CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina football players seem sure about themselves after a season-opening win against James Madison.

Did they play well in their first outing?

Yes.

Are there mistakes that need to be corrected?

Of course.

But there's a question that trips up each Tar Heel with regard to Saturday's game at East Carolina: Why do the Pirates and their fans dislike them so much?

"I've heard they absolutely hate us," North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates said. "For what reasons, I don't know why, but I heard they absolutely hate I us. I hear they get crazy over there."

Yates' experience – Saturday's win was his first collegiate start – has little to do with him being naïve to the North Carolina-East Carolina rivalry. He is a Georgia native, only two years removed from playing football on Friday nights

Yates' teammate Brooks Foster, who hails from South Carolina, is no different, and also shrugged his shoulders when asked why the Tar Heels draw the ire of those clad in purple and gold.

North Carolina senior linebacker Durell Mapp smiles when asked about the in-state battle. Mapp wasn't recruited by East Carolina and admitted to knowing little about the program, but is looking forward to playing in front of a sellout crowd of 43,000 fans at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The game itself is driving Mapp more than the rivalry.

"I kind of like being the bad guy," Mapp said. "We're just going to feed off their excitement, take everything they dish out, and use it against them."

The two programs will face each other for only the 11th time – North Carolina leads the series 8-1-1 – and the first since a 28-17 Tar Heels victory in 2003. Both teams were winless when they met last time and have been fighting to push their programs back to respectability since.

East Carolina changed coaches first, hiring Skip Holtz, who has led the program to a 12-13 record, including a bowl appearance, since taking over three seasons ago. North Carolina hired Butch Davis last November and is in its infant stages of what they hope is the program's resurrection.

Davis said during his Monday press conference he doesn't know the Holtz family – Skip or Lou – very well. Davis has only visited Greenville as an assistant coach. When he was at Miami in 1999, Hurricane Floyd forced the contest against ECU from Dowdy-Ficklen to N.C. State's Carter-Finley Stadium.

But even though the sideline leaders have changed and the teams don't play often, East Carolina defensive end Marcus Hands said over the phone that he feels the excitement on campus. He added it is an atmosphere that he must temper when fans come up to him asking if the Pirates will win.

"I don't like to be bothered by that stuff because everyone expects an answer out of you," said Hands, who is from Wilmington and originally committed to North Carolina, but signed with East Carolina out of prep school. "I try to block all that stuff out. The students are excited about it and everyone expects us to win. We'll find out on Saturday."

This year's battle will only be the second time North Carolina has played in Greenville. The two schools have agreed to a pair of contests in Chapel Hill in 2009 and 2010. The Tar Heels return to Greenville in 2011.

East Carolina is the only Division I-A school in the state that does not play in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Hands believes the game gives the university a chance to stand out again against a rival.

"If we play well, I think it will help," said Hands, who was a part of the Pirates' 21-16 victory at N.C. State last season. "I think it'll put it out there that the real ECU is back."

Foster, who caught two touchdowns against James Madison, stuck to his team's answer, but is looking forward to the game in any case.

"I know they probably don't like us; that's what I hear," Foster said. "It should be fun."

Jessie H. Nunery can be reached at 407-9951 or jhnunery@coxnc.com