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FOUNDED AND PUBLISHED FROM 1990-93 BY THE GENERAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Vol. IX, No. 11, November 10, 2003
Reversal Of Fortunes: Tar Heels Nip Deacons. CHAPEL HILL
C
PAGE ONE
JEFFREY CAMARATI
arolina’s beleaguered football program achieved a much-needed victory Saturday. The Tar Heels bolted to a 35-13 lead over Wake Forest after three quarters, then held on in the late stages for a 42-34 win that quenches a parched throat for a few drops of success. The Heels at 2-8 are not a quality team yet, but they showed some physical prowess and emotional strength not visible in recent memory. “It’s awesome, I’m kind of speechless,” cornerback Michael Waddell said. “It’s been a long time coming.” “This win clears a big, dark cloud out of here,” offensive guard Jeb Terry said. “We kind of buckled down and finally made the plays we needed to make,” defensive end Chase Page added. The elements of victory were Ronnie McGill darts for chunk many, but none more important of his 244 yards rushing, and than these five: big Jonas Seawright reaches to * Pride. Head coach John Bunting was knock down one of three a man on the warpath last week place-kicks blocked by the on the practice field and in the Tar Heels Saturday. meeting rooms, wielding the embarrassing specter of last week’s implosion at Maryland ‘man-up’ sometimes. He got his message and last year’s 31-0 steamrolling courtesy the across.” Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem as * A running game. motivational fodder. He demanded 11 Lord, what a thing of beauty—an defenders closing on the ball on every snap offensive line of experience and bulk and and sent anyone guilty of a lapse into a heart clearing the way and a talented personal session with strength and conditiontailback like freshman Ronnie McGill ing coach Jeff Connors. He gathered with the operating from behind. McGill ran for 244 defensive ends in their meeting room and yards and three touchdowns and broke two scoffed at the notion that any could have tackles at the line of scrimmage to fight for a professional aspirations. “You better hit game-saving first down in the final minute. someone in the mouth this week,” he told Not since Natrone Means ran for 249 yards them. Bunting pointed fingers at several against Maryland in 1992 has a Tar Heel players in one pre-practice address and said, been so frisky running the ball. McGill “You got your tail whipped last year. You broke tackles, spun off tackles, shot through gonna let it happen again?” holes, outran cornerbacks, high-stepped, “Coach definitely appealed to our pride,” stutter-stepped and, if needed, lowered his Page said. “He was in our faces. It’s what you head and pounded a weary Deacon defense. need to hear sometimes. Hey, you gotta just
This is beginning to resemble a man-sized running game, something not seen in Chapel Hill since, well, Natrone Means himself a decade ago. “I’ve been committed since taking over this program to improve our offensive line and our ability to run the football,” Bunting said. “We’re starting to show signs of that. You can win a lot of football games if you can run the ball like we did today.” * Turnovers. The giveaway/takeaway battle has been like an oozing scab for the Tar Heels this season. It looks bad and feels bad. The Tar Heels through nine games were No. 113 in NCAA Division I-A in turnover margin, netting seven and handing out 20. Ballhandling errors had proven painful in losses
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The Grass Not Necessarily Greener ....
I
t’s been a tough three years in Chapel Hill with the emergence of Chuck “Lombardi” Amato, Al “Rockne” Groh and Jim “Alonzo Stagg” Grobe in the head coaching berths at rival ACC schools. Entering Saturday’s game against Wake Forest, the Tar Heels State’s Amato, UVa.’s Groh, Wake’s Grobe. sported a 2-7 record against those coaches, with incumbent John Bunting 2-6 against them (the other loss coming in 2000 when Amato’s N.C. State team beat Carl Torbush’s Tar Heels). I’ve wanted to make some points about the envy-factor so many Carolina fans have developed, but it had to come after a victory over one of them so as not to sound like sour grapes. A disclaimer to begin with. Each of these coaches has done an outstanding job—Amato at State, Groh at Virginia and Grobe at Wake Forest. If I were a graduate of any of these institutions, I’d be tickled to have him as my head coach. I respect these guys. But I don’t lust over them and I don’t let their accomplishments eat up bytes in the hard-drive of my brain. Let’s take them one by one. * Amato at N.C. State – The quarterback is by far the single-most important player on a football team, and Amato struck gold with having had the recruiting legwork for Philip Rivers laid by former Wolfpack coach Mike O’Cain and assistant Joe Pate. Amato closed the deal, to his credit, and from Day One had a special kid in a special position—the son of a coach with brains, wits and ability far beyond normal. I am interested to see what the Pack has behind Rivers at that position. Amato’s enjoyed a pitifully weak non-conference schedule, playing only three quality non-league games in four-plus years—this season against Ohio State and a home-and-home vs. Texas Tech. (Compare that to Bunting’s seven games against Oklahoma, Texas, Syracuse and Arizona State). Amato has also benefited from the Tar Heels being down the last few years. Torbush and staff did not recruit well on defense, and