University of North Carolina Athletics
EXTRA POINTS: Thirteen The Charm As Heels Kick Blue Devils
November 25, 2002 | Football
Nov. 25, 2002
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By Lee Pace
 Jacque Lewis ran for 102 yards in the win.  |
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Beating a Duke team that has not won in the ACC since 1999 is not a building block of champions. But losing to a team you'd beaten 12 years running would be yet another chink in the once-sturdy Tar Heel armor for opposing recruiters to seize upon. Thank the heavens for small favors after a taxing and trying autumn. When Orner connected on a 47-yard field goal at the final gun Saturday, lifting Carolina to a 23-21 win over Duke, the Tar Heels suddenly had a modest springboard to carry them into year three of the Bunting regime.
"This is sweet all right," said senior linebacker Malcolm Stewart. "This is great for the guys to go into the off-season and get ready for next year. And for the seniors to go out like this, it is real sweet."
"I think this will definitely help us through the workouts because we know what it takes to win close games," junior tight end Bobby Blizzard added. "We know what it takes to overcome what we have this year. I think we are going to be excited to get back to work."
Bunting, staff and players have mountains of work over the coming months as they seek to regain respectability in the ACC. Following a heartening display of intensity and sporadic quality efforts last week at Florida State, the Heels built toward the off-season in their season finale with a running game that popped like it hadn't all year and a defense that played reasonably well -- save a couple of late-game lapses.
Most importantly, the Tar Heels staved off a potentially devastating third-quarter turnover to remain focused and tough and get back into the game. Four times earlier this year, Carolina had committed crucial mistakes early in the second halves with games in the balance -- against Miami of Ohio, Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Virginia. On each occasion, opponents turned the Heels' errors into scores, yanking the momentum and nurturing it the rest of the game.
Against Duke, the Tar Heels suffered their first blocked punt in at least two seasons midway through the third period. The Blue Devils recovered the ball at the Carolina 20 and scored in two plays, taking their first lead at 14-7. Instead of an all-too-familiar implosion, however, the Heels rallied back on a lengthy scoring drive to tie the score again at 14-14.
"That's something that should help us this spring and into next year," Bunting said. "I plan to spend a lot of time with this team on Monday, showing them plays from this year, most of them in regard to momentum swings, to responding or not responding. Today, we responded."
Helping the Tar Heels respond was quarterback Darian Durant, who made a speedier-than-expected recovery from thumb surgery just four weeks ago. Replacement C.J. Stephens, while exhibiting a good throwing motion, strong arm and exceptional toughness, was still learning to read coverages, find receivers and make decisions. Some of the pounding he'd taken week after week was the result of not getting rid of football when he should have. Durant's return gave the Tar Heels an offensive leader with the mental seasoning needed to establish a consistent offense.
"Having him back meant a lot, and not necessarily talent-wise," tackle Jeb Terry said. "C.J. is talented as well. Darian's a big part of our offense. His leadership and charisma and the way he holds himself on the field -- it was a boost to have that."
Durant completed 21 of 35 passes for 262 yards and one touchdown. He threw one sloppy interception and a couple of errant passes due to rustiness, but his ability to elude the rush and make plays was exceptional. On Carolina's 73-yard TD drive in the third quarter, Durant twice stepped out of potential sacks on third down to find receivers downfield for first-down conversions. The touchdown was an improvisation run on fourth-and-goal at the one when he couldn't find an open receiver.
"I thought he played well," offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill said. "He managed the game well. He made a number of good checks. I think he only missed one. He threw the ball well for the most part. I'm glad for him."
"What a miraculous recovery," said Bunting, adding that he and Tranquill decided at breakfast Saturday to start Durant. "What a miraculous type of mentality to say, 'I want to go out and play, I want to help this team, give me a chance.' This was a big game for a guy who'd been out for four weeks. I'm really proud of him."
Also drawing deserved praise from Bunting and Tranquill was the running of tailback Jacque Lewis, who rushed for 102 yards despite suffering a hip pointer in the second quarter. His effort allowed this year's team to avoid the acquisition of a curious little statistical oddity. In preparing to talk about the Heels' inept running game this fall on the Tar Heel Sports Network pre-game show, I wondered how many years it had been since Carolina had gone through an entire year without having a single hundred-yard rushing performance. I knew the Heels had none this fall and that it had been the Virginia game of 2001 since Andre Williams had eclipsed the 100-yard mark. Kevin Best and Rick Brewer of the Carolina Sports Information Department began looking through the record book, and Brewer later determined it was 1966 -- before Bill Dooley called his first toss sweep as a Tar Heel coach.
