University of North Carolina Athletics
Torbush Talks About FSU Matchup
September 21, 1999 | Football
Sept. 21, 1999
"I felt like the win in Indiana was a really good win for us, a win that we really needed. We needed to go on the road and win and get us ready for the rest of the season. I'd have hated the thought of heading into the Florida State game 0-2, because we know what we're in store for this week. But I thought our kids played well, especially on offense. After we went through in the first week, to come back and do what we did offensively I think says a great deal about our offensive coaching staff as well as our offensive players. Defensively, even though I thought we played hard and made some plays, we really did a very average to poor job defending the option.
"Overall it was a game that we came out of fairly healthy, though of course Brandon Spoon is someone we can't replace. It will take every backup linebacker that we have to try to be somewhere near the production he gave us. We not only lost a great football player and the leader of our defensive football team, but we also lost a great practice player and a guy with a tremendous amount of experience. Losing him this year is a lot like losing Oscar Davenport at the beginning of the season last year offensively.
"We're getting ready to play the No. 1 team in the country in Florida State. I've got a tremendous amount of respect for Florida State and have had for many years, not only because they have great athletes and a great football team, but because they're as well coached as anyone in the country. That staff has been together a long time. I don't think anyone practices any harder or with any more intensity than Florida State does. And you take great coaches and surround them with great athletes and that's the reason you've got a great football team and a great football program.
"Defensively they're a team that you need to be able to make some big plays on if you can because it's going to be really hard to drive the football on them. They've given up very few drives where you take time off the clock at the same time that you move the ball down the field with five or six yards a snap running or throwing. They've got the same type of front four as they've always had. There's always pressure on the quarterback with the vertical push they have. And linebacker wise, they run as well - if not better - as they ever have. Defensively, they just present big problems, like they have every year.
"Offensively, it starts with the quarterback, Chris Weinke. He's a pro-type quarterback, a really big guy. You don't appreciate how big he is until you really see him on the field. He's got a pro-type arm. He's big and strong and he's the guy that makes things go. Peter Warrick should be the front runner or one of the top front runners for the Heisman trophy. He probably does as much with the limited number of opportunities he has as anyone in the country. He's a game player. When he gets in the big ball games, he always seems to make the big plays."