Bunting, with an NFL and Division III coaching background, took some time getting his recruiting operation into high gear. Let’s see over time in recruiting what happens with State’s emphasis on the state of Florida and its proclivity to alienate some instate high-school coaches with its aggressive tactics. * Groh at Virginia – Like Amato, Groh has had nearly two decades of experience coaching at the upper reaches of Division I college ball. It took him no time to figure out how to build a staff and he shrewdly emphasized hiring younger coaches with outstanding recruiting savvy. Both Amato and Groh beat Bunting in their 2001 and 2002 signing classes because their recruiting operations hit the ground running. And I ask you this: Would you rather take over a program run by George Welsh for 19 years or one run by Torbush for three? Under which would you think there’s the more solid foundation? * Grobe at Wake Forest – I checked Wake Forest’s press release for Grobe’s record in Winston-Salem and was shocked to find it was 18-15. I’d have thought it was 30-3 with a Sugar Bowl berth to hear so many Tar Heel fans croon. The man has done a nice job, but could we keep things in perspective? For one year Bunting had the luxury of playing with hosses on defense left by the previous staff. For two years Grobe had NFL draftees Calvin Pace and Montique Sharpe on the defensive line. Last year Bunting had three defensive linemen playing the position for their first year when Carolina met Wake Forest (Chase Page, Madison Hedgecock and Kendall High). The Deacons aren’t nearly so vaunted on defense this year without great personnel. And once again, staff continuity can never been emphasized enough, and Grobe brought seven coaches with him from Ohio three years ago. Bunting certainly has questions to answer himself. Like Amato, he inherited a quality quarterback in Darian Durant, and it will be interesting to see how well the Carolina staff has recruited and will recruit to fill his slot in 2005 (or sooner, perish the thought, should Durant be injured). Carolina’s had one outstanding recruiting class—McGill, Mason, Edwards, Holley, et al—but it has to keep building on its 2003 success. Here’s a challenge to all the nay-sayers and Amato/Groh/Grobe worshippers. Let’s see where we are in three years. I’ll take Bunting and the Tar Heels. You can have your choice. It’s a pity, of course, that it takes that long to build true stability within a program. Carolina had it going six years ago and lost it—for any number of reasons. No sense revisiting that dead-horse of an issue. Now all the Tar Heel staff can do is coach hard and recruit hard. Meanwhile, I like the shade of green in my own backyard.
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to Arizona State and Clemson, and a Tar Heel fumble at Wisconsin gave the Badgers a threeyard field. One offensive assistant coach last week noted, “If we’d cut our turnovers by 50 percent, we could have four more wins.” Meanwhile, the Carolina defense had but two interceptions, both by safety Mahlon Carey, and not one interception by a cornerback. The Deacons, meanwhile, were No. 9 nationally and first in the ACC with 25 additions of ball possession and 12 subtractions. Those numbers turned the Tar Heels’ way Saturday as they benefited from a plus-two advantage in turnovers, and all three of their fumble recoveries led to touchdowns. Two of them came in Wake Forest territory and were covered at the Deacon 22 yard-line. Two were results of jarring hits and the other was a misplayed kick by a Deacon return specialist. “Turnovers are always a factor in any game,” Bunting said. “Obviously today they hurt Wake Forest and helped us.” * Special teams. The Tar Heels blocked two Wake Forest field-goal tries and one extra point, turning the latter into two Carolina points when Lionell Green scooped the ball up and ran to the opposite goal. Waddell came off the edge to block two kicks and Jonas Seawright elevated up the middle to swat another. Special teams coordinator James Webster believed Wake Forest’s protection for placekicks was vulnerable. While most teams step inside and punch with their hands on the snap of the ball, the Deacons brace to the next inside man without punching. Webster believed that would give inside players like Page, Seawright, Madison Hedgecock and Isaac Mooring an opportunity to break down the interior of the blocking wall. The Deacons’ two wing players also move their outside leg inward a hair as they block to the inside, making the corner a little shorter for an outside rusher. Dexter Reid was aggressive at the gap between the wing and tackle, making the wing defender focus on him and giving Waddell a little more air to the outside. Waddell got a great jump twice and timed his leap perfectly. “And I almost got there again,” he said. “I could feel the wind on my fingers a couple other times when I didn’t get the block.” Those plays erased a potential seven points for the Deacons and put two on the board for Carolina—a total of one point more than the final spread—but more importantly gave Carolina an emotional boost in the first half. “We’ve been preaching since last spring the importance of the kicking game, how big plays can turn momentum,” Webster said. “You could see the impact those plays were having. Our players got more and more excited with every big play and became more confident as the game went along.” * Defensive discipline. The Tar Heels’ much maligned defense yielded another sizeable chunk of real estate (562 yards), but Carolina was hit with only
