University of North Carolina Athletics
Pace: Capitalizing On A Big Victory
September 12, 2002 | Football
Sept. 12, 2002
By Lee Pace
Extra Points
A steamy and noisy Carrier Dome. Calendar reading September 7th. Second game of the season. A solid Syracuse team across the line of scrimmage. A third-quarter jolt of momentum for the Orangemen successfully fended off by the Tar Heels. Victory for the boys in baby blue in front of a national television audience.
Both John Bunting and Mack Brown know the feeling.
Each has enjoyed a road victory over Syracuse in similar-almost identical-circumstances while serving as head football coach at Carolina.
Brown's win came in 1996 and was a major boost in confidence, swagger and attention for a program that would post a 21-3 record over two years, springing Carolina into the national spotlight. "What a great win for our program," said Brown, who rode the coattails of the Tar Heels' ascension to a new job at the University of Texas.
Bunting echoed essentially the very same thought late Saturday night after his team dominated the second half and collected a 30-22 triumph over a program that's a perennial contender for Big East Conference honors. Following a disheartening loss to open the season against Miami (Ohio) University, Saturday's win could be significant in the mental and physical development of Bunting's second team at Carolina.
"What people will remember watching North Carolina on TV Saturday is that they proved they can play for four quarters, with a lot of enthusiasm and intensity for four quarters," Bunting said. "What was most glaring to me is we showed we can control the ball when we don't put it on the ground and when we get lined up right and run the right routes. Our defense played hard and a little smarter. Our special teams were a lot better."
The Tar Heels will need every positive they gained Saturday and then some to challenge the No. 2-ranked Longhorns Saturday in front of what might be a Kenan Stadium record crowd. Brown brings to Chapel Hill a roster stocked with four years of freshman classes ranked at or near the top of every national recruiting service. That's exactly how he got the Tar Heels into the national limelight in the mid-1990s.
rown's best recruiting classes over his decade at Carolina came in the 1992-94 era, and by 1996 those players had matured into an outstanding group of tough players and quality leaders. The squad Brown took to Syracuse in 1996 featured 10 players starting on defense that would play in the NFL and three on offense that would make it to the professional leagues. Of those 13 players, nine remain on NFL rosters-Dre Bly, Russell Davis, Greg Ellis, Vonnie Holliday, James Hamilton, Brian Simmons, Leon Johnson, Freddie Jones and Jeff Saturday.
unting is looking for a few good men of that ilk as he attempts to rebuild Carolina's fortunes. The Tar Heels have only three fifth-year seniors remaining active and healthy on this year's squad-Zach Hilton, Chesley Borders and DeFonte Coleman. There are only four true seniors on the starting roster-Michael Waddell, Kevin Knight, Malcolm Stewart and Sam Aiken. No fewer than 39 recruited scholarship players listed on pre-season rosters from 1998-2001 left Chapel Hill before their eligibility expired because of injury, bad grades, violating team rules, not finding a place to play or simply not having the combination of brains, stomach and heart it in which it takes to thrive in this most difficult of games.
The players remaining on the Tar Heel roster have bought into Bunting's demanding style and showed Saturday night they have the fortitude to bounce back from difficult circumstances and play well. Exhibit No. 1 is QB Darian Durant. After a rash of turnovers against Miami and more problems in the first half Saturday handling the football, Durant turned in his finest 30 minutes of football. His passes were mostly strikes. He and the centers connected flawlessly. He made good reads at the line of scrimmage and as plays unfolded.
"[Syracuse coach] Paul Pasqualoni said after the game, 'You've got yourself quite a quarterback,'" Bunting said. "I've known that, known that quite a while. Darian thanked me for sticking with him. He was a game captain today and was a great choice. He played his fanny off."
Durant was most effective on a 14-play, 77-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter that included four-of-four third-down conversions.
"I'm just glad the coaches had confidence in me and my ability to make plays," Durant said. "Some coaches would have said, 'That guy's turnover prone. Get someone else in there.' I had trouble getting on the same page with the center again. It was very, very noisy down there. I was dealing with two different centers. Jason and I got things worked out last week, then he gets hurt and I'm working with a new center. In the end, we were able to get everything together."
The Tar Heels will need to keep putting those elements together if they're to build on the Syracuse victory in 2002.
