University of North Carolina Athletics
Mick: Syracuse Win The Start Of Something?
September 10, 2002 | Football
Sept. 9, 2002
By Mick Mixon, Tar Heel Sports Network
What are we in for next?
First, Carolina turns in a MINUS SEVEN in the giveaway - takeaway game and still almost beats Miami, and then the Tar Heels pull a Houdini act at Syracuse and dip the Orangemen by 8 points!
No college football crystal ball exists of course, but at this moment and to this writer, the Syracuse win feels like one of the most significant games of the John Bunting coaching era.
Think for a moment about the way the game transpired. The Tar Heels didn't just defeat Syracuse, they defeated both the Orange and an even more elusive opponent; the questions Carolina had about itself.
Early in the third quarter, all the leading economic indicators were pointing to a UNC recession. The powerful Syracuse ground game had started to find a rhythm in the second period and Orangemen had a huge time-of-possession advantage at halftime. The Heels were hanging by the thread of two Dan Orner field goals that sailed a total of 107 yards. Syracuse had already turned one Carolina fumble into an easy touchdown and the turnoveritis looked like it might be chronic. The Tar Heel offensive line wasn't showing well. Darian Durant looked shaky. The Syracuse kickoff return team and their punt team were obviously quick, well-drilled units. And when Carolina finally connected on a long bomb to Sam Aiken on their first possession of the second half, it was heartbreakingly called back because an ineligible lineman had drifted downfield.
Then, in a series of downs that may yet define the season, the Tar Heel offensive unit refused to hang-dog it. Somehow, some way, they scraped together a first down. Then another. Then another. They changed field position, took time off the clock, and perhaps even formed a bond with one another that properly cures only with the hardener of true adversity. And when The Little Engine That Could, Dan Orner, drilled his third 50-plus yard field goal to give Carolina the lead, the offense trotted off the field thinking, "You know what? We're pretty damn good. We've got some weapons."
The embers of victory have warmed this young team and have removed some of the Miami chill. Additionally,
*** Darian is back. He operated with the precision of a vascular surgeon in the second half, and the places he was able to fit the ball in the passing attack are the main reasons the offense was able to keep the ball for almost 23 of the game's final 30 minutes.
*** A placekicker has emerged.
*** Good teams believe in the coaching and in the teaching they receive. They develop that trust by seeing their hard work pay dividends. This win further validates John Bunting's remarkable leadership and also that of his fine staff.
*** The defense may be young, undersized and not overly talented, but they are fit, feisty and not afraid to fight.
Texas is a team of great skill, especially on offense. Mack Brown's Longhorn program has matured nicely into a team poised to make a serious run at the 2002 national title. Carolina's program has just reached puberty and John Bunting is slapping Clearasil on her with a putty knife.
In an autumn or three, these two outfits may be more alike than they are dissimilar, but for now they are separated by a wide talent chasm.
ut it is human nature for Tar Heel faithful to look for hope even when the odds are long. So look then to the words of the great Dodger, Branch Rickey, who once told his young Bums, "Gentlemen, I prefer the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom."
