Seven UNC players named All-ACC
Chapel Hill, N.C. --- Seven North Carolina football players have been named to the 2008 All-Atlantic Coast Conference team as selected by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA).
Safety Trimane Goddard and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks earned first-team honors, while Mark Paschal, Kendric Burney and Garrett Reynolds were named to the second team. Calvin Darity and Brandon Tate were honorable mention picks.
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A senior safety from Robersonville, N.C, Goddard is tied for the national lead with seven interceptions, which equals the third-best single-season effort by a Tar Heel.
Goddard also has 48 tackles, 1.5 tackles for losses, five pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Three times this season Goddard has ended an opponent's final drive with a turnover.
He picked off a pass in the end zone to preserve a 28-24 win at Miami, recovered a fumble on Notre Dame's final offensive possession and stopped Duke's final drive with an interception with less than 20 seconds remaining.
Nicks, a junior wide receiver from Charlotte, N.C., had the second-highest vote total (130) on offense trailing only Georgia Tech tailback Jonathan Dwyer (135).
Nicks became the first 1,000-yard single season receiver in school history, eclipsing the previous single-season record of 990 by Sam Aiken in 2002.
Nicks has 60 receptions for 1,005 yards and a school-tying nine touchdown receptions in 2008. In just three season, Nicks is Carolina's all-time leading receiver with 2,623 receiving yards.
Nicks was a second-team All-ACC selection in 2007. He is the first Tar Heel wide receiver to earn first-team honors since Earl Winfield in 1985.
Paschal earned second-team honors with a standout senior season. The Charlotte, N.C., product had 103 tackles and played in 47 straight games until a spine injury forced him to miss last week's 28-20 win at Duke.
Paschal had four consecutive double-digit tackle games at one point during the season and posted a season-high 13 stops vs. NC State. Paschal also had 6.5 tackles for losses, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups.
Reynolds, a senior for Nashville, Tenn., has been a consistent presence on North Carolina's offensive line, starting the previous 25 games at right tackle. He consistently grades out as the Tar Heels' top offensive lineman and was voted a team captain by him teammates.
Burney is Carolina's third-leading tackler with 71 stops and is second with three interceptions. The Jacksonville, N.C., sophomore also had 5.5 tackles for losses and five pass breakups.
Tate earned honorable-mention honors as a specialist. He was one of the most electrifying players in the country through the first six games of the season and was considered a leading contender for conference player of the year honors until he tore his ACL on a punt return vs. Notre Dame.
A senior from Burlington, N.C., Tate finished his career as the NCAA leader in combined kick return yards and is the ACC's all-time leader in kickoff yards. He also set the school record with 397 all-purpose yards in the season opener vs. McNeese State.
Darity was an honorable-mention offensive guard. The Tallahassee, Fla., native started 34 of the last 35 games and was one of the coaches players of the game for his performance vs. Rutgers.