University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points Friday: September 27
September 27, 2002 | Football
Sept. 27, 2002
TarHeelBlue.com football expert Lee Pace will again answer your questions about the Carolina program this season in an exclusive column published each Thursday. Pace, editor of the Extra Points newsletter that appears each Monday morning, will answer your questions on personnel, strategy, opponents and anything on your mind about the Tar Heels. Please send your questions to Lee at lpace@nc.rr.com, and include your first and last names and your hometown.
What kind of strategy do you think the coaches should use to create more pass rush from the front four? When we blitz we are not getting there fast enough and have been burned several times on hot routes.
Phillip Teague, Salisbury, N.C.
The best strategy would be to recruit Greg Ellis, Rick Terry, Vonnie Holliday, Michael Pringley, K. Mays, Brian Simmons and James Hamilton all over again. That was the front seven of the Heels' vaunted 1996 defense (with five of them returning in 1997) that resulted in 42 sacks and 219 pressures. Those were incredibly good players and the Heels' lineup today is not as talented or deep or mature. Still, the Tar Heels are using all manner of twists and stunts and are bringing heat from every angle -- including the secondary. When a Tar Heel gets into the quarterback's face, he's got to make the tackle. Against Texas, twice the Tar Heels had Chris Simms dead to rights but they didn't make the play.
"We drill tackling all the time," John Bunting says. "It is more a state of mind. They need to execute the technique and make the tackle. We have quick enough guys and talented enough players to make tackles consistently. You cannot win football games if you don't tackle."
Carolina's front seven on defense appears to be stretched awfully thin. What about reserves at these positions? Can we expect to see more defections from the O-line as was the case with Chase Page?
Tripp Lineberry, Wilmington
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One of the reasons Bunting moved Seawright back to defense is that he wants to rotate a number of players in and out on the defensive line. Carolina remains very young at tackle. The starters the last two games, Chase Page and Kendall High, are playing their first years of college football at that position. Carl Smalls had no experience at South Carolina before transferring. Seawright has played little.
The development of the Tar Heels' depth is up to each individual player -- of getting players like Seawright and Donti Coats to play aggressively and smart and technically sound play after play after play. This week on the practice field during one-on-one drills with the offensive line, you could hear Bunting yelling at Seawright, "It's game day Jooooo-nas." The coaches won't have full confidence in Seawright until he can rev his motor up.
Carolina's depth at end will be stretched further this week with the freak hand injury to Issac Mooring. The junior broke his hand falling in his apartment last weekend and will not play Saturday. Sophomore Jocques Dumas will move from the right side to the left and start in Mooring's place. Bunting is looking for more help from Jermicus Banks, Tommy Davis and Larry Jessup.
I saw the starting time for the UNC-Arizona State game and the fact that it will not be televised. Do you know if the game has a chance to be available on a pay-per-view basis? If the Maryland-Wofford game is available this weekend on pay-per-view, you would think the UNC-Arizona State game would also be available.
Scott Williams, Kernersville, N.C.
There's no question that when the Arizona State-Carolina game was announced several years ago, it sounded as if it might have the cachet that would attract a national TV audience. But with the Sun Devils coming off a 4-7 season and Carolina predicted to struggle with a revamped defense, the game hasn't been a strong enough draw for the networks. It's also a major weekend of Pac-10 conference games, plus the Stanford-Notre Dame match of first-year coach Tyrone Willingham and his former school. And there's no "angle" to this game -- not like the return of Mack Brown to Carolina with the Texas Longhorns. The Maryland TV game is a different deal altogether. A cable-TV company in the D.C. area, Comcast, is showing three early-season Terrapin games on a pay-per-view basis, though why anyone would pay to watch TV games of Maryland versus Akron, Eastern Michigan and Wofford is beyond me.
Two points I don't quite understand. First, Bunting didn't seem to have a problem last year platooning Ronald Curry and Darian Durant. But this year he opts to let C.J. Stephens come in only in clean-up situations. It seems to me you basically have the same situation you had last year, in that when Curry struggled, Durant came in and moved the team. This year, in the Miami (Ohio) game, Durant was terrible, Stephens came in and did some positive things, but his reward was the bench. Ditto for the Texas game, except Stephens gets put in when it's decided, so you can't expect much. It seems fairness is not important here. Secondly, Madison Hedgecock. Seems to me Bunting said in the preseason that Madison would get more touches, and I believe he said that he might use him in some one-back sets. I've seen neither. What gives?
Hal Price, Murfreesboro, NC
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This year, Durant has made some glaring errors. But the Tar Heels are moving the ball well in three games with Durant in the lineup. The Tar Heels are third in the ACC in total offense with 408 yards a game, and Durant leads the ACC in total offense with 279 yards a game. That production is earning him some wiggle room over the errors.