EXTRA POINTS two big plays—a pair of 52-yard completions, one against Green for a TD and one against Waddell to set up a TD. Those were the only gains over 20 yards. Otherwise the Deacons churned out gains of eight, six, four, nine and other single-digits without hitting the homerun ball. The Tar Heels were competent for the most part in minding their assignments, which can be maddeningly difficult against Wake Forest’s slight-of-hand offense. Simply forcing those first-half field goal attempts that were eventually blocked were victories; in September they would have been sure TDs. “Watching them on tape, in every single quarter of every single game, I saw Chris Barclay breaking the 20, 25, 35-yard run,” Bunting said. “He didn’t have those against us. That was huge. I think we did as well against them stopping the run as anyone has done all year, which is kind of surprising.” Not to mention the victory being a shock to lots of folks as well. I mused to a number of people last week that here we are, the University of North Carolina, desperate for a win over Wake Forest. And then I heard a whisper Saturday before kick-off from a knowledgeable Wake Forest source that the Deacons might be a wee bit cocky, might be taking the Tar Heels for granted. And afterward a smattering of Carolina students made a poor effort at tearing down a goal
post and a Deacon was quoted in the newspaper saying his team “embarrassed” their university. None of that computes in my baby-blue brain, but the sweet feel of victory registers after a long dry spell. SQUIB-KICKS – It was an interesting sight at one point in the post-game interview area. Surrounded by reporters were QB Darian Durant (Florence, S.C.), TB Ronnie McGill (Clover), DL Chase Page (Mt. Pleasant) and DT Jonas Seawright (Orangeburg). Never in recent memory have the Tar Heels gotten so much recruiting fuel out of the Palmetto State. Tailback Chad Scott suffered a sprained neck on a jarring first-quarter tackle but was termed “sore but otherwise fine” after the game. Other injuries to be monitored this week: DE Alden Blizzard with a sprained knee; TE Bobby Blizzard with a strained calf, TE John Dunn and OT Drew Hunter with neck strains, OT Brian Chacos with a sprained knee, and WR Mike Mason with a quad contusion. Carolina has started a different lineup on defense in every game for two years now. Last week’s changes included Page moving to end to get more consistency and experience there after neither Tommy Davis nor Alden Blizzard had provided enough productivity. Waddell also started at cornerback after
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Chris Hawkins’ struggles at Maryland last week. True freshmen Isiah Thomas and Shelton Bynum started at defensive tackle and played well, Bunting said. Page will remain at end for the last two games. In case you were wondering, the Tar Heels’ mass substitutions on defense depending on down and distance is not the preferred course of action. Carolina has a personnel group on defense known as “Rabbits” that attempts to get faster players on the field on passing downs. The “Sam” linebacker (or strongside linebacker) will come out, to be replaced by another defensive back; right now D.J. Walker is that back, although Derrick Johnson and Jacoby Watkins have played that spot as well. Middle linebacker Devllen Bullard comes out and Doug Justice comes in. Jocques Dumas enters at tackle. Blizzard will be one of the ends. Hedgecock, whose strength is defending the run, exits and Victor Worsley enters. “Playing this style is not our first choice,” defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable says. “You would prefer not to have to make wholesale substitutions. You’d like to bring in a nickel back, take out a linebacker and leave it at that on passing downs. The simpler, the better. But we think this gives our kids the best chance to be successful.” — LEE PACE
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DIGEST Carolina 42, Wake Forest 34 WF Carolina First Downs 31 24 Rushing 16 15 Passing 13 8 Penalty 2 1 Rushing Attempts 53 46 Yards Gained Rushing 260 339 Yards Lost Rushing 9 11 Net Yards Rushing 251 328 Net Yards Passing 311 147 Passes Attempted 33 26 Passes Completed 22 12 Had Intercepted 0 1 Total Offensive Plays 86 72 Total Net Yards 562 475 Average Gain Per Play 6.5 6.6 Fumbles: No.-Lost 4-3 0-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 8-70 5-46 Punts-Ave. 2-53 5-40.4 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 4-18 1-5 Kick-Off Returns: No.-Yards 7-132 6-137 Interceptions: No. -Yards 1-11 0-0 Fumble Returns:No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Possession Time 30:39 29:21 Third-Down Conversions 7-14 5-14 Fourth-Down Conversions 2-3 1-1 Red-Zone Scores-Chances 3-5 5-6 Sacks By 1-7 1-2 Wake Forest 0 13 0 21 34 Carolina 0 16 19 7 42 WF—Chris Barclay 1 run (Wisnosky kick), 11:01 2nd qtr. Carolina—Jacque Lewis 11 pass from Darian Durant (Dan Orner kick), 7:45. WF—J. Anderson 52 pass from Cory Randolph (kick blocked), 4:58 Carolina—Lionell Green PAT return, 4:58. Carolina—Ronnie McGill 6 run (Orner kick), 1:52. Carolina—Orner 35 FG, 10:33 3rd qtr. Carolina—McGill 5 run (rush failed), 8:33. Carolina—Orner 26 FG, 6:11. Carolina—McGill 34 run (Orner kick), 2:40. WF—N. Burney 4 pass from Randolph (Wisnosky kick), 13:13 4th qtr. WF—Randolf 1 run (Wisnosky kick), 9:27. Carolina—Mike Mason 45 pass from Durant (Orner kick), 7:49. WF—B. White 11 interception return (Wisnosky kick), 4:59. A—35,000.
