University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Aiken Goes Out In Style
November 23, 2002 | Football
Nov. 23, 2002
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By Adam Lucas
Sam Aiken went out just like you would expect.
Not his crucial 88 yards receiving in Saturday's 23-21 victory. Not his eight catches. Not the way he finished the season with a pair of Carolina single-season receiving records.
No, the way Sam Aiken went out was by quietly making a play that no one will remember a week from now.
Eight seconds left, 4th and 5. Carolina trailing, 21-20. Duke had been getting significant pressure on quarterback Darian "Lazarus" Durant all day, but the Tar Heels were much too far away to attempt a desperation field goal. After a timeout, Durant took the shotgun snap and whipped a low, grass-trimming bullet to Aiken.
Naturally, the senior from Kenansville caught it. First down, Tar Heels. Bring on Dan Orner.
"The DB came up like he was going to play press coverage, so I gave him an outside release and I came back in and Darian hit me right on the money," Aiken said.
Sounds simple when he describes it, doesn't it? But it was anything but easy.
That's what the Carolina offense will miss next season. There will be a key third down in the season opener, and Durant will be standing in the pocket, and for just a moment you'd wish that you could see number 88 flashing across the middle.
Aiken, who lives with his mother in Fuquay so that he can help take care of his younger siblings, never made a show about his bevy of big plays in a Tar Heel uniform. He was never particularly comfortable talking with the media, although he was always well-spoken and thoughtful when reporters took the time to seek him out. But he'll be a first-day draft pick, because NFL teams know how to find players who consistently make big plays.
Of course, he wasn't the only player wearing light blue who made big plays against Duke. Transfer Dan Orner kicked the homeliest, ugliest, lowest, line-drivingest game-winning kick in Carolina history, but it certainly looked beautiful on the scoreboard.
In a way, Orner's kick personified the season. He had had a disappointing game to that point, uncharacteristically missing a pair of field goals and failing to convert an extra point. Likewise, the Tar Heels struggled in the final month of the season and easily could have packed it in after ending the season without a win in Kenan Stadium.
Instead, they came out intent on keeping the Victory Bell in its rightful place in Chapel Hill. Amazingly, nine classes of five-year players at Duke have now entered and departed the pseudo-Gothic halls of Durham without ever touching the Bell.
"Dan kept playing, and that is one thing you can say about this football team," John Bunting said. "Despite a difficult season and a lot of painful losses, the kids have hung in there and played each game."
Some might question the Gatorade bath that Bunting was given after the game, since the last-second win, although exciting, only capped a 3-9 year. But what would you have rather the players done? Watch the ball sail through the uprights, shrug their shoulders, and walked off the field like a bunch of zombies?
Aiken celebrated with his teammates, having ended a career that will at least put him in arguing territory of the title of best wide receiver in Carolina football history. No one knew his name four years ago when he put together a sensational Shrine Bowl as a high school senior, but after that game, several big-name schools tried to get involved with him.
By then, it was too late. Aiken stayed with the Tar Heels, who had been one of the first teams to recruit him.
The headlines Sunday morning will be about Dan Orner and the miraculous win. Sam Aiken will be comfortably in the background. Just the way he likes it.
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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.
