The 2011 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
The team was led by interim head coach Everett Withers and played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium.
The Tar Heels finished the season 7–6 overall and 3–5 in ACC play to tie for fourth in the Coastal Division.
The firing is due to the investigations by the NCAA into academic fraud, impermissible benefits, and talking to agents in the 2010 season.
The next day on the 28th, Everett Withers, the defensive coordinator of the past 3 years, was named as the interim head coach.
[6] Baddour added that he wanted the new athletic director to be in charge of hiring the university's next head football coach.
North Carolina was able to hold on to a 2 point win despite turning the ball over 5 times (2 fumbles and 3 interceptions) and not having a single takeaway.
A key defensive stand came in the first quarter when a Rutgers interception was returned to the UNC 2 yard line.
The Heels were able to effectively run the ball against the Cavaliers, finishing the game with 222 rushing yards by 8 different offensive players.
Georgia Tech entered this meeting of unbeatens as one of the top offenses in the nation averaging 53.3 points and 675.3 yards a game.
Giovani Bernard became the first Tar Heel since Natrone Means in 1992 to rush for over 100 yards in 3 consecutive games.
His 7 touchdowns through 5 games ties the individual high for Johnny White as the team leader for the year in 2011.
The Heels nearly made an improbable comeback when, down by 13, they scored a touchdown with 46 seconds remaining in the game.
T.J. Thorpe became only the second Tar Heel in history to record a kickoff return of 100 yards for a touchdown.
UNC's 49 points was the most they had scored in a game since their opener against William & Mary in 2004 and the most against an ACC opponent since the 2001 season.
The UNC offense had its worst performance of the season, being held to a game low of 165 total yards.
Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas fumbled on the first play from scrimmage when he was sacked by Sylvester Williams.
After coming 5 yards from taking a 14-0 lead, UNC found itself giving up 24 unanswered points to the Hokies by the fourth quarter.
However, with 7:06 left in the game, Bryn Renner completed a pass to Erik Highsmith to reduce the lead to 10 points.