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Carolina’s 2003 Schedule ACC Standings
ACC Overall 6-1 8-2 4-2 7-3 3-2 6-3 4-3 6-4 3-3 5-4 3-3 5-4 3-4 5-5 1-5 3-7 1-5 2-8 Saturday’s Games Carolina 42, Wake Forest 34 Clemson 26, Florida State 10 Duke 41, Georgia Tech 17 Thursday’s Game Virginia at Maryland, 7:45 p.m. (ESPN) Next Saturday’s Games Carolina at Georgia Tech, 12 Noon (JP) Duke at Clemson, 1 p.m. N.C. State at Florida State, 3:30 (ABC) Connecticut at Wake Forest, 3:30
Florida State N.C. State Maryland Clemson Georgia Tech Virginia Wake Forest Duke Carolina
Individual Leaders Rushing—Carolina: McGill 29-244 and 3 TDs, Lewis 9-50, Pollock 1-21, Parker 4-11, Scott 1-7, Durant 2-(-5); WF: Barclay 35-161 and 1 TD, Randolf 9-46 and 1 TD, Idlette, 5-38. Passing—Carolina: Durant 26-12-1-147, 2 TDs; WF: Randolph 33-22-0-311, 2 TDs. Receiving—Carolina: Lewis 4-57 and 1 TD, Pollock 3-20, Mason 1-45 and 1 TD, Holley 1-12, Mitchell 1-9, Hamlett 1-6, McGill 1-(-2). WF: Anderson 8-137, 1 TD. Returns—Carolina: Mason 6 kick-offs for 137 yards, Waddell 1 punt 5. Defense—Tackles: Carey 13.5, Edwards 8, Page 8, Reid 7, Justice 6.5, Green 6, Waddell 4.5, Wright 3.5, Hawkins 2, Thomas 2.5, Davis 2, Longhany 2, Hedgecock 1.5, McGill 1, Wooldridge 1.5, Walker 1, Brown 1, Dumas 1, Worsley 1.5, Blizzard 0.5, Bullard 0.5, Seawright 0.5, Bynum 0.5; TFL: Carey 1-1, Reid 1-6, Dumas 1-2; FF: Justice, Wright, McGill; FR: Edwards, McGill, Walker. Blkd: Waddell 2, Seawright 1; Sacks: Dumas 1-2. Holiday party? “Franklin Street” is your answer for great live entertainment. Write [email protected] or call (919) 9689393 for more info on the band’s ‘60s and ‘70s Rock & Roll covers & other cool stuff.
Aug. 30 Sept. 6 Sept. 13 Sept. 20 Sept. 27 Oct. 4 Oct. 11 Oct. 18 Oct. 25 Nov. 1 Nov. 8 Nov. 15 Nov. 22
Florida State Syracuse Open Wisconsin N.C. State Virginia ECU Arizona State Clemson Maryland Wake Forest Georgia Tech Duke
0-37 47-49 (3 OT) 27-38 34-47 13-38 28-17 31-33 28-36 21-59 42-34 Noon (JP) Chapel Hill
EXTRA POINTS The only publication devoted exclusively to Tar Heel football. Lee Pace Carolina ‘79 Editor & Publisher 104 Jones Street Chapel Hill 27516 919/933-2082 [email protected]
Extra Points will be published at least 15 times during the 2003-04 subscription cycle—on the Mondays following 12 regular-season games, in addition to pre-season, recruiting and springpractice issues and a potential bowlgame edition. Subscriptions are $30 per year, payable by check, money order or Visa/MC. The newsletter is available in its entirety each week at no charge at www.Tarheelblue.com.
