Two weeks ago Matt Schaub went down to injury as the Houston Texans’ quarterback and today the back-up Matt Leinart was lost for the year with a shoulder injury. All of a sudden this is rookie T.J. Yates’ team.

The former UNC quarterback went eight of 15 and led the Texans on a drive that ended in a field goal. “Those first couple of plays I didn’t even have enough time to think about much,” Yates said. “I didn’t have time to get warm or anything. I just kind of went in there and didn’t think about it – I just played fast.”

Writer Jeffrey Martin of the website Ultimate Texans has written an excellent piece titled “Texans must now rally behind rookie QB T.J. Yates. Access it here.

CapitalSportsNC didn’t expect Yates’ chance to come this early but in August we wrote a piece titled “Could UNC’s Yates be the next Brady?” Access it here.

UNLV went on a 14-0 run at the beginning of the second half to take the lead for good and used 13 three pointers to upset North Carolina 90-80 in the finals of the Las Vegas Invitational last night.

After a back and forth first half, the Tar Heels took a 42-38 halftime lead after scoring on a pair of fast breaks over a 24-second period late in the half. A Kendall Marshall to James Michael McAdoo three-point play and a Bullock bucket after four Heels had touched the ball on the break provided the halftime margin.

But Carolina missed its first 10 shots of the second half while UNLV was going five of eight from the floor, including a pair of threes by Oscar Bellfield, and two of two from the free throw line. The Rebels went from behind four to up 10 at 52-42.

While getting good play from freshman P.J. Hairston, who scored 15 points, the Tar Heels did little else right as they missed 13 free throws, shot just 42 percent and were outrebounded 46-37. For more on the game, please click here.

It was fun to see a walk-on, David Dupont, drain a three to get the Tar Heels over the century mark. It has always been big at Carolina for subs to do well at the end of games and to get to the 100-point mark. But this business about biscuits has gotten a bit out of hand.

As I remember, when it first started, Hardees or Bojangles gave out a free biscuit the day after Carolina got to 100 points if you mentioned it to them. Now, Bojangles just sells you two sausage biscuits for a dollar. You can get that with a coupon or on a regular special.

It was a big deal to reach 100, especially with subs in the game, before the biscuit idea came about and it will be big after the biscuit obsession ends… if it ever does. Besides, the last time I tried getting the special, they didn’t know what the heck I was talking about. Carolina students and UNC announcers, please come up with something different. This is getting old.

For information on UNC’s 102-69 victory over Tennessee State, please click here.

A victory over Duke would give North Carolina a 7-5 record and improve their chances of getting a decent bowl bid. A loss and they are 6-6. The Heels got some good news as runner Gio Bernard has been cleared to play.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to play Duke,” UNC coach Everett Withers said. “Obviously a big rival for us eight miles down the road. It’s always been a tough game. Always been a physical game. Always been one of those games that comes down to the fourth quarter, and our kids are excited about that opportunity. Excited about the opportunity to possibly be 7-5 at the end, and prepare after that for a bowl game.”

Bernard, who has already rushed for more than a thousand yards, the first UNC runner to do that since the 1990s, will play and try to get his yards per game totals over 100 (currently at 96 per game) “Gio actually practiced Sunday,” Withers said. “He had his test Saturday, and he had another one on Monday. He’s ready to go today in practice, so we expect him for Saturday.”

QUESTION: What qualities make him so good and allow him to be successful in your system?

COACH WITHERS: Well, he’s such a natural runner. He’s one of those guys that knows where the holes are. He’s not just a perimeter runner. He can run inside. He catches the ball well. He understands protections. He’s a smart kid. He’s a very
conscientious kid. He cares about winning. He cares about his teammates. There are a lot of qualities that are outside of just being a good football player that make Giovani such a talented person, and not just a football player, but a
talented person.”

QUESTION: Dwight Jones went over the thousand-yard mark receiving on Saturday, which gives you for the first time in school
history a 1,000 yard rusher, and a thousand yard receiver on the same team. How big a deal is that?

COACH WITHERS: Well, I think any time you have something that hasn’t been done at your university. I think it’s a big deal. Obviously wins and losses are the most important thing, but I think it’s great individual accomplishments. It’s really a testament to our offense and what we’ve been able to do. Those are two talented players and they’ve stepped up. We’ve asked those two guys to step up this year and be big players for us and they have. It’s a testament to them as players.

The University of North Carolina has signed a contract to play a home-and-home football series with The Ohio State University, Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham announced Tuesday.

North Carolina will play in Columbus on September 5, 2015, and will play host to the Buckeyes on September 23, 2017. The 2017 game will be the first ever meeting between the two schools in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina and Ohio State have met just four times with the Buckeyes holding a 3-1 advantage. All four previous meetings occurred in Columbus. Carolina’s only win in the series was a 14-3 victory in 1965. OSU won the three other meetings in 1962, 1972 and 1975.

“Ohio State has outstanding tradition and is an attractive opponent for our football program,” says Cunningham. “Dick Baddour worked on this agreement for several months and I thank him for helping make this series a reality. I think this will be an exciting game for our fans and will have interest nationally as a matchup between the ACC and Big Ten.”

Carolina also has completed its 2012 schedule with a game against the University of Idaho on Sept. 29. UNC’s schedule next season features home games against Virginia Tech, NC State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Elon (Sept. 1), East Carolina (Sept. 22) and Idaho. The road slate includes games at Duke, Miami, Virginia, Wake Forest and Louisville (Sept. 15).

North Carolina opened its home basketball schedule with a 101-75 victory over Mississippi Valley State despite cold-shooting from outside and 33 points by MVSU’s Brent Arrington.

Luckily for the Tar Heels the rest of the Delta Devils team shot just 29 percent. The Heels had shooting woes of their own as they shot just slightly better than 50 percent from the free throw line (16 of 31) and slightly better than 25 percent (5 of 19) from the three-point line.

Eight Tar Heels played 14 or more minutes and six of them scored in double figures. For more on the game, please click here.