged vote of confidence, and he will continue coaching while authorities investigate child sex-abuse claims against deposed assistant Bernie Fine. Eventually, however, the case will reduce the chances that Boeheim will coach an ACC game, especially if the Big East enforces its exit rules and keeps Syracuse around another season.
- ESPN spent nearly its entire Big Ten/ACC promotional budget on two games, Duke at Ohio State and Wisconsin at North Carolina, further proof that those two ACC basketball teams drove the network's $1.86 billion, 12-year contract with the league.
- As the NCAA playoffs unfold, some Division II opponent may find a weakness in Winston-Salem State's repertoire but not in coach Connell Maynor's loud confidence. "If we don't turn the ball over, we'll beat every team we face," Maynor said.
- Vanderbilt's 41-7 rout of Wake Forest was quite an oddity — the Commodores' largest victory margin against a major-conference opponent since beating Kansas 41-6 in 1984.
Tanner Price was born seven years later.
- It will be interesting to see whether Urban Meyer can resurrect scandal-riddled Ohio State. It will not be interesting to hear another batch of melodramatic interviews about Meyer's family-career balancing act. That weepy violin has been played, twice. He took the $4 million per. Enough's enough.
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