University of North Carolina Athletics
Torbush Addresses Media At Press Conference
October 12, 1999 | Football
Oct. 12, 1999
The following are excerpts from head coach Carl Torbush's weekly press conference:
"The Georgia Tech game was a very disappointing loss. It was a game that we felt like going in that we had a chance to win. I think our players and coaches felt very strongly about that and because of that we're very disappointed that we lost. There are no moral victories, we lost a hard fought ballgame. We made enough big plays on both sides of the ball to win, but we didn't make the key plays when we needed to get it done.
"I felt like defensively when you create six turnovers and offensively when you rush the ball for as many yards as we rushed it for and really don't turn the ball over very much, you'd feel like you have a chance to win the ballgame and we didn't. So that was very disappointing.
"It was tough at the end of the ballgame, first of all, to not be able to knock it in from the two. The other thing was to let them make a drive that ended up enabling them to kick the last field goal, which sent it in to overtime. And we had a disappointing overtime in the fact that we didn't get them stopped and we were not able to convert. But I feel like our football team grew from it. I do feel like we should have gained confidence because I know they felt like they played hard and they played with a great deal of enthusiasm, excitement and urgency. And because of that, we had a chance to win.
"You've got to take your hat off to Georgia Tech. They know how to win. They had not been in that kind of ballgame this year, one where they had to come back and take it from the jaws of defeat. So you've got to give them credit where credit is due. I think Joe Hamilton showed again why he's one of the leading ? if not the leading ? candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He made the plays when he needed to make them. That's what makes him such a great player and such an important part of the Georgia Tech football program. And on defense when they had to make a play they got it made. So again it was a disappointing loss and one that hopefully we've learned from and it makes this week even that much more important.
"Houston is a big ballgame for us. This is what we call our second season. We try to break it down into two groupings, the first five of the season and the second six. The main reason being that the first five had so many conference games involved in it and we knew we'd have a good idea where we were after the first five games as far as the ACC race, national rankings and things like that. What we've got to do know is approach Houston as a situation for us to get done what we'd like to get accomplished this year. This has become a very important ballgame for our football team.
"Understand that we're getting ready to play a very good football team. They've got 18 starters back from last year. As a matter of fact, they've got several starters from when we played them in 1996. The running back, Mike Green, we thought he was really good as a freshman and he's improved on that. He's an outstanding football player and one that I feel like will have a shot at professional football. The quarterback, Jason McKinley, he throws the ball well, he does not take sacks and he's got a very good arm and he knows their offense very well."
