No. 18: 1935
Our series ranking the 20 best UNC football teams of all time continues today. Once this series concludes, we will rank the best UNC basketball teams of all time:
No. 18: 1935
Record: 8-1 (4-1 Southern Conference)
Bowl: None
Ranking: No. 8
Coach: Carl Snavely
All-Americans: Donald Jackson (B)
Honors: None
What's To Know: Carl Snavely's first go-around running Carolina's football program was brief but quite successful, culminating with this thrilling season. UNC avenged a home loss to Tennessee from the season before by winning 38-13 on the road versus a Volunteers team that lost two games the season before.
UNC registered six shutouts that fall, including in all four if its home games against Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, VMI (56-0) and Virginia (61-0) plus road ones at Maryland and Davidson. Carolina also won comfortably at N.C. State 35-6, but its loss was 25-0 to Duke, a game that was broadcast nationally on the radio and drew a crowd of 47,000, which was a southern record at the time.
The Tar Heels picked off nine passes in the win over Tennessee, including four by Don Jackson, and they turned over N.C. State nine times, as well, with five fumble recoveries and four interceptions.
Carl Snavely's team finished the season ranked second nationally in scoring, averaging 30 points per outing and ended up No. 16 defensively allowing 4.9 points per contest.
Snavely left following the season to coach at Cornell but later returned to Chapel Hill from 1945-52, as he put together some of UNC’s best teams ever during that period.
Note: Rankings to determine a national champion didn't begin until 1936 and there were only three bowl games in 1935.
1936 NFL Draft
No draft.