University of North Carolina Athletics
LEE PACE'S EXTRA POINTS: Take THAT Tigers: Heels Steamroll Woody.
October 23, 2001 | Extra Points
Oct. 22, 2001
NOTE: Readers are encouraged to view this week's Extra Points in the convenient PDF Format. PDF Format contains all material seen below, as well as additional content that is only available through PDF, including The Inner Game. 
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By Lee Pace
From the visiting coaches' box in the mezzanine level of Clemson Memorial Stadium,
Woody Dantzler early and often. |
Still, Clemson was moving the football. Woodrow Dantzler had broken free twice for gains of 10 and 14 yards, helping move the sticks from the Clemson 35 to the UNC 29.
Tenuta noted Clemson's efficiency once the Tigers got inside the opponent's 20-yard-line--16 touchdowns in 20 possessions. He saw all the orange and heard all the Tiger Rag noise and knew it wasn't in Carolina's interest to get the crowd whipped to a froth with an early score. He remembered head coach John Bunting's advice all week to "stay aggressive."
"The hell with 'em," Tenuta said. "Let's blitz 'em and live with it."
On first down, he blitzed safety Dexter Reid streaking from the left and linebacker David Thornton from the middle. Reid was left free for a nose-to-breastbone shot on Dantzler and a loss of three yards.
"Aggressive call, great call by coach Tenuta," Reid said.
On second down, he brought linebacker Quincy Monk and Thornton through the middle. Monk caught tailback Bernard Rambert on a draw play for a loss of three.
And on third down, Julius Peppers kept track of Dantzler while fighting off the block of Clemson tackle Akil Smith, then shucked off Smith when Dantzler tried to skip through the pocket. He nailed Dantzler for a two-yard loss. From scoring range to the punt team in three plays.
"Dantzler got out on us a couple of times that first series," Tenuta said later. "He had us reeling a little. Then we put the screws to him. Hey, our guys have been around. This was our eighth game. We know how to adjust and adapt. We played great football from then on."
And how.
The Tar Heels made a giant statement with that defensive stand early in the game Saturday, then followed it with another one after a quick and ineffective Tar Heel series. That second defensive series included Peppers positioned in a linebacker's stance rather than in his customary three-point stance as an end, confusing Dantzler and forcing him to call a time out.
"We set the tone early," Bunting said. "Three big plays in a row--negative, negative,
Willie Simmons. |
What happened Saturday in Clemson's Death Valley was indeed fun for Carolina. With the defense staying on the attack and the offense getting untracked with outstanding performances from Ronald Curry, Darian Durant, Bosley Allen, Andr? Williams and the entire offensive line, Carolina dominated the 13th-ranked Tigers in a 38-3 win.
From 0-3 to 5-3, ranked No. 23 in the country in the Associated Press poll and a contender for a variety of bowl opportunities given the mosh pit in the ACC standings, these Tar Heels are writing new success chapters every Saturday.
"This was one of the most complete games I've ever been associated with as a player or a coach," said Bunting, a member of the 1970 Tar Heels who administered the last Carolina-at-Clemson lambasting, that a 42-7 triumph. "I'm very proud of the way our players responded in the game, in a tough environment facing an unbelievable player like Woodrow Dantzler."
One of the elements of running this team in which Bunting and his staff appear to be excelling in is motivation--pushing the psychological buttons that can turn an athlete with ability at Level 7 on a 1-10 scale into a performance at Level 8 or better. Strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors prepared a video shown to the team on its short flight to Greenville on Friday interspersed with clips from western and military shoot-'em-up movies and tapes of off-season conditioning drills. Did Clemson outwork you this summer? A text message asked the players that question before reminding them of relay races running the stadium steps in July carrying a hundred pounds of iron.
Then Friday night, Bunting pulled out newspaper stories culled from the Internet last week that questioned the ability of the Tar Heel offensive line, their special-team play and their coaching staff. Bunting had everyone worked into a lather on the first two points and addressed the third by saying, "Tommy Bowden may be a better coach than me. But I guarantee you he doesn't have assistant coaches as good as ours." They could have kicked off right then and the Tar Heels would have bolted to an early lead.
"Coach [Robbie] Caldwell really emphasized all week how we weren't respected," center Adam Metts said. "You can believe we were motivated going into this game. To be quite honest, a final score like we one we had isn't that big a surprise to me."
The Tar Heels took control from that first defensive series, bottling Dantzler up with a few new looks and a lot of precise tackling. The Clemson no-huddle offense turned from quicksilver to sludge as Dantzler saw different sets from the Tar Heels and spent more time than usual looking to Clemson assistant Rick Stockstill for the play call.
"He really didn't know what was coming," Peppers said. "We had him confused."
