University of North Carolina Athletics
Peppers, Backs Shine in Scrimmage
August 11, 2001 | Football
Aug. 11, 2001
Severe downpours and threatening thunder and lightning did not deter the University of North Carolina from holding its first football scrimmage of the season Saturday evening. Head coach John Bunting moved the Tar Heels indoors to the brand new Eddie Smith Fieldhouse and put the squad through a 100-play, two-hour intrasquad scrimmage.
Preseason All-America defensive end Julius Peppers dominated the action with a sack, two forced holding penalties and a pass disruption in limited action. Tailbacks Willie Parker and Andre' Williams had good showings, as well. Parker rushed seven times for 127 yards. He was credited with a 78-yard touchdown run as he made several elusive moves and was running unimpeded to the end zone. The play began at the offense' 22-yard line, so he was credited with a 78-yard run, even though the indoor facility's turf is 60 yards long.
Williams had eight carries for 41 yards, including three runs of seven yards or more.
Senior quarterback Ronald Curry completed 5 of 14 passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 43-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Brandon Russell and a six-yard touchdown pass to Sam Aiken. Two of Curry's incompletions came on dropped passes.
Red-shirt freshmen quarterbacks Darian Durant and Aaron Leak alternated with the second-unit. Durant was 3 for 9 for 44 yards with all three completions to Isaiah Robinson. Durant completed three of his last four pass attempts. Leak was 3 for 6 for 33 yards, including a 16-yarder to Russell. Transfer C.J. Stephens, who must sit out this year, was 2 for 2 for 28 yards.
"Moving indoors hurt our kicking game some and we did not tackle on the turf," said Bunting. "But we persevered through that. We were able to simulate special teams situations without actually kicking the ball. We certainly would have had to cancel the scrimmage except for this great facility. The runners (Parker and Williams) can run. I thought our quarterbacks had good plays and bad plays, just like the rest of training camp. Some of that was due to the protection, which was inconsistent.
"Julius Peppers is a dominating player."
