GAME NOTES: Two of the best teams in the ACC will collide in Chapel Hill this weekend as the 19th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels welcome the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to town.

Georgia Tech has won five of its last six games to improve to 7-2 overall, and first-year head coach Paul Johnson has instilled a great deal of confidence in his players. Last weekend, the Yellow Jackets treated the home crowd to a thrilling 31-28 victory over Florida State. The last three victories have all come by four or fewer points, so Tech is no stranger to close games.

North Carolina has won four of its last five games to improve to 6-2 overall, and Butch Davis has clearly turned the program around. The Tar Heels have been idle since October 25th when they crushed Boston College by a 45-24 final.

Georgia Tech holds a 23-17-3 series lead over North Carolina, including a thrilling 27-25 home win over the Tar Heels last season.

Paul Johnson was the coach at Navy before leaving for Georgia Tech, and he brought his wishbone offense to Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets run the ball on almost every down, inviting the opposing defense to crowd the line of scrimmage. Still, the team has found great success on the ground, rushing for 242.3 ypg on an average of 5.0 yards per attempt. The man in charge of running the deceptive offense is sophomore signal caller Josh Nesbitt, who has rushed for 436 yards and six touchdowns while passing for 518 yards and two scores. Nesbitt has completed fewer than half of his passes, but he is capable of keeping defenses honest with his arm. ACC Player of the Year candidate Jonathan Dwyer leads the club in rushing with 899 yards and seven touchdowns, and he is averaging 6.5 ypc.

Dwyer showed his explosiveness against Florida State last weekend, posting rushing touchdowns of 36 and 66 yards. He finished with 145 yards on only 13 carries and also had a 30-yard reception in the clash. Tech ran for 288 yards and four touchdowns on the day. "Today what we did is we stayed away from penalties and we didn't put ourselves behind the eight ball," said coach Johnson of his team's offensive effort.

Opponents are scoring 14.8 ppg against Georgia Tech, which is yielding only 284.7 total ypg. The Yellow Jackets are permitting a mere 3.3 yards per rushing attempt and an even more impressive 8.8 yards per pass completion. With 15 interceptions to its credit, Tech has been tremendously opportunistic. Add 26 sacks and 10 fumble recoveries to the mix and the Yellow Jackets can clearly be labeled a "big play" defense. Morgan Burnett leads the club with 63 total tackles, and he has already recorded six interceptions. As for Derrick Morgan, he has 6.5 sacks to his credit as well as four recovered fumbles.

Against Florida State last weekend, Georgia Tech did allow three touchdowns and 384 yards to the Seminole offense. While the game did not mark one of the defense's best efforts, three takeaways and five sacks helped cover up some shortcomings. "It was like I said earlier, bend, don't break and we just kept thinking 'hold them one more time'," said Cooper Taylor when reflecting on Florida State's final drive.

"Certainly through last season's 12 games and this season's eight games, today was probably the most complete team game we have played," said coach Davis after his team's romp over Boston College last time out. Cam Sexton was tremendous under center for the Heels, completing 19-of-30 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Hakeem Nicks was on the receiving end of Sexton's biggest completions, as he finished with eight grabs for 139 yards and three scores. As for the ground attack, it only accounted for 114 yards, but two touchdowns were scored on the ground.

UNC is scoring 31.1 ppg this season, and the club has posted 13 rushing scores and 12 passing touchdowns. While the team's average of 3.6 yards per rushing attempt could certainly stand some improvement, the 13.8 yards per pass completion is tremendous. Sexton has completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 964 yards and six touchdowns against three interceptions. As for Nicks, he has made 47 catches for 782 yards and seven scores.

The North Carolina defense put forth a strong effort against Boston College, limiting the Eagles to 244 total yards. Most impressive about the effort was that the Heels yielded a mere 40 yards on 21 attempts. Also, they came up with three interceptions, key to the victory. "I don't know what you can say about Trimane Goddard's and Kendric Burney's interceptions today," said Davis. "Those were just huge, huge plays."

Opponents are scoring 19.9 ppg this season against North Carolina, which is allowing 340.0 total ypg. Foes are gaining only 3.4 yards per rushing attempt and 9.8 yards per pass completion. Perhaps most impressive of all is that UNC has intercepted 17 passes to date. Goddard has five interceptions to his credit, while Mark Paschal has a team-high 70 tackles, including 6.5 TFLs. He has also posted two sacks, two interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles.

The Yellow Jackets are the choice here, as they ran the ball tremendously well against Florida State and will wear down the Tar Heels. Expect this contest to be decided late.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Georgia Tech 20, North Carolina 17