FOUNDED AND PUBLISHED FROM 1990-93 BY THE GENERAL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Vol. IX, No. 11, November 10, 2003
Reversal Of Fortunes: Tar Heels Nip Deacons. CHAPEL HILL
C
PAGE ONE
JEFFREY CAMARATI
arolina’s beleaguered football program achieved a much-needed victory Saturday. The Tar Heels bolted to a 35-13 lead over Wake Forest after three quarters, then held on in the late stages for a 42-34 win that quenches a parched throat for a few drops of success. The Heels at 2-8 are not a quality team yet, but they showed some physical prowess and emotional strength not visible in recent memory. “It’s awesome, I’m kind of speechless,” cornerback Michael Waddell said. “It’s been a long time coming.” “This win clears a big, dark cloud out of here,” offensive guard Jeb Terry said. “We kind of buckled down and finally made the plays we needed to make,” defensive end Chase Page added. The elements of victory were Ronnie McGill darts for chunk many, but none more important of his 244 yards rushing, and than these five: big Jonas Seawright reaches to * Pride. Head coach John Bunting was knock down one of three a man on the warpath last week place-kicks blocked by the on the practice field and in the Tar Heels Saturday. meeting rooms, wielding the embarrassing specter of last week’s implosion at Maryland ‘man-up’ sometimes. He got his message and last year’s 31-0 steamrolling courtesy the across.” Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem as * A running game. motivational fodder. He demanded 11 Lord, what a thing of beauty—an defenders closing on the ball on every snap offensive line of experience and bulk and and sent anyone guilty of a lapse into a heart clearing the way and a talented personal session with strength and conditiontailback like freshman Ronnie McGill ing coach Jeff Connors. He gathered with the operating from behind. McGill ran for 244 defensive ends in their meeting room and yards and three touchdowns and broke two scoffed at the notion that any could have tackles at the line of scrimmage to fight for a professional aspirations. “You better hit game-saving first down in the final minute. someone in the mouth this week,” he told Not since Natrone Means ran for 249 yards them. Bunting pointed fingers at several against Maryland in 1992 has a Tar Heel players in one pre-practice address and said, been so frisky running the ball. McGill “You got your tail whipped last year. You broke tackles, spun off tackles, shot through gonna let it happen again?” holes, outran cornerbacks, high-stepped, “Coach definitely appealed to our pride,” stutter-stepped and, if needed, lowered his Page said. “He was in our faces. It’s what you head and pounded a weary Deacon defense. need to hear sometimes. Hey, you gotta just
This is beginning to resemble a man-sized running game, something not seen in Chapel Hill since, well, Natrone Means himself a decade ago. “I’ve been committed since taking over this program to improve our offensive line and our ability to run the football,” Bunting said. “We’re starting to show signs of that. You can win a lot of football games if you can run the ball like we did today.” * Turnovers. The giveaway/takeaway battle has been like an oozing scab for the Tar Heels this season. It looks bad and feels bad. The Tar Heels through nine games were No. 113 in NCAA Division I-A in turnover margin, netting seven and handing out 20. Ballhandling errors had proven painful in losses
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The Grass Not Necessarily Greener ....
I
t’s been a tough three years in Chapel Hill with the emergence of Chuck “Lombardi” Amato, Al “Rockne” Groh and Jim “Alonzo Stagg” Grobe in the head coaching berths at rival ACC schools. Entering Saturday’s game against Wake Forest, the Tar Heels State’s Amato, UVa.’s Groh, Wake’s Grobe. sported a 2-7 record against those coaches, with incumbent John Bunting 2-6 against them (the other loss coming in 2000 when Amato’s N.C. State team beat Carl Torbush’s Tar Heels). I’ve wanted to make some points about the envy-factor so many Carolina fans have developed, but it had to come after a victory over one of them so as not to sound like sour grapes. A disclaimer to begin with. Each of these coaches has done an outstanding job—Amato at State, Groh at Virginia and Grobe at Wake Forest. If I were a graduate of any of these institutions, I’d be tickled to have him as my head coach. I respect these guys. But I don’t lust over them and I don’t let their accomplishments eat up bytes in the hard-drive of my brain. Let’s take them one by one. * Amato at N.C. State – The quarterback is by far the single-most important player on a football team, and Amato struck gold with having had the recruiting legwork for Philip Rivers laid by former Wolfpack coach Mike O’Cain and assistant Joe Pate. Amato closed the deal, to his credit, and from Day One had a special kid in a special position—the son of a coach with brains, wits and ability far beyond normal. I am interested to see what the Pack has behind Rivers at that position. Amato’s enjoyed a pitifully weak non-conference schedule, playing only three quality non-league games in four-plus years—this season against Ohio State and a home-and-home vs. Texas Tech. (Compare that to Bunting’s seven games against Oklahoma, Texas, Syracuse and Arizona State). Amato has also benefited from the Tar Heels being down the last few years. Torbush and staff did not recruit well on defense, and Bunting, with an NFL and Division III coaching background, took some time getting his recruiting operation into high gear. Let’s see over time in recruiting what happens with State’s emphasis on the state of Florida and its proclivity to alienate some instate high-school coaches with its aggressive