University of North Carolina Athletics
Bunting Press Conference Quotes
October 2, 2001 | Football
Oct. 2, 2001
UNC football coach John Bunting met with the media Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference. Here is some of what he had to say:
"We're excited about playing this week against East Carolina for a number of reasons. They're an awfully fine football team, they represent a huge challenge for us. I'm also excited about the fact that we're honoring Bill Dooley here at Kenan. I think it's the first time it's been done. In my opinion it's taken too long. I think he's one of the greatest coaches in Carolina history - a three-time ACC conference winner. Also Don McCauley, a recent inductee into the college Hall of Fame, will be honored. I think that's terrific. He was a great teammate of mine and after Choo Choo (Justice), arguably one of the very best that ever carried the ball in Carolina Blue. I'm excited about those folks being part of this Saturday's game and I'm really excited about seeing some of my former teammates who will be back also because it will be the 30th anniversary of our '71 ACC championship team - the first of three for Coach Dooley.
"Darian Durant, the ACC Rookie of the Week, I think that's great for Darian, good for our team, good for him and his confidence, but he still needs to get better. Kory Bailey played very well for us obviously with a couple of touchdown catches and some really fine blocks.
"We face a real challenge this week. Last week it was winning on the road, but this week it's winning maybe our first non-conference game, trying to get to 3-3 if we can. Our defense ranks first in the ACC. I said all along that I think our defense can be one of the very best in the country - not just the ACC, but the country. Right now they're one, but they will be challenged this week by what I believe to be one of the very best offenses we have seen - the most dangerous that we have seen in my opinion. They are very, very, very good, (and they have) a lot of weapons, with the running back, the quarterback's awesome - great thrower, good runner - and we also have to deal with the special teams, the best return guy that we have faced this year in (Marvin) Townes. Defensively, though their statistics may not show it, they've played great defense over the years. I know that. Everybody knows that. We're hopeful that we can move the ball against them, keep our defense off the field some, all those good things coaches say. This will be a great, great challenge for our football program and our football team. They certainly have one of the best offenses that we've seen to date."
On East Carolina's Offense:
"I've watched a few of their games over the years. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what they do there offensively. And you don't know what to expect. I'm sure they're going to have some things that we have not seen, just as NC State did. But what they do show, they do very well. They're extremely well coached and they have big-play players, and the running back (Leonard Henry) is a threat every single time he touches the ball."
On the importance emotion of this game for the fans of both teams and throughout North Carolina:
"The thing I'm going to emphasize is that they (the Carolina players) work on their focus and their urgency and discipline to prepare. Usually things will take care of themselves if you do that. When you're out there on the practice field, when you're in a meeting room, you take care of your business and then you get out there on game day and you play with great emotion. There'll be a lot of East Carolina fans here - I think that will be very evident....but I think that it's great that we'll have them over here also. It will be a sold-out crowd.
"The fans have an impact on game day. You have to learn how to deal with it on the road, and you have to learn how to deal with it at home. You have to deal with the momentum swings of the game. If the things don't go right and the fans go dead, you have to do something to stir them up, if you intend to use them to your favor. We definitely had a 12-man advantage in the Florida State game, and we obviously did not have that over at Raleigh last week. But we played it as an edge for us. We knew that, we've been there.
"This will be exciting for us to play at home. I don't think that fans interfere at all in your preparation. That's on the coaches and that's on the players to isolate themselves in their preparation and shut everything else out."
On the schedule and the chance to improve to 3-3 on the season after 0-3 start:
"The word is out that we're playing the No. 1 schedule in college, based on the Sagarin ratings. The only two losses that our opponents have had have been against us. The five teams we've played have (a total of) two losses, and the two losses are to us. So obviously we're playing a pretty good schedule.
"Being 3-3 would be meaningful obviously. We want to win every game we play, but to get to 3-3 would give us another boost in confidence. I think it would be a psychological barrier to get to."
