Extra Points: Break Out

By Lee Pace

First there were the two 1-10 seasons. No one enjoyed the results of Mack Brown's first two years as Carolina's head football coach in 1988-89, but most understood the nature of the rebuilding task he faced.

Then there were the baby steps of 1990-91, six wins and seven wins, respectively—suitable progress but still the frustration of no wins yet over Virginia, Clemson or N.C. State.

And then there were the first six games of the 1992 season. The Tar Heels beat Wake Forest, Furman, Army and Navy. They lost their fifth straight to N.C. State in a 27-20 slugfest in Kenan Stadium and then were dispatched 36-13 in their first visit to Tallahassee since Florida State's entry into the ACC.

This was three years before the unveiling of the World Wide Web and the attendant mainstream proliferation of the message board or chat room, so disgruntled fans took to calling radio talk shows to vent their frustrations. In an odd twist of events, N.C. State color analyst and WPTF-AM host Garry Dornburg actually defended Brown amid a flurry of salty calls on Monday night, then on Tuesday Brown was peppered at his weekly press conference by reporters wanting to know if his team would ever beat a team as an underdog.

But Brown was nonplussed. He knew he had a lineup laden with juniors and seniors and players hardened by a steady climb from mediocrity to proficiency. He knew, as FSU Coach Bobby Bowden admitted after the game, the competition in Tallahassee was much closer than the score indicated.

That Tuesday afternoon, a bystander at the Tar Heels' practice held up a thumb and forefinger a half inch apart and asked, "You think you're this far from getting over the hump?"

Brown didn't hesitate.

"Yep," he said. "And I tell you what: It's going to be this weekend. We're finally ready to go beat Virginia. I think last weekend will help 'em understand they can, and now they've got to."

Brown's reading of his team was spot-on. QB Jason Stanicek hit Corey Holliday on a 37-yard scoring pass early in the second quarter and Randy Jordan ran from 17 yards for a score, giving the Tar Heels a 17-7 lead. They added 10 more points in the second half and were never challenged, steamrolling the 17th-ranked Cavaliers of Coach George Welsh 456-263 in total offense.

"We heard it over and over, that Carolina can't beat the good teams, Carolina never wins the big games," center Randall Parsons said. "The past three years, we felt we had a good enough team to beat a ranked opponent, but we never got the break or the big plays. This time, we did it all."

"I was tired of being oh-for-the-big-games," tailback Natrone Means added. "Now that's behind us, maybe we can make some things happen."

Indeed they did.

The following week's game against Georgia Tech was moved to 3:30 for regional ABC-TV. Means ran for 121 yards and QB Mike Thomas hit 10-of-17 passes as the Tar Heels doubled-up the Yellow Jackets in total yards and coasted to a 26-14 win, prompting a boisterous field storming by Carolina fans.

Those back-to-back wins on idyllic days in Kenan Stadium provided the official coronation and "coming out party" for the Mack Brown era of Tar Heel football.
Carolina beat Duke for the third time in a row amidst a string of wins that would evolve into 12 straight and 22 over 23 years and then went to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, riding a pair of Bracey Walker blocked punts in the second half to a 21-17 win over Mississippi State.

"Those kids trusted me, our staff and the University of North Carolina when there was no reason to," says Brown, today a studio analyst with ABC and ESPN's college football team. "They're coming in at 1-10 and 2-20. There was no hope for the future. These guys took risks and took a chance to change the direction of Carolina football. And it worked."

Brown's television responsibilities will have him in Bristol, Conn., this weekend when Louisville comes to Kenan Stadium for a noon start. But some three dozen players, four assistant coaches and various support staff members and administrators will convene for a 25-year reunion of the 1992 squad. They'll have dinner functions Friday and Saturday nights and be recognized on the field at the break between the first and second quarters.

"I hate that I can't be there," Brown says. "I'll be there in spirit. That team was very special to me. I kept a quote in my office during those times—'It's not a matter of if, it's when.' That's the team when it all came together."

Carolina finished ranked in the Top 20 by both the AP and USA Today/CNN polls, and seven Tar Heels were named All-ACC first- or second-team, led by Means, Parsons and Thomas (who doubled as a punter) on the first team.

"Carolina football will never be the same again," said linebacker Tommy Thigpen, now an assistant coach at Tennessee. "The possibilities are endless."

"We spent two years at the bottom of the league, two years in the middle and now we're with the teams at the top," added linebacker Rick Steinbacher, now an associate athletic director at Carolina. "There's only one place to go from here, and that's No. 1."

The Tar Heels didn't quite get to No. 1, but they did win 10 games in 1993, including dominating wins over long-time nemesis Clemson and N.C. State. Those 1992-93 teams provided the proof to the recruiting market that Brown could indeed win at Carolina, and the freshmen those years evolved into the foundation of the 1996-97 teams that went 21-3, dominated on defense and finished as high as No. 4 before Brown moved to Texas after the 1997 season.

"That was a special team and a special time in all our lives," says Holliday, a receiver from 1990-93 and now an associate athletic director at Carolina. "We have a lot of great memories from that year—especially the Peach Bowl. It will be a great weekend to get everyone back in town around a big game against Louisville."

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (leepace7@gmail.com and @LeePaceTweet) was in his third year writing "Extra Points" during the 1992 season. Find his stories throughout the football season on GoHeels.com.

University of North Carolina Athletics

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