Seminoles battle Tar Heels for ACC lead

But, the North Carolina coach said he's run out of answers trying to motivate his slow-starting offense.

"Based on everything I've seen this year, we better hang on early in the ball game," Brown said of the pivotal ACC matchup that also carries national title implications.

"I plan on them being ahead. My halftime speeches haven't changed. I've had to pull them back out and use them again. I would like to have one where I could be telling our bunch to keep their focus. We haven't had that yet."

North Carolina (8-0) has been blanked in the first 15 minutes in five games. A 10-0 lead over Texas Christian is the only advantage the Tar Heels have enjoyed after the first period.

The Tar Heels have scored 158 of their 236 points in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Seminoles (8-0) bolted to first-quarter leads of 21-0 and 27-0 in their past two games and have scored 104 points in the first quarter of their eight games, including three touchdowns on the first five plays against Virginia three weeks ago.

"It doesn't look good for the first quarter," Brown said. ''They are scoring a bunch early.

"I've told my players we're going to have a 60-minute half and we're not going to play the first half. I've told them maybe we should scrimmage out in the parking lot before we start and get whatever it is out of their system, and they are not paying me any attention."

11-07-97