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GAME NOTES: The 22nd-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels jump into ACC play this weekend, as they invade Atlanta to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

The Tar Heels swept their first three opponents of the season and that includes a recent 31-17 triumph of East Carolina this past weekend.

"On all three phases, we did enough good things to give ourselves a chance to win," said head coach Butch Davis. "I was just proud of the effort that our team showed."

UNC's 3-0 start is its first since 1997, when the Mack Brown-led Tar Heels began the season with eight straight wins. The Tar Heels now turn their focus to the ACC, where they went an even 4-4 a season ago.

As for Tech, it has already played two league games and the results of those two contests varied. After nipping Clemson, 30-27, in a thriller, the Yellow Jackets were downed by nationally-ranked Miami-Florida, 33-17, on Thursday September 17th.

"I am disappointed in the way we played Thursday night and the way we coached," said head coach Paul Johnson. "It was a group effort. It didn't turn out the way we would have liked."

Now at 2-1 overall and out of the Top 25, the Jackets must regroup, as they can ill-afford another league loss this early in the season.

Rebounding against a tough club like UNC is easier said than done, though Tech has won five straight meetings between the schools at Bobby Dodd Stadium dating back to 1997. The Jackets hold a 23-18-3 lead in the all-time series, although the Tar Heels captured a 28-7 victory in Chapel Hill last season.

The Tar Heels did a good job moving the ball against ECU last weekend, as they rushed for 148 yards and threw for 285 more. T.J. Yates continued his solid play under center and he completed 19-of-24 tosses for 227 yards and two scores in the 31-17 triumph.

"I thought T.J. Yates was outstanding today," said Davis. "His composure, his poise, his percentage of completions was very good. He was smart with the football. He was keeping everybody in their routes."

Yates has now completed 67.1 percent of his tosses on the year and that is pretty impressive considering he has an entirely new group of wideouts this season. Several true freshman wideouts came on strong for UNC last weekend, helping the team forget about the three receivers it lost to the NFL draft this past offseason. Erik Highsmith made his first start and he led the team with six receptions for 113 yards and a score, while fellow rookie Jheranie Boyd hauled in his lone reception for 59 yards and a touchdown.

"Each one of those kids is finding little bitty things that they can add to try to help our offense," said Davis about his group of freshman receivers.

In the backfield, Shaun Draughn leads UNC with 223 yards on the season, while Ryan Houston has all four of the team's rushing touchdowns, including two last weekend.

While the offense has showed a lot of promise, the Tar Heels are built around their defense, which returned nine starters from a year ago. The unit certainly hasn't disappointed thus far, holding foes to just 198.7 total ypg, including only 52.3 rushing ypg.

"A rock solid core of this football team, clearly, is our defense," stated Davis. "That's the anchor that you hang on to. You know that they're going to go out and that they're going to compete."

The defense certainly competed last weekend, as the unit limited ECU to just 247 yards of total offense. The unit surrendered only 55 rushing yards on 30 carries, while recording a pair of sacks and a takeaway.

Defensive end Robert Quinn accounted for both sacks and the sophomore now has three sacks on the season and five for his career. Corner Charles Brown also had a nice game, finishing with nine stops and a fumble recovery. Brown has shown a nose for the ball and has two picks and a pair of fumble recoveries on the season.

Tech's spread-option offense has produced 243.7 rushing ypg on the season, but the unit has struggled with consistency and that was evident in last week's loss to Miami. The Jackets did very little in a big game versus the Hurricanes, managing only 228 total yards, with only 95 of them coming on the ground.

"Can we be better on offense, you bet and we need to be better" said coach Johnson. "We need to block the perimeter better, which was atrocious the other night."

To make matters worse, tailback Jonathan Dwyer left last game with a shoulder injury and did not play in the second half. The reigning ACC Player of the Year has amassed just 168 yards on the ground thus far, but is expected to play despite being listed as questionable.

Quarterback Josh Nesbitt hasn't exactly found his stride yet either for Tech and last weekend he had just 29 rushing yards on 14 carries. He however, did have one of his better passing games with 133 yards and a score on 6-of-15 tosses. The multi-dimensional quarterback is more of a runner than a passer, and he leads the ground attack with 213 yards on the year.

Demaryius Thomas is clearly the team's main target, as he has accounted for 327 of the team's 412 receiving yards on the season. The 6-3, 230-pound wideout with good speed is a matchup problem for any corner and last weekend he caught all six of Nesbitt's passes for 133 yards and a score.

Defensively, the Jackets offered little resistance against Miami, which rolled up 454 yards of total offense without a single turnover. Tech allowed Miami to convert 20-of-25 pass attempts and rack up five plays of at least 20 yards.

"The guys who have played need to bring the energy to the defense," said Johnson. "Good players make plays. That is the bottom line. If you want to bring energy, you need to make plays."

Tech didn't make any big plays last week and finished with no sacks, while allowing Miami to hit on 8-of-13 third down chances. The Jackets have come up with just four takeaways through the first three games and they certainly need to improve on that.

Derrick Morgan has been one of the few bright spots for the defense, as he leads the way with five sacks and 6.5 TFLs. He however, was limited to just one tackle in last week's loss.

The Jackets are coming off a disappointing performance, but don't rule out this team just yet. Tech has the potential to be electric on offense and despite facing a stout UNC defense, the Yellow Jackets should be able to get the job done in a game they need desperately.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Georgia Tech 24, North Carolina 20