University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: FSU Too Much For Tar Heels
November 17, 2002 | Football
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Nov. 16, 2002
By Adam Lucas
John Bunting doesn't pay much attention to history when preparing for an opponent, which is why he can be excused for not cringing on the sideline during the second quarter on Saturday against Florida State.
After a stellar first quarter that left the two teams scoreless and a homecoming crowd slumbering, the Seminoles appeared to be ready to apply the knockout punch after taking a 10-0 second quarter lead and recovering a C.J. Stephens fumble in the red zone.
Carolina football fans have heard this song before. After all, they've seen FSU pile up points like leaves along the Franklin Street sidewalk in several recent meetings. In 1998, they blew open a 23-13 game with 16 fourth-quarter points in eight minutes. The next year, the 'Noles put up 28 points in the first eight minutes of the game, and in 2000 Florida State used six minutes of the second quarter as a 23-point showcase.
So it's forgivable if you felt that Anquan Boldin's second-quarter touchdown was the first sprinkle before a cloudburst. After three straight weeks of serving as the asphalt under a road-grader, fans had come to expect the worst.
John Bunting had other ideas.
"I felt all through the first half that our defense did an incredible job hanging in there in very difficult situations," he said. "Once again there were times when we moved the football, but you know we do some things that hurt us to prevent us from scoring points."
One of those things came at the end of the half, when the Tar Heels mismanaged the final seconds of the half to burn a legitimate scoring opportunity. The second half eventually turned into an endurance test that pushed the total game time close to four hours, but it was clear long before the final play of the 40-14 contest that Florida State had superior personnel. Carolina will take a few positives from the game -- a workmanlike effort from C.J. Stephens, Matt Baker's first touchdown pass, continued solid play from Bobby Blizzard, and a creative defensive gameplan that made the 'Noles sweat more than they might have expected in the first half.
This was a defense that had been shoved around consistently over the past three games, perhaps overshadowing an offense that sputtered after the loss of Darian Durant. But some of those same players who couldn't shed blocks or get penetration against Wake Forest, Clemson, and Maryland made plays in Tallahassee. Derrick Johnson and Dexter Reid notched sacks, and Doug Justice continued a slow upward trend by making a game-high 12 tackles, only the first time in nearly two months that anyone other than Dexter Reid had sole possession of the team-high tackle mark.
But even John Bunting's "Always Positive" hat that he pulled out of his closet this week at his weekly press conference won't let a somewhat improved defense overcome brutal special teams play that continually created problems for the Tar Heels. Jarwarski Pollock turned in a 30-yard punt return that was the only special part of the special teams performance, which otherwise featured disappointing kickoff returns and average play in the punt game. In their upset of the Seminoles last season, Carolina's average starting field position was their own 42-yard line, while FSU averaged starting at their own 25. The field position battle was almost reversed in this game.
Not coincidentally, so was the score.
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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.