tactics. * Groh at Virginia – Like Amato, Groh has had nearly two decades of experience coaching at the upper reaches of Division I college ball. It took him no time to figure out how to build a staff and he shrewdly emphasized hiring younger coaches with outstanding recruiting savvy. Both Amato and Groh beat Bunting in their 2001 and 2002 signing classes because their recruiting operations hit the ground running. And I ask you this: Would you rather take over a program run by George Welsh for 19 years or one run by Torbush for three? Under which would you think there’s the more solid foundation? * Grobe at Wake Forest – I checked Wake Forest’s press release for Grobe’s record in Winston-Salem and was shocked to find it was 18-15. I’d have thought it was 30-3 with a Sugar Bowl berth to hear so many Tar Heel fans croon. The man has done a nice job, but could we keep things in perspective? For one year Bunting had the luxury of playing with hosses on defense left by the previous staff. For two years Grobe had NFL draftees Calvin Pace and Montique Sharpe on the defensive line. Last year Bunting had three defensive linemen playing the position for their first year when Carolina met Wake Forest (Chase Page, Madison Hedgecock and Kendall High). The Deacons aren’t nearly so vaunted on defense this year without great personnel. And once again, staff continuity can never been emphasized enough, and Grobe brought seven coaches with him from Ohio three years ago. Bunting certainly has questions to answer himself. Like Amato, he inherited a quality quarterback in Darian Durant, and it will be interesting to see how well the Carolina staff has recruited and will recruit to fill his slot in 2005 (or sooner, perish the thought, should Durant be injured). Carolina’s had one outstanding recruiting class—McGill, Mason, Edwards, Holley, et al—but it has to keep building on its 2003 success. Here’s a challenge to all the nay-sayers and Amato/Groh/Grobe worshippers. Let’s see where we are in three years. I’ll take Bunting and the Tar Heels. You can have your choice. It’s a pity, of course, that it takes that long to build true stability within a program. Carolina had it going six years ago and lost it—for any number of reasons. No sense revisiting that dead-horse of an issue. Now all the Tar Heel staff can do is coach hard and recruit hard. Meanwhile, I like the shade of green in my own backyard.
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to Arizona State and Clemson, and a Tar Heel fumble at Wisconsin gave the Badgers a threeyard field. One offensive assistant coach last week noted, “If we’d cut our turnovers by 50 percent, we could have four more wins.” Meanwhile, the Carolina defense had but two interceptions, both by safety Mahlon Carey, and not one interception by a cornerback. The Deacons, meanwhile, were No. 9 nationally and first in the ACC with 25 additions of ball possession and 12 subtractions. Those numbers turned the Tar Heels’ way Saturday as they benefited from a plus-two advantage in turnovers, and all three of their fumble recoveries led to touchdowns. Two of them came in Wake Forest territory and were covered at the Deacon 22 yard-line. Two were results of jarring hits and the other was a misplayed kick by a Deacon return specialist. “Turnovers are always a factor in any game,” Bunting said. “Obviously today they hurt Wake Forest and helped us.” * Special teams. The Tar Heels blocked two Wake Forest field-goal tries and one extra point, turning the latter into two Carolina points when Lionell Green scooped the ball up and ran to the opposite goal. Waddell came off the edge to block two kicks and Jonas Seawright elevated up the middle to swat another. Special teams coordinator James Webster believed Wake Forest’s protection for placekicks was vulnerable. While most teams step inside and punch with their hands on the snap of the ball, the Deacons brace to the next inside man without punching. Webster believed that would give inside players like Page, Seawright, Madison Hedgecock and Isaac Mooring an opportunity to break down the interior of the blocking wall. The Deacons’ two wing players also move their outside leg inward a hair as they block to the inside, making the corner a little shorter for an outside rusher. Dexter Reid was aggressive at the gap between the wing and tackle, making the wing defender focus on him and giving Waddell a little more air to the outside. Waddell got a great jump twice and timed his leap perfectly. “And I almost got there again,” he said. “I could feel the wind on my fingers a couple other times when I didn’t get the block.” Those plays erased a potential seven points for the Deacons and put two on the board for Carolina—a total of one point more than the final spread—but more importantly gave Carolina an emotional boost in the first half. “We’ve been preaching since last spring the importance of the kicking game, how big plays can turn momentum,” Webster said. “You could see the impact those plays were having. Our players got more and more excited with every big play and became more confident as the game went along.” * Defensive discipline. The Tar Heels’ much maligned defense yielded another sizeable chunk of real estate (562 yards), but Carolina was hit with only
