ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com’s Heather Dinich

During the week, North Carolina posts sign-up sheets in its meeting rooms where players are supposed to check in and out when they go to film sessions. The staff had to add a few extra sheets on the door outside the receivers’ room recently because so many of the young players were filling them up.

In last week’s 31-17 win over ECU, two of them were rewarded for their study sessions by seeing their names appear in the winning box score.

Erik Highsmith had six catches for 113 yards and a touchdown, and Jheranie Boyd caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from quarterback T.J. Yates that put the Tar Heels up 14-7 in the second quarter. Highsmith became the first true freshman to crack the 100-yard mark at North Carolina since Hakeem Nicks did it three times in 2006. Highsmith's No. 88 jersey -- the same one Nicks wore -- is literally, quite fitting. They’re known as “Mookie” and “J-Boyd” within the team, and Georgia Tech is likely to be introduced to them on Saturday.

“They kind of came out of nowhere,” said Yates. “They play a lot stronger, a lot bigger than what they look like out there. One thing they do extremely well at a young age is understand the importance of getting in the film room, studying as much as possible, watching film, watching defenses and understanding how that translates and moves over to game-time experiences.”

Following their bizzare 12-10 road win at Connecticut, the Tar Heels took note of outsiders questioning their offense, as the defense won the game on a safety while the offense didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. UNC had just 35 yards rushing in that game. Yates said the Tar Heels hit practice hard after the Connecticut game, and the offensive line focused diligently on its protections and run blocking.

It paid off, and North Carolina’s offense, with the help of Highsmith and Boyd, seemed to turn the corner against ECU, racking up 433 total yards and getting their running game going. They only completed 4 of 11 third-down conversions, though, and know the schedule is only going to get tougher, beginning this weekend with their first ACC and Coastal Division opponent.

“The first couple games of the year our offense sputtered a little bit, kind of working the kinks out, getting that passing game going, getting the running game going, and our protections and everything,” Yates said. “We’re getting better every week as an offense. Our defense is doing amazing. They’re doing an amazing job out there holding up their end of the bargain, creating turnovers getting the ball back to us.

“Especially going into a week like this, Georgia Tech, We’re going to have a few less possessions on offense because they hold the ball a lot longer than normal teams do. We have to make sure we make every possession count on offense, and keep our defense off the field. To compete in the Coastal Division, which I think is extremely talented throughout, we just have to take one game at a time and make sure we get better every week, because the games get harder every week.”