University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Looking To Reverse Recent Trends
September 26, 2002 | Football
Sept. 26, 2002
When Carolina tees it up on Saturday against Georgia Tech, it will be trying to reverse several recent trends. The Tar Heels, who are the last team in the league to play a conference game, have lost four straight to Georgia Tech and have lost three of their last four ACC openers. Carolina lost its ACC opener last year at eventual league champion Maryland.
Since his arrival in Chapel Hill last year, head coach John Bunting has constantly reminded his players of the importance of league games. Bunting hopes that by playing a difficult non-conference schedule, the Tar Heels will be better prepared for the ACC slate.
"We feel like we could have been 2-1 at this point, but we're not," Bunting said on Wednesday. "Last year at this time we were 0-3 after playing Maryland, Oklahoma and Texas. Because of those games, and the fact that we had an experienced defense, I felt like our team would have a great opportunity to win some conference games and we did. That is most important to me as we build and establish this program - that we do well in conference."
After last year's loss to Maryland, Carolina reeled off four straight ACC wins, including a 41-9 victory over No. 6 Florida State, a 17-9 victory at rival NC State, a narrow 31-24 win vs. Virginia and a 38-3 pounding of No. 13 Clemson in Death Valley.
"We did do well in conference last year, but whether we do well this year remains to be seen," Bunting says. "We have a young defense that has had inconsistent play.
"If we can grow, if we can continue to get better week by week, then hopefully we can win some conference games. Offensively, we should be able to move the ball and I'm looking forward to that."
The Tar Heels have not played an ACC opener this late in the year since a 24-7 loss at NC State in 1991.
No Change In Game Plan:
Although some observers may think there is a tendency to change the defensive game plan due to the loss of Georgia Tech running back Tony
Hollings, Bunting claims that is not the case.
"You can't do that," Bunting said. "Chan Gailey has a system. I don't think he's going to change his system because one player, even though he was a great player, went down. We may see different personnel grouping, but at the same time they're not going to re-invent the wheel and we're not going to sit here and try to play against ghosts. That's hard to do. That's not a good way to prepare. We have to prepare for what we've seen them do and anticipate what new wrinkles they may have made."
Hollings, the nation's leading rusher, injured his right knee in last week's game vs. Wake Forest and is lost for the season.
Tar Heels and Yellow Jackets The Two Winningest Programs In ACC:
Many folks who watch Saturday's game between Carolina and Georgia Tech may be surprised to learn that the two programs are the winningest in ACC history. The Yellow Jackets have 611 all-time victories while the Tar Heels are close behind with 609.
ut Carolina, which trails the all-time series between the two schools 18-16-3 but holds a 9-6-2 edge in games played in Chapel Hill, needs a win on Saturday to avoid its first five-game losing streak ever to Tech. UNC has not posted a victory over GT in Kenan Stadium since a 16-0 win in 1996 and has lost four straight overall.
"We're going to do our very best to put together a great offensive, defensive and special teams game plan and go out there and execute it," Bunting says. "If we do that, we'll have a great chance of winning."
2001 East Carolina Pre-Game Plan In Place For Saturday:
After opening the season with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff time against Miami (Ohio) and following that up with consecutive 8 p.m. starts against Syracuse and Texas, the Tar Heels kick off at 3:30 p.m. for the first time this season when they meet Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Extensive time and effort goes into planning every last detail of Carolina's pre-game routine, so this week the Tar Heel staff will recycle a plan from last year which worked well -- the pre-game routine from the 3:30 p.m. East Carolina game, a 24-21 UNC win.
"We're going to use the same type of schedule -- wake-up call, breakfast, short meetings in the morning," Bunting said. "Then they'll have about an hour and a half to two hours of free time when they can go back to their rooms and rest and relax. Then we'll bring them up for a pre-game meal, short meetings, get on the bus and roll on into Kenan Stadium."
