# 1972 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The 1972 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the North Carolina Tar Heels of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. The team won its second consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship, going 6–0 in conference play, and played in the 1972 Sun Bowl, defeating Texas Tech by a score of 32–28. The Tar Heels ended the year ranked 12th in the AP Poll with an 11–1 record—the lone loss coming at Ohio State in their fourth game. This was the first of only four seasons where North Carolina was able to win 11 games.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 9 | 1:30 p.m. | Richmond* | | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | | W 28–18 | 31,500 |
| September 16 | 1:30 p.m. | Maryland | | Byrd StadiumCollege Park, MD | | W 31–26 | 28,000 |
| September 23 | 1:30 p.m. | NC State | | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC (rivalry) | | W 34–33 | 47,000 |
| September 30 | 1:30 p.m. | at No. 5 Ohio State* | | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | | L 14–29 | 86,180 |
| October 14 | 1:30 p.m. | Kentucky* | | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | | W 31–20 | 42,500 |
| October 21 | 1:30 p.m. | at Wake Forest | | Groves StadiumWinston-Salem, NC (rivalry) | ABC | W 21–0 | 27,000 |
| November 4 | 1:30 p.m. | at Clemson | | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC | | W 26–10 | 38,235 |
| November 11 | 1:30 p.m. | Virginia | No. 18 | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC (South's Oldest Rivalry) | | W 23–3 | 36,500 |
| November 18 | 1:30 p.m. | Duke | No. 16 | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell) | ABC | W 14–0 | 47,000 |
| November 25 | 1:30 p.m. | East Carolina* | No. 15 | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | | W 42–19 | 31,600 |
| December 9 | 2:00 p.m. | vs. Florida* | No. 16 | Gator Bowl StadiumJacksonville, FL | | W 28–24 | 33,103 |
| December 30 | 1:00 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech* | No. 16 | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX (Sun Bowl) | CBS | W 32–28 | 27,877 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### Ohio State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| North Carolina | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Ohio St | 3 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 29 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: September 30, 1972
* Game time: 1:30 p.m.
* Game weather: Cloudy, 49 °F (9 °C)
* Game attendance: 86,180
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
UNC – Gene Brown recovered blocked punt in end zone (Ellis Alexander kick), 9:37. North Carolina 7–0.
OSU – Blair Conway 22-yard field goal, 0:06. North Carolina 7–3. Drive: 73 yards.
Second quarter
OSU – Greg Hare 17-yard run (kick failed), 11:50. Ohio St 9–7. Drive: 47 yards.
Third quarter
OSU – Randal Keith 11-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 8:41. Ohio St 16–7. Drive: 87 yards.
OSU – Champ Henson 9-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 2:00. Ohio St 23–7. Drive: 84 yards.
Fourth quarter
OSU – Archie Griffin 9-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 4:13. Ohio St 30–7. Drive: 31 yards.
UNC – Earle Bethea 37-yard pass from Nick Vidnovic (Ellis Alexander), 0:00. Ohio St 30–14. Drive: 1 play, 37 yards, 0:05.
Top passers
UNC – Nick Vidnovic – 4/14, 65 yards, TD, 2 INT
OSU – Greg Hare – 5/12, 96 yards, INT
Top rushers
UNC – Ike Oglesby – 14 rushes, 67 yards
OSU – Archie Griffin – 27 rushes, 239 yards, TD
Top receivers
UNC – Earle Bethea – 1 reception, 37 yards, TD
OSU – Richard Galbos – 3 receptions, 72 yards :