University of North Carolina Athletics
LEE PACE'S EXTRA POINTS: Tar Heels Dust Off After Prairie Exhibition.
August 27, 2001 | Extra Points
Aug. 27, 2001
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By Lee Pace
In the roads where the teams moved, where the wheels milled the ground and the hooves of the horses beat the ground, the dirt crust broke and the dust formed. Every moving thing lifted the dust into the air: a walking man lifted a thin layer as high as his waist, and a wagon lifted the dust as high as the fence tops, and an automobile boiled a cloud behind it. The dust was long in settling back again.
--John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
The Crash of 1929 followed by years of drought turned the state of Oklahoma into a wasteland of heat and dust and despair in the 1930s. Nearly half a million forlorn figures like the Joad family in Steinbeck's classic novel migrated west to California in search of work and a slice of bread and tin of milk. Californians looked down their noses at these rubes and called them Okies. It was not a term of endearment.
It took World War II and the reestablishment of a certain team sport to give Oklahomans some pride in their state, some reason to claim this territory as their home. That sport was football.
A University of North Carolina alumnus named Jim Tatum interviewed for the head coaching position at the University of Oklahoma in January, 1946. Along with him for the visit to Norman, Tatum brought a bright 31-year-old assistant coach named Bud Wilkinson. The University regents were so impressed with the tandem that they offered Tatum the job--provided he bring Wilkinson with him. Tatum recruited like a bandit and reversed the Sooners' fortunes in one season, lodging an 8-3 record and Gator Bowl win over N.C. State. But Tatum decided this parched parcel of America wasn't for him and returned East--to the University of Maryland, where he later won a national championship before returning home to Chapel Hill in 1956.
OU officials quickly hired Wilkinson and what ensued over the next 17 years was one of the fiercest reigns of football terror in the game's history--three national championships, a 47-game winning streak, a 94-4-2 record over a nine-year window. Success begot more success, with Chuck Fairbanks, Barry Switzer and, most recently, Bob Stoops, leading the Sooner wagon train. The national title count's at seven, the Heisman Trophies number three.
A 14-year-old from Silver Spring, Md., took notice of the crimson-and-cream juggernaut one September afternoon in 1964 when the Sooners visited the Maryland Terrapins in nearby College Park. John Bunting ranks the eye-opening experience with that several years later of first witnessing the impressiveness of the Carolina basketball squad under coach Dean Smith.
sidelines at Oklahoma. |
"I really didn't play football at the time," Bunting says. "But I'll never forget what I saw that day. Oklahoma stomped Maryland. They banged `em all over the place. They'd run some guy over and put their knee in his chest getting up, put their hand in his face and push off. That's when I first got interested in the competitive nature of football."
As Bunting talks, he's walking into Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on a blistering hot afternoon in late August, 2001. Now the head coach of the Tar Heels, five fellows removed from Jim Tatum himself, Bunting has taken on a preseason gimmick game--the Hispanic College Fund Classic--for his first Tar Heel squad against the defending national champion Sooners.
Beyond him are huge crimson signs exhorting the Sooners to PLAY LIKE CHAMPIONS. There's a covered wagon with two ponies ready to sprint around the field to the tune of Boomer Sooner, just as it's done a million times to the exploits of Owens and Sims, Pruitt and Mildren and the Selmon Brothers.
This job is a dream come true for Bunting.
This setting makes the affair all the more titillating.
"I feel great excitement," Bunting says, the clock clicking at two hours, 15 minutes until kickoff. "I absolutely love it. There is no better place to be than right here, to see how these people do it. Our kids can see what we want to be--this year, next year, the year after. They can get a clear focus of where we want to go. That's why I took this game on."
The Tar Heels now know exactly what No. 1 is like. And you can believe there's plenty of self-esteem these days in the old Dust Bowl of Oklahoma.
There are any number of ways to critique Saturday night's proceedings in the debut of coach John Bunting, his staff, four new offensive linemen and two new kickers.
One: The Tar Heels played the first quarter without a clue, were psyched out, outmanned and overwhelmed. The Sooners were up 17-0 before the Carolina offense had gained one yard. It was 31-7 after one quarter, thanks to three Tar Heel fumbles, a kick-coverage error and some poor tackling on one three-play Sooner scoring drive. No matter what transpired the rest of the evening, drawing conclusions would be difficult because the Sooners certainly would have lost some intensity after the initial onslaught.
Asked afterward about the early game ugliness, Bunting responded: "That's why I wanted to play this game. We've got a young team, a young offensive line. We were hungry for this game. We were anxious for it. Sometimes that can work against you."
Added offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill: "I think we were a little intimated on offense early in the game. We never got in synch."
Two: Carolina never quit, never let the game turn into a nightmarish rout like recent contests vs. Florida State (51-point loss in 2000) and Maryland (38-point loss in 1999). It battled back, played reasonably well on defense, showed some spark on offense and the kicking game and, if you back out the five turnovers, could have made a game of it.
"I've never been around as courageous an effort as I saw the defense display tonight," Bunting said. "I've never seen a defense battle against turnovers, bad field position, sudden change like these guys did."
Added coordinator Jon Tenuta: "They did all we asked them to do to win the football game. They played exceptionally well. It came down to about five plays. There were a couple of third downs when we didn't get the job done. I'd like to have those back."