Two things about the Durant turnovers. One, the QB-center exchange snafus have subsided as Durant and first-year center Jason Brown have played more together. I think that problem's been ironed out. Two, Durant's biggest problem has been not in physical execution but in decision making. His two interceptions against Texas were bad decisions. Since Durant proved last year the ability to make good decisions, his problems this year cannot be anything but mental. He admits to pressing. I believe he's simply struggling with being the designated No. 1 guy. Last year, there was less pressure coming off the bench as the freshman no one had heard of.
It's an evolutionary process. Each new week will provide a new part of the answer.
But count on two things:
One, Bunting proved last year with his treatment of Curry the ability to play fair.
Two, Bunting wants passionately to win football games. He'll play the guy he thinks gives him the best chance.
As for Hedgecock, you're right about Bunting talking about wanting to get him the football. The desire is still there and it happens in practice. I think Hedgecock and the tight ends will evolve into more and more key roles in handling the football.
I think John Bunting should be complimented for his decision in the Texas game to gamble on fourth-and-one from the Heels' 29 yard-line. I loved the call, although it's not hard to imagine what the repercussions would have been had we not made it. The first thing that came to mind when the offense remained on the field was that this reminded me very much of Bill Parcells when he coached the New York Giants. Parcells regularly went for it on fourth down in his own territory ... in fact, it became a trademark of his. Parcells was also a player's coach, which it appears JB has all the makings of. Could we have another "Tuna" here at Carolina? It can't hurt to hope.
John Stone, Tallahassee, Fla.
I agree it was a gutsy call, coming late in the third quarter with the Tar Heels just having trading TDs with Texas and trailing 31-14. Durant kept the ball on the QB sneak and followed Brown and right guard Jeb Terry for two yards. Bunting has repeatedly challenged the offensive line this year that it has to make a stand, step forward and play at a higher level of toughness and smarts. His gamble was making a statement to these guys that he believed in them.
I am glad to see Michael Waddell in the punt return position. However, every time he receives the ball there are two opposition "gunners" standing on either side of him awaiting the catch. He does not stand a chance. Isn't there any way we can deter the gunners for just a few seconds?
Jim Hillis, Charlotte
Carolina is one of the worst teams at returning kicks. We average 4.5 yards per punt return and 16.6 yards per kick-off return. I know that we miss Bosley Allen on returns. Has there been any thought of moving someone like Jarwarski Pollock back there?
Jeff Hicks, Nashville, TN
Good points. Carolina is last in the ACC in both punt returns and kick-off returns. It's a burr under the skin of John Bunting and special-teams coordinator Jim Fleming. Hopefully, both units will improve as the year progresses. I think Derrele Mitchell just might break a kick-off at some point. This true freshman is a special player. Bunting lamented the Heels' punt returns after the Texas game, saying Waddell was one block away from breaking one return and one decision away from breaking another. The latter occurred when the Heels had a left-return called, but Waddell had to go to the right side of the field to catch the punt. A nice wall had been set up to the far side of the field, but Waddell's decision on the fly was to nix the planned execution and see what he could get on his own on the far side. He's been schooled over the off-week to have better discipline -- to go with the plan rather than trying to free-lance. Pollock is absolutely in the mix. He's the No. 2 punt return guy. Waddell's experience and the fact that Pollock has been dinged all year with shoulder and knee injuries has prevented him getting his shot. But he will at some point.
How come the team no longer runs out onto the field with the white smoke coming out of the tunnel? Why can't we bring this back and maybe add blue smoke? State has it, ECU has it. If we can't have our scoreboard this year can we at least have some smoke.
Randy Finch, Raleigh
This seems to be one of those can't-win situations. Some fans complained that the smoke and gun-like noises were "hokey" and too loud. Some went into convulsions over the voice crooning, "Whose house? Heels' house!" prior to the team taking the field. When Bunting first took the Carolina job, he watched tape of the team taking the field and said he didn't see much emotion from the players themselves -- no matter what bells and whistles were ringing around them. Unfortunately, the sound system in Kenan Stadium is so poor that anything the team tries for an introduction is going to suffer in the execution, no matter how good the idea might be. That's why Bunting has retrenched and said, essentially, let's keep this simple: Have the band play and let the team run onto the field with a lot of emotion and fire. By the 2003 season, when the video board and a new sound system are installed, I'm sure the issue will be re-visited. My personal view is this: If N.C. State and ECU are doing one thing, Carolina needs to do something else.
Players Mentioned