EXTRA POINTS two big plays—a pair of 52-yard completions, one against Green for a TD and one against Waddell to set up a TD. Those were the only gains over 20 yards. Otherwise the Deacons churned out gains of eight, six, four, nine and other single-digits without hitting the homerun ball. The Tar Heels were competent for the most part in minding their assignments, which can be maddeningly difficult against Wake Forest’s slight-of-hand offense. Simply forcing those first-half field goal attempts that were eventually blocked were victories; in September they would have been sure TDs. “Watching them on tape, in every single quarter of every single game, I saw Chris Barclay breaking the 20, 25, 35-yard run,” Bunting said. “He didn’t have those against us. That was huge. I think we did as well against them stopping the run as anyone has done all year, which is kind of surprising.” Not to mention the victory being a shock to lots of folks as well. I mused to a number of people last week that here we are, the University of North Carolina, desperate for a win over Wake Forest. And then I heard a whisper Saturday before kick-off from a knowledgeable Wake Forest source that the Deacons might be a wee bit cocky, might be taking the Tar Heels for granted. And afterward a smattering of Carolina students made a poor effort at tearing down a goal
post and a Deacon was quoted in the newspaper saying his team “embarrassed” their university. None of that computes in my baby-blue brain, but the sweet feel of victory registers after a long dry spell. SQUIB-KICKS – It was an interesting sight at one point in the post-game interview area. Surrounded by reporters were QB Darian Durant (Florence, S.C.), TB Ronnie McGill (Clover), DL Chase Page (Mt. Pleasant) and DT Jonas Seawright (Orangeburg). Never in recent memory have the Tar Heels gotten so much recruiting fuel out of the Palmetto State. Tailback Chad Scott suffered a sprained neck on a jarring first-quarter tackle but was termed “sore but otherwise fine” after the game. Other injuries to be monitored this week: DE Alden Blizzard with a sprained knee; TE Bobby Blizzard with a strained calf, TE John Dunn and OT Drew Hunter with neck strains, OT Brian Chacos with a sprained knee, and WR Mike Mason with a quad contusion. Carolina has started a different lineup on defense in every game for two years now. Last week’s changes included Page moving to end to get more consistency and experience there after neither Tommy Davis nor Alden Blizzard had provided enough productivity. Waddell also started at cornerback after
Join The Rams Club Help sponsor the educations of Tar Heel football players—for as little as $100 a year (special plans available for Carolina students and recent graduates). Membership to the Rams Club includes the opportunity to purchase season football tickets and mini-season basketball ticket packages; access to the Ram’s Room in Kenan Field House; tickets to the annual Super Saturday lunch featuring John Bunting and Tar Heel basketball coach Roy Williams; invitations to annual functions featuring Carolina coaches; subscription to Tar Heel Monthly newspaper; group travel opportunities and priority seating for away football games; invitations to annual Foundation golf tournaments; donor card, car decals and more. For more information, call the Rams Club offices at 919/945-2000 or visit www.educationalfoundation.com.
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Chris Hawkins’ struggles at Maryland last week. True freshmen Isiah Thomas and Shelton Bynum started at defensive tackle and played well, Bunting said. Page will remain at end for the last two games. In case you were wondering, the Tar Heels’ mass substitutions on defense depending on down and distance is not the preferred course of action. Carolina has a personnel group on defense known as “Rabbits” that attempts to get faster players on the field on passing downs. The “Sam” linebacker (or strongside linebacker) will come out, to be replaced by another defensive back; right now D.J. Walker is that back, although Derrick Johnson and Jacoby Watkins have played that spot as well. Middle linebacker Devllen Bullard comes out and Doug Justice comes in. Jocques Dumas enters at tackle. Blizzard will be one of the ends. Hedgecock, whose strength is defending the run, exits and Victor Worsley enters. “Playing this style is not our first choice,” defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable says. “You would prefer not to have to make wholesale substitutions. You’d like to bring in a nickel back, take out a linebacker and leave it at that on passing downs. The simpler, the better. But we think this gives our kids the best chance to be successful.” — LEE PACE
EXTRA POINTS
DIGEST Carolina 42, Wake Forest 34 WF Carolina First Downs 31 24 Rushing 16 15 Passing 13 8 Penalty 2 1 Rushing Attempts 53 46 Yards Gained Rushing 260 339 Yards Lost Rushing 9 11 Net Yards Rushing 251 328 Net Yards Passing 311 147 Passes Attempted 33 26 Passes Completed 22 12 Had Intercepted 0 1 Total Offensive Plays 86 72 Total Net Yards 562 475 Average Gain Per Play 6.5 6.6 Fumbles: No.-Lost 4-3 0-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 8-70 5-46 Punts-Ave. 2-53 5-40.4 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 4-18 1-5 Kick-Off Returns: No.-Yards 7-132 6-137 Interceptions: No. -Yards 1-11 0-0 Fumble Returns:No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Possession Time 30:39 29:21 Third-Down Conversions 7-14 5-14 Fourth-Down Conversions 2-3 1-1 Red-Zone Scores-Chances 3-5 5-6 Sacks By 1-7 1-2 Wake Forest 0 13 0 21 34 Carolina 0 16 19 7 42 WF—Chris Barclay 1 run (Wisnosky kick), 11:01 2nd qtr. Carolina—Jacque Lewis 11 pass from Darian Durant (Dan Orner kick), 7:45. WF—J. Anderson 52 pass from Cory Randolph (kick blocked), 4:58 Carolina—Lionell Green PAT return, 4:58. Carolina—Ronnie McGill 6 run (Orner kick), 1:52. Carolina—Orner 35 FG, 10:33 3rd qtr. Carolina—McGill 5 run (rush failed), 8:33. Carolina—Orner 26 FG, 6:11. Carolina—McGill 34 run (Orner kick), 2:40. WF—N. Burney 4 pass from Randolph (Wisnosky kick), 13:13 4th qtr. WF—Randolf 1 run (Wisnosky kick), 9:27. Carolina—Mike Mason 45 pass from Durant (Orner kick), 7:49. WF—B. White 11 interception return (Wisnosky kick), 4:59. A—35,000.
