University of North Carolina Athletics
Bunting Looks Ahead To Texas At Weekly Press Conference
September 10, 2002 | Football
Sept. 10, 2002
UNC head football caoch John Bunting met with the media Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference. Here is some of what he had to say:
Opening Statement:
"We are coming off a good win where a lot of players contributed in the
victory. Two games down and now because of the way our schedule plays out
we get to play a Super Bowl type game against No. 2 Texas. It is exciting to have these opportunities for our players and fans in Chapel Hill against
this type of team. I know that the players love to play against teams with
traditions such as these. Texas has a tremendous amount of talent up and
down the field. They have a great offense, special teams and can play
defense. They have some experience on a offensive line that is big and
powerful. The wide receivers have speed and size. Their defense runs to
the ball and they have a defensive end, Cory Redding, which reminds me a lot of Julius Peppers. So you know he is a very talented football player. How we contend with him will be a key, because he has the ability to take over a game.
"We have a heck of a challenge ahead of us. Our fans are excited about this game. I know that our players are gearing up for the game. If we want to have any chance at winning we are going to have to prepare extremely well this week in practice."
On the defensive line:
"We improved from the first game into the second game. Technique was
better, gap control was better and we shuffled in more players. We had more snaps out there and I think that helped. We weren't out there very much in the fourth quarter and that helps. I was pleased with the improvement last week, we are going to have to be better this week because Texas has some big offensive players."
On the kicking game:
"With the first game, with those kicking conditions, it is tough to kick
anywhere on the field. That was a good test on what we could do. If that
game came down to it, I would have kicked Dan (Orner) from the 30-yard line. In the (Carrier) Dome, there are no weather conditions and Dan did as good as anyone. I
don't know what the weather is going to be like Saturday night, but I intend on kicking him anywhere from the 30 to 35-yard line."
On Mack Brown:
"I don't have any history with Mack Brown. Obviously we are sitting in a
nice facility right now thanks, in large part, to what he was able to get
done while he was here. So we are thankful to him, and everyone else before
him, for helping us get this nice facility that is one of the best in the
country.
"It shows that the University of North Carolina is very serious about its football program and proves to recruits how good we want to be. There is no reason that this football program can't be a top 10 program just like he (Mack) got it to be when he was here.
"He had a very successful record here. He struggled at first, probably not because he wasn't a good coach, but because he didn't have the talent. He is now in a talent rich pool at Texas that has a tremendous amount of tradition. There is no reason that North Carolina cannot be a program like Texas in the future. You talk about people loving football in the state of Texas; I mean the Longhorns are probably more popular than the Dallas Cowboys. They have tradition and it is something that we want to be, doing it the right way and the right place at UNC."
On momentum changes and special teams:
"We turned the ball over nine times in the opener against Miami (Ohio).
What did our players do? Kept playing and playing and playing and almost
won the football game. I know that they hurt us last year on punt returns.
We were in that football game, competing, we had a great defense to
match-up against their great offense, and we had a turnover and they had a
punt return to our five-yard line.
"We need to be great on special teams to win this football game. We have not been great this year yet. We did better last week and have to keep building on that. Wallace Wright, a walk-on, had a tremendous impact on special teams last week. The punt team will be a point of emphasis in our preparation. We have to do better on our punt return too. We haven't done a thing so far this season and we have to do better so that we can get some field position."
On Dexter Reid:
"When I first knew Dexter and was advised from coaches that remained on this
staff, I heard that he loves the game of football. When I recruit football
players I ask them why they play football, and I want to know if they play
because they love it, and Dexter does. He loves playing football,
practicing and performing each and every day. He has gained a lot of
confidence on the field and in the classroom and that has made him a better
leader. He takes his responsibilities very seriously.
"He is better than last year because he practices better. He is and is more mature. The more you play this game the better you get at recognizing situations and react quicker. He is intent on being in the right place all the time."
On the defensive backs:
"Our secondary was under pressure in this game last year. I'm hopeful that
Derrick Johnson can play well, I know that Kevin Knight will do well and
Michael Waddell was matched up against Roy Williams last year and did a good
job. Can he do a good job again this year? Time will only tell. He is still
very talented and I hope that he really focuses in this week in practice and
has his best game of the season, because we are going to need it.
"We are going to play a lot of defensive backs. They will spread the formation and send five receivers out. So we are going to have to play a lot of cover guys. They will be under some real serious pressure to perform, along with our defensive line putting pressure on Simms."
On scheduling top teams:
"I would love to play Texas again. I love to play top 10 teams. I would
love to go out to Oregon, play Stanford again, but it is nice to have the
home and home games too. We had a home and home with Oklahoma, Texas,
Syracuse and Wisconsin. It doesn't get much better than that."
On Mack Brown's return to North Carolina:
"When you have invested that much time, that much emotion, blood, sweat and
tears, your blood is going to be running. I know that every time I am near
Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia, my blood gets pumping. So I think his
stomach is going to be turning and he will be excited to be here."
On sticking with Darian Durant at quarterback:
"I intended on getting C.J. Stephens in the game. But when the game goes a
certain way, sometimes you have to stick with your guy. Even with the
couple of mishaps in the first quarter, I told our coaches that he was going
to get through this. There was no doubt in my mind that Darian was going to
be fine. I knew that he was going to do what he does best and that is make
good decisions and spread the ball around the field."
On Texas QB Chris Simms:
"He is a very talented player, just as his dad was (Phil Simms). It appears that he is taking on a greater leadership role this
year and that is very important for your team. He is establishing himself
and we are going to have to put pressure on him or he will kill us."
