University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Offense Comes Far In ASU Win
October 6, 2002 | Football
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By Adam Lucas
TEMPE, Ariz. --- One day, maybe a secret audio-taped version of Gary Tranquill's halftime explosion Saturday night against Arizona State will make the rounds on the internet. A true Tranquill riot act is something everyone should hear at least once, but as far as is currently known, no Tar Heel was brave enough to tape the dressing-down they got in the locker room after a 14-14 first half at Sun Devil Stadium. For now, we'll have to rely on the memory of quarterback Darian Durant.
"Oh man," Durant said, sitting back against a wall with a smile. "He came in the locker room at halftime and chewed us out big-time. He kicked shoulder pads, threw his hat, everything."
It must have worked, because Tranquill not only kicked equipment, he kick-started a 24-point second half explosion that ended with Durant's career high of 417 passing yards and five touchdown passes on the way to a 38-35 Tar Heel victory. The outcome proved Durant to be a prophet, because while talking with his father, Israel, before the game, the sophomore quarterback had predicted that he was due for a breakout game.
He was right. Playing in weather that was so still and temperate as to be almost dome-like -- and certainly more comfortable than the sweltering Carrier Dome -- Carolina started rolling in the second half and suddenly looked like the offense that everyone had expected in mid-August.
"The offense has the ability to do that," John Bunting said. "It was good for their confidence that we got that done."
It didn't hurt Carolina's confidence that Tar Heel fans unexpectedly turned out in large numbers in Tempe. After returning to the team hotel following a Saturday showing of "Red Dragon," the new Hannibal Lecter movie, the squad was surprised to find a "mini-Old Well Walk" waiting for them. Fans formed a lane for the players to walk through getting off the bus, and now the only challenge is to make the home Well Walks have the same good luck charm as the road versions.
"I had on my headphones, and all of a sudden I heard a lot of people cheering," said receiver Jarwarski Pollock, who caught a 65-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. "It was great to see everybody out here."
For Durant, the key wasn't seeing, it was hearing. During practice this week, Tranquill repeatedly told him that the key to a productive offense was for him to step up in the pocket and throw the football, not run it. Although his legs sustained a couple drives, including a key 15-yard scramble on third-and-10 before the pass to Pollock, it was through the air that he was most dangerous.
"I could hear Coach Tranquill in my head," Durant said. "He kept telling me this week to throw the ball, because the receivers have a better chance of making a play than I do."
Of course, the quarterback didn't have to rely entirely on memory to hear a few of Tranquill's pointers. The halftime explosion gave him some crystal clear first-hand reminders. But come on, Darian. Tranquill has been in the game of football since they used leather helmets and although no one on this staff will confirm it, rumor has it that at some of his prior coaching stops, his fellow coaches referred to him as "Yoda" for the suspicious resemblance that he bears to the Star Wars character.
Wasn't it just a little bit funny watching him blow a gasket?
"Oh no, you don't want to smile," Durant said. "Somehow or another, he always seems to know when somebody is smirking at him. And besides, it wasn't funny, because what he was saying was true."
Yoda wins again. Come far, the offense has.
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Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
