University of North Carolina Athletics
Bunting Press Conference Quotes
August 28, 2001 | Football
Aug. 28, 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:
Opening Thoughts:
"I've never been in a game like that, and hopefully I'm never in another game like that. It was about as frustrating as they can be. All I could hope for as that our guys would continue to play, and they did. I was particularly impressed with the way our guys played on special teams, with the exception of one play, and obviously the missed conversion. Other than that our guys were really flying around. I was excited about the way they competed, and dominated Oklahoma's special teams on many, many plays. It's really something to grow on. There were a couple of guys who were not as competitive and we're going to shuffle some guys around this week, special teams wise.
"Defensively we were certainly far from perfect, but we competed and it was as courageous an effort as I've ever been around. It was a hopeless situation, but they kept fighting. They played pretty well. They missed too many tackles - I think we had close to 20 missed tackles. We grade very hard on that. We're very tough when it comes to making good tackles.
"We hope we can learn from this experience - it's a big reason why I scheduled the game. I think our offensive line got better. I know Greg Woofter got better. Going out to Oklahoma I thought I'd be starting four sophomores and a senior, instead I had three sophomores and a freshman. So that was good for Willie McNeill to get some playing experience. I think we'll probably stay with that lineup going into the Maryland game."
On Ronald Curry and Darian Durant:
"Darian played well in a situation which was obviously a little out of hand. Contrary to what some people may have said, they (Oklahoma) did not have a lot of substitutes in there. I think they had an injured defensive back. They were rotating defensive linemen just like we did to try to keep people going because it was a hot night. They did go into a lot of three-man line, which is different than the four-man line, different from the pressure they were bringing initially. So Darian entered the game with a little bit of a different atmosphere than what Ronald entered in.
"We are going to start Ronald in this game against Maryland, and we intend for him to play the entire game unless circumstances arise that we then make another decision. Those circumstances are if the game gets out of hand one way or the other, if the game is not going well in protection of the quarterback, and third, if Ronald gets off to a very, very poor start, has a hard time handling it, then we'll consider making a change. I don't expect that to happen. I expect Ronald to be much, much more like Ronald. Therefore I don't expect to have Darian play. That's my expectation."
Have you considered moving Ronald to another position?
"I've thought about that, and I haven't necessarily talked with Ronald about that at this institution. I've talked about that as a possibility at the next level. I have not talked about him doing that here."
What positions do you think he could play at the next level?
"Wide receiver, defensive back, maybe even running back."
At what point do you think you would consider moving him at this level?
"Right now I think Ronald's our best quarterback. When that is proven to me that he's not, then I'd obviously go in another direction."
On Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen:
"He's dangerous. I think he's a brilliant offensive mind. I think they'll be very difficult for us to handle. We're going to have to be at the top of our game defensively to handle whatever they have. I think in schemes that he runs, he gets his players in a position to make plays. He runs a number of different personnel groups at you, so you have to be ready for different plays that attack defensive weaknesses with different personnel groups. He is an attacking guy. He knows specifically where he wants to go based on his personnel and your personnel, and when you throw in the option part of it he becomes even more dangerous in the college game."
On the Carolina defense:
"I'm real happy with the way the front seven have performed, and then was extremely happy over the last week of training camp with the way our secondary performed. I think they did a remarkable job playing against Oklahoma. They (OU) have three talented receivers, a very talented receiving tight end, an extremely talented running back - and he made some plays obviously - but I'm really pleased with how our secondary played overall."
On David Thornton's play at linebacker against Oklahoma:
"It's not unexpected at all, because he played that way all through spring. He was a real steady performer all spring, and he played a different position during the spring - he played Merceda Perry's position during spring. When we came to the fall, we moved Quincy Monk to the middle backer position, and we moved David back off the ball and moved Merceda back to his natural position. That was an adjustment for David to make in training camp. He did a tremendous job. He didn't start fast, but he finished strong in training camp.
"David studied the game and was totally prepared for the game, so therefore he was extremely confident in everything he did. He recognized things fast and played extremely fast. When you recognize things fast on defense and you play fast on defense, then you're going to make plays on defense."
