TALLAHASSEE, FL – So much for homefield advantage, at least not in the case of North Carolina’s football season.

The Tar Heels are 3-1 on the road, with the loss a blown 20-0 lead at Duke in what became a 21-20 defeat. The other wins are at Minnesota, which is 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, at Virginia, which is 4-4, and at struggling Florida State.

Carolina has not played poorly on the road yet has either lost at home or didn’t play well in wins over Charlotte and NC Central. Home is where the football demons have resided for the Tar Heels thus far.

It might not be a coincidence in that the only three games in which defensive standout Kaimon Rucker has been healthy have been in the wins at Minnesota, UVA, and FSU. The Heels were outstanding defensively in those contests as well. Again, not much of a coincidence.

But how great is the defensive disparity at home versus on the road? We dug into the numbers so you don’t have to:

Minnesota (UNC win 19-17):

-244 yards (55 plays)

-QB 13-22-166 (0&0)

-Rush – 33-78

-Sacks – 5 for -24

-TFL 7

-2 forced fumbles

-9 hurries

-STOPs – 22

-3rd down – 4-12

-4th down – 1-1

Duke (UNC loss 21-20):

-394 yards

-Pass 15-34, 209 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT

-Rush – 41-185

-Sacks – 3 (22 yards)

-7 hurries

-6 TFLs

-23 STOPs

-3rd down – 2-14

-4th down – 1-2

Virginia (UNC win 41-14):

-288 total yards

-QB 24-41, 281 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs

-Rush 29-7

-Sacks – 10 (67 yards)

-TFLs 12

-5 hit as throwing

-1 batted ball

-12 hurries

-25 STOPs

-3rd down – 6-16

-4th down – 1-3

FSU (UNC win 35-11):

-201 total yards

-QB 8-18, 159 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT

-Rush 28-42

-Sacks 7 (45 yards)

-TFL 10

-11 hurries

-3 hit as throwing

-25 STOPs

-3rd down – 2-10

-4th down – 1-2

4 Road Games:

-Points – 63 (15.8 ave)

-Yards – 1,127 (281.8 ave)

-QB – 60-115 (52.2%), 815 yards, 3 TDs, 4 INTs

-Rush – 131-312 (2.4 ave)

-Sacks – 25 (158 yards)

-TFL - 35

-39 hurries

-STOPs – 95

-3rd down – 14-52 (26.9%)

-4th down – 4-8

5 Home Games

-175 points (35 ave)

-Total yards – 2,161 (432.2 ave)

-QB – 85-151 (56.3%), 1,302 yards (260 ave). 10 TDs, 2 INTs

-Rush – 186-859 (4.6 ave)

-Sacks – 7 (42 yards)

-38 hurries

-119 STOPs

-3rd down – 26-69 (37.7%)

-4th down – 3-5