And three, probably the best course to take: Consider this an exhibition game, a glorified scrimmage where the Tar Heels prepared for their conference opener this week at Maryland with real snaps against real players in front of real lights and cameras and officials. Some of it was atrocious, certainly. But given the quality of competition and the unknowns of this Tar Heel squad, there's enough to build upon as September unfolds.
Take the offensive line, for example, which starts three sophomores and one freshman around senior center Adam Metts. It will be better equipped physically and mentally to travel to College Park this week and Austin, Texas, the following Saturday.
"There's no doubt the line got better as the game wore on," Bunting said. "They blocked some people. They pass protected some. We ran the ball better at times. We will get better because of this game."
The glad tidings include these:
* All-America Julius Peppers has improved and will be a versatile weapon in Tenuta's scheme. Peppers picked off a swing pass from Sooner QB Nate Hybl and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.
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* Sophomore punter John Lafferty, now entrenched with the defection of native Oklahoman Blake Ferguson, nailed one terrific 50-yarder high into the sky and averaged 44.0 yards for nine kicks.
* Sophomore Michael Waddell showed his explosiveness on kick returns, taking a punt back 89 yards and a kickoff 33 (unfortunately, before fumbling it to the Sooners).
* Sophomore Brandon Russell proved why he was the buzz of training camp with his play-making ability at wide receiver after a position shift from tailback. He had two catches for 17 yards and one TD.
* Sophomore offensive lineman Jeb Terry, injury hobbled through spring and preseason, played a full game at right guard. His right ankle is hopefully sturdy enough for the long haul after a protracted recovery from a bone fracture nearly two years ago.
* Sophomore free safety Dexter Reid showed his punishing hitting style and was brought on blitzes at least three times, once nailing the OU quarterback for a 10-yard loss.
* The Tar Heels are in excellent physical condition. They were still going hard late in the game, despite temperatures that hit 99 degrees at kick-off. "We had gas left," Bunting said. "If it had been a five-quarter game, I think we win it."
The most noteworthy subject for praise Saturday night, however, ties directly to a continued concern of the Tar Heel coaches and their fans--can Ronald Curry deliver the goods his senior season, and is red-shirt freshman Darian Durant the instigator of a quarterbacking controversy?
Because Curry is a nice young guy who's been through a lot of hardship in 21 years on the planet, thousands are praying for him to have a breakthrough season in the sport that gives him the best opportunity for professional success. If ever he needed a confidence-boosting performance, it was this opener against a quality opponent on national television--something along the lines of 20-of-30 throwing for 250 yards, two TDs, no interceptions and a passing grade in terms of reading coverages and making decisions.
It was anything but that.
completing just five of 14 passes. |
Curry completed five of 14 passes. Several were wild. He threw one interception, made one fumble on his own and misconnected with reserve center Isaac Morford on an exchange for another turnover. His body language was foul most of the night, and he didn't seem to exhibit any of the take-charge role Bunting and Tranquill have tried to elicit and indeed seen during the preseason. He looked sullen on the bench when ESPN's cameras caught him just after one of Carolina's two fourth-quarter scoring drives.
Durant, meanwhile, was a sparkplug to the Tar Heels.
Entering the game with two minutes to play in the third quarter and the Sooners leading 41-14, Durant ran the ball four times for 39 yards and completed 12 of 26 throws for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He's not a textbook quarterback--he's only 5-foot-11 and has an awkward, semi-sidearm throwing motion. He played in a high school system that used the shotgun exclusively, ergo his problems learning the QB-center exchange at Carolina. But he nonetheless made a handful of pinpoint throws, seemed to energize the Tar Heel offense and showed some quickness and ability running the ball.
The subject was one of the first questions for Bunting at his post-game press conference.
"Ronald Curry is my quarterback," Bunting said. "Darian Durant is going to play some football for us, that's for sure. That guy's a performer. He's a play-maker."
That will be one of the key questions as Carolina moves into Week 2 of the 2001 season. In addition, protecting the quarterback--whichever one is playing--is another concern as the Heels didn't do a good job picking up the Sooner blitz. They'll certainly hope kicker Jeff Reed and his booming kick-offs are back this week following a freak ankle sprain in practice. And ball-security--heaven forbid we have to watch another ball-handling debacle like Saturday night's.
But this Carolina team definitely has some heart. At the team's pre-game meeting Saturday at the Marriott in Oklahoma City, Bunting had every player stand up individually, look to his left, his right, in front of him and behind him and promise that teammate, "I'll lay it on the line for you."
"It was pretty powerful stuff," Bunting said.
Perhaps it was indeed fitting that the Tar Heels travel halfway across the country to this land where exemplary college football has been played for half a century. What a setting to commence the John Bunting era. Good things, bad things, so-so things to bring back home. And as the lightning cracked late into the night and a weary band of Tar Heels prepared to return home, Bunting found in his players some of the moxie that defined the early settlers who survived the Oklahoma Dust Bowl.
"In a fist fight, I'll take my guys," Bunting said. "I've told them that more than once."
Now, the trick is to channel that into productive ball plays.
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.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 scheduled to be available the week of Carolina's home opener against SMU on Sept. 15th. It will be on sale at a variety of venues around campus and Chapel Hill, as well as on TarHeelBlue.com 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. Watch for details.
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
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