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Carolina’s 2003 Schedule ACC Standings
ACC Overall 6-1 8-2 4-2 7-3 3-2 6-3 4-3 6-4 3-3 5-4 3-3 5-4 3-4 5-5 1-5 3-7 1-5 2-8 Saturday’s Games Carolina 42, Wake Forest 34 Clemson 26, Florida State 10 Duke 41, Georgia Tech 17 Thursday’s Game Virginia at Maryland, 7:45 p.m. (ESPN) Next Saturday’s Games Carolina at Georgia Tech, 12 Noon (JP) Duke at Clemson, 1 p.m. N.C. State at Florida State, 3:30 (ABC) Connecticut at Wake Forest, 3:30
Florida State N.C. State Maryland Clemson Georgia Tech Virginia Wake Forest Duke Carolina
Individual Leaders Rushing—Carolina: McGill 29-244 and 3 TDs, Lewis 9-50, Pollock 1-21, Parker 4-11, Scott 1-7, Durant 2-(-5); WF: Barclay 35-161 and 1 TD, Randolf 9-46 and 1 TD, Idlette, 5-38. Passing—Carolina: Durant 26-12-1-147, 2 TDs; WF: Randolph 33-22-0-311, 2 TDs. Receiving—Carolina: Lewis 4-57 and 1 TD, Pollock 3-20, Mason 1-45 and 1 TD, Holley 1-12, Mitchell 1-9, Hamlett 1-6, McGill 1-(-2). WF: Anderson 8-137, 1 TD. Returns—Carolina: Mason 6 kick-offs for 137 yards, Waddell 1 punt 5. Defense—Tackles: Carey 13.5, Edwards 8, Page 8, Reid 7, Justice 6.5, Green 6, Waddell 4.5, Wright 3.5, Hawkins 2, Thomas 2.5, Davis 2, Longhany 2, Hedgecock 1.5, McGill 1, Wooldridge 1.5, Walker 1, Brown 1, Dumas 1, Worsley 1.5, Blizzard 0.5, Bullard 0.5, Seawright 0.5, Bynum 0.5; TFL: Carey 1-1, Reid 1-6, Dumas 1-2; FF: Justice, Wright, McGill; FR: Edwards, McGill, Walker. Blkd: Waddell 2, Seawright 1; Sacks: Dumas 1-2. Holiday party? “Franklin Street” is your answer for great live entertainment. Write [email protected] or call (919) 9689393 for more info on the band’s ‘60s and ‘70s Rock & Roll covers & other cool stuff.
Aug. 30 Sept. 6 Sept. 13 Sept. 20 Sept. 27 Oct. 4 Oct. 11 Oct. 18 Oct. 25 Nov. 1 Nov. 8 Nov. 15 Nov. 22
Florida State Syracuse Open Wisconsin N.C. State Virginia ECU Arizona State Clemson Maryland Wake Forest Georgia Tech Duke
0-37 47-49 (3 OT) 27-38 34-47 13-38 28-17 31-33 28-36 21-59 42-34 Noon (JP) Chapel Hill
EXTRA POINTS The only publication devoted exclusively to Tar Heel football. Lee Pace Carolina ‘79 Editor & Publisher 104 Jones Street Chapel Hill 27516 919/933-2082 [email protected]
Extra Points will be published at least 15 times during the 2003-04 subscription cycle—on the Mondays following 12 regular-season games, in addition to pre-season, recruiting and springpractice issues and a potential bowlgame edition. Subscriptions are $30 per year, payable by check, money order or Visa/MC. The newsletter is available in its entirety each week at no charge at www.Tarheelblue.com.
