In 73 years, the Wolfpack football team has had 30 All-Americans named, won 13 bowl games and went through 13 different head coaches, but has not had a player intercept more than eight passes in a season.

In Saturday’s game against rival UNC-Chapel Hill, sophomore cornerback David Amerson broke Art Rooney’s interception record in the fourth quarter.

“It’s amazing,” Amerson said. “I still just can’t believe it, but it’s definitely an honor.”

Amerson’s ninth interception not only cemented his place in the program’s record books, but kept the Tar Heels out of the end zone and maintained a shutout for the Pack.

“Anytime we can get a turnover on a drive that they are getting first downs on is big,” Amerson said. “It shifts momentum back to our offense and gets the team up a little bit.”

The pick not only breaks the school record, but puts Amerson in an earshot of matching, or even breaking, the single-season ACC record for interceptions, which, ironically, is held by former UNC player Dre Bly with 11. The NCAA record is 14. 

Amerson has already drawn attention from the conference, earning two conference defensive player of the week honors, from the Jim Thorpe Award voting committee, given to the top defensive back in the nation, and from his coach, Tom O’Brien.

“He has great instincts and I think he has very good ability,” O’Brien said. “He’s a kid that has only been playing with us for two years, so he’s learned it from the ground up. From day one he’s come in and been coached to do what we want to do.

“When the ball’s in the air, David has a knack for going and finding it.”

With three games remaining on the year, the Greensboro native has a chance to reach, if not exceed, the conference record – if quarterbacks keep throwing his way, that is.