"We were totally frustrated," Dantzler admitted. "It's just one of those days when you go out and nothing goes your way."
Combine that with a well-rounded offensive effort that included zero turnovers and Carolina turning a second-quarter Peppers interception into seven quick points, and you have a Clemson crowd that sat in stunned silence all afternoon. The stadium was half empty early in the fourth quarter.
"The momentum swings they had created in the past went against them today," Bunting said. "We got the momentum and never let it go. At halftime (with Carolina leading, 21-3), I told our guys, 'This is something new for us. We'll see how we handle it.' Well, we handled it great. We went out for the second half like we were behind and stayed aggressive on both sides of the ball."
Curry had an excellent game, actually running and throwing with more efficiency than the much-hyped Dantzler. He rushed eight times for 82 yards, was not sacked and made excellent decisions on when to tuck the ball and run. One 20-yard gain was on a sprint-out pass where he saw open space and bolted. Unfortunately, he pulled his hamstring in his left leg in the third quarter and his availability during the coming off-week of practice is unknown.
a big day in his return to his home state. |
Carolina is 5-0 since Curry and Durant have shared the quarterbacking duties and is now blessed with a playmaker of sufficient experience should Curry's injury extend through next Thursday night's game at Georgia Tech.
"I just wanted to show these folks what they let slip through their hands because I was looking into Clemson real hard," Durant said. "That was really going through my head the whole day."
Caldwell played with a patchwork line all week in practice, with Greg Woofter missing every day with an infected leg and Metts, Jupiter Wilson and reserve Marcus Wilson working through assorted other injuries. Red-shirt freshman Skip Seagraves started in Woofter's place and had a pancake block on his first snap. Bunting pointed to every lineman who played Saturday as having a good performance.
"Clemson did a lot of stunting and looping, things we had a lot of problems with early in the year," Bunting said. "We were able to stay with them and, for the most part, block them up. We gave up one sack and had 200 yards rushing. Those are two stats that are hard to beat."
The staff will spend Monday and Tuesday of off-week on the road recruiting, and the team will practice Wednesday through Friday. It'll take Saturday off, then begin Tech week preparations a week from Sunday. A win in Atlanta would give Carolina a 6-3 record and a home stand in November against Wake Forest, Duke and SMU.
"We didn't work all summer for second place in the ACC," defensive tackle Ryan Sims said. "We're tired of taking a back seat to the Florida States and Georgia Techs. Now, if someone would just please beat Maryland twice ...."
NOTE: Readers are encouraged to view this week's Extra Points in the convenient PDF Format. PDF Format contains all material seen below, as well as additional content that is only available through PDF, including The Inner Game. Download Free Acrobat Reader
Many Tar Heel fans enjoyed Lee Pace's six-part series chronicling the playing and coaching careers of coach John Bunting that appeared at TarHeelBlue.com last spring. Now those same stories are available with new material in a book that promises to be a collector's item in the future.
Born & Bred is now available. It is on sale at a variety of venues around campus and Chapel Hill, as well as in the TarHeelBlue.com FANStore and by mail order.
New chapters cover Bunting's coaching staff, his visit in May to Tar Heel legend Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice, and efforts to improve the game-day experience in Kenan Stadium. In addition, there are sidebars on the 1980 Carolina championship team, led by Kelvin Bryant, and Bunting's key role in the 1982 NFL players' strike. Contact Lee Pace today at leepace@earthlink.net for ordering information.
Extra Points, now in its 12th year, is published 15 times a year, once following all Carolina football games as well as at the beginning of the season, the end of the season and at the end of recruiting and spring practice. Subscriptions $30 per year, payable by check or MC/Visa to:
Extra Points Publishing Co.
101-A Aberdeen St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Lee Pace, Editor & Publisher
919/933-2082, leepace@earthlink.net
First Annual
"Wreck Tech"
UNC Golf
Tournament
followed by
Pre-Game Party.
Make plans now for a golf tournament, pre-game social and then the Tar Heels vs. Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Thursday, Nov. 1. Play "The Frog Golf Course" at the Georgian Resort at 10 a.m. The pre-game party will be held at 5 p.m. at the Atlanta Brewing Company (located on Williams Street in downtown Atlanta). Cost is $50 for golf and $21 for dinner. Call the Eductional Foundation at 919/945-2000 for more information.
It's the perfect late-fall getaway and is scheduled Nov. 9-11. Pinehurst is joining hands with Golf Digest for this unique presentation of paintings, drawings, books, sculptures, photographs and more. Package includes two nights accommodations, breakfast and dinner daily, Art of Golf Awards Banquet on Friday, access to all Festival displays and activities, optional golf on any Pinehurst course.
Call 1.800.IT'S.GOLF (487-4653) and ask for information on the Art Of Golf Festival, or visit Pinehurst.com.