"Talk about a tough kid, Jacque really hung in there," Bunting said. "He was hurt but kept playing and playing and playing. I'm really proud of him. He helped us win this football game."
"That's what we have to do every week," Tranquill said. "We have to run the ball some. We did a pretty good job of it in the first half."
That running ability actually helped the Tar Heels on their third touchdown of the game, a 37-yard strike from Durant to Jarwarski Pollock early in the fourth quarter. Because Carolina had been running the ball well, Duke was keying its strong safety on run support. Durant faked a hand-off on the isolation play, freezing the safety and linebackers and opening room for Pollock across the middle to catch the pass.
"Just another reason why you've got to run the ball effectively," receivers coach Gunter Brewer said.
The Tar Heel defense allowed Duke 317 yards total offense, well below its season average of 465 yards allowed, and was hurt mostly by the powerful running of fullback Alex Wade (138 yards on 25 carries) and a devastating hitch-and-go that suckered cornerback Derrick Johnson for the go-ahead touchdown with a minute left in the game.
Carolina finishes the year allowing 452 yards and 35.1 points per game, each figure just under the low-water marks of 1988 set in the first year of the Mack Brown/Carl Torbush defensive rebuilding effort.
All of which led to a stalemate of sorts through 59 minutes of action Saturday on a cold but sunny afternoon. The only difference was a missed extra point from Orner early in the fourth quarter that left the Heels one point down as they received the ball with 53 seconds to play. Durant efficiently led the Heels 45 yards into field-goal range, and with four seconds to play, Orner waited through two timeouts before getting his shot at glory. His early misses -- the two field goals and the extra point -- were all wide right.
"On the first two, I left my hips open," Orner said. "I was not focused on what I had to do. Maybe I took stuff for granted. Maybe I was overconfident. I had a really good practice on Thursday. I didn't miss any field goals. I kind of got a reality check after missing the extra point.
"Everyone was coming up to me and saying, 'It's coming down to a field goal, it's coming down to a field goal.' They said they still believed in me. That was super to hear. I just wanted one last chance."
When Duke followed Carolina's timeout with one of its own, Orner and holder John Lafferty hurried to the kicking net behind the bench, where Orner struck two solid balls into the net.
Laffery told Orner it was going to be fun when Carolina won the game. "I told him, 'You're ready to go. Just see the ball. You've done it a thousand times. Don't forget your follow through,'" Lafferty said. "We practice in pressure situations all week long from every spot on the field."
Snapper Greg Warren and Lafferty did their jobs. Orner struck the ball better than his earlier kicks, though still not perfect. It was a low-flier but straight. It cleared the cross-bar with good room to spare.
"I was saying, 'Get in there, please Lord, help us," Stewart said. "I was just hoping and praying."
Defensive tackle Chase Page couldn't bear to watch. "I heard the crowd yell," he said. "I hoped it was our fans."
Orner hoped the kick had enough distance.
"This was my worst day of hitting balls," he said. "The last one wasn't very solid. I kept my head down as long as I could. I looked up and saw it was low but straight. I said, 'Please, have enough leg.' I kept waiting for the referee to raise his arms. Finally, he did."
And, finally, the 2002 season came to a pleasant conclusion. If nothing else, the Heels retain the Victory Bell for the 13th consecutive year.
"We wanted to make sure the Bell stays right there in our locker room," Terry said. "Our locker room would feel weird without it being there."
Duke missed a tremendous opportunity. This was the year to get the Tar Heels when they were down. They won't be title contenders by the time next season begins, but they'll be on the way to recovery.
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Extra Points will be published 16 times during the 2002-03 subscription cycle -- on the Mondays following 12 regular-season games, in addition to pre-season, bowl/post-season, recruiting and spriing practice issues. Subscriptions are $30 per year, payable by check, money order or Visa/MC. The newsletter is available in its entirety each week at no charge right here at TarHeelBlue.com.
Lee Pace, Carolina '79
Editor & Publisher
101-A Aberdeen Dr.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
(919) 933-2082 | lpace@nc.rr.com
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
