Heels' Tate passes Cal's O'Neal for combined kick return yardage record

MIAMI -- North Carolina senior Brandon Tate has broken the NCAA record for combined kick return yardage.

Tate came into the Tar Heels game Saturday against Miami 36 yards shy of the 3,455 yards Deltha O'Neal had for California from 1996-99. Tate broke the mark by the end of the first quarter after returning kickoffs 19 and 29 yards.

Tate is closing in on several other NCAA return milestones.

He came into Saturday's game 391 yards shy of the kickoff return record owned by Tulane's Jeff Liggon. The wide receiver also is closing in on becoming the 11th player in history with more than 1,000 career return yards on both kickoffs and punts.