University of North Carolina Athletics
Sunday's UNC Football Notebook
September 8, 2002 | Football
Sept. 8, 2002
TarHeelBlue.com looks back at news and notes surrounding the UNC football program following a 30-22 win on Saturday at Syracuse. The Tar Heels are 1-1 heading into next Saturday's game against the second-ranked Texas Longhorns at Kenan Stadium.
A Night To Remember For Orner: After connecting on field goals of 52 and 51 yards in Saturday's first half at Syracuse, Dan Orner, a junior transfer from Michigan State who had never even kicked in a college game, capped off an improbable night at the Carrier Dome with a UNC-record 55-yarder in the third quarter.
He tied an NCAA record with three field goals of 50 or more yards in one game and almost had a chance at a fourth when UNC's next drive stalled at the Syracuse 38-yard line. But Bunting elected to play for field position and sent in John Lafferty for a punt.
"I had gone into the game thinking we could probably kick field goals from the 31 or 32," Bunting said. "After he made a couple of kicks, I said why not give him the chance to kick the one from the 37. When he was beyond the 37 my thought at that point was, 'Let's get some field position for our defense, see if we can hold them and get the ball back."
Transfers Make An Impact: Just two games into their Carolina careers, Orner and Bobby Blizzard, a junior tight end who came to UNC from Kentucky, have already made a significant impact on the Tar Heel football program. Bunting has brought in six transfers since becoming head coach of the Tar Heels.
"We're very careful in selecting transfers who approach us," Bunting said. "We're going to meet with those people, we're going to meet with their families and we're going to do as much investigation as possible to see if they are going to fit our program. Do they want to be good student-athletes? Do they want to go to class? Do they want to graduate from the University of North Carolina? And, can they help us win?"
Orner booted an NCAA-record-tying three 50-plus yard field goals and Blizzard's 12-yard TD catch with 3:06 remaining sealed Saturday's 30-22 win. Blizzard also had a touchdown catch in the season-opener versus Miami (Ohio).
Chips On Their Shoulders: When John Bunting saw a number of large trees being cut down from behind the old Kenan Field House in the east end zone to make way for new construction, he knew exactly what to do with some of the wood. He started giving it to his players - large wood chips (14- to 16-inches in diameter) to two or three Tar Heels each week who played with "chips on their shoulders."
"They're big-ole' chips - they're heavy," Bunting says. "I can barely carry one."
This week's winners were Jacque Lewis, Jacques Dumas and special teams standout Wallace Wright.
"I want players when they go out on the field to act and to play like they have a chip on their shoulder," Bunting said. "Every week this year I am going to name someone who played like a tough guy - not a guy who mouthed off, not a guy who gyrates and makes a fool out of himself - but a guy who does something physical, who shows some leadership to inspire other players.
Durant Gets On Track In Second Half: After watching Darian Durant, who was not sharp in UNC's season-opening loss to Miami (Ohio) last week, struggle at times in the first half of Saturday's game at Syracuse, Bunting tried to calm down his sophomore quarterback at halftime.
"I told him, 'Don't worry, we're going to go right back out there and play. You're our guy, you've been here before. Stop worrying about things, just play the next play,'" Bunting said. "I think Darian just found his groove and made some plays throwing the ball and made some real big runs for us on the quarterback draws."
Durant put together an outstanding second half, completing 10 of 18 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns - a 48-yarder to Jarwarski Pollock with 11:25 remaining for the go-ahead score and a 12-yard strike to Bobby Blizzard with just over three minutes to go. On the 14-play, 7:17 drive that put the game away for the Tar Heels, Durant connected with Sam Aiken on a 22-yard pass play on 3rd-and-15, ran for 12 yards on a 3rd-and-8 and found Blizzard in the end zone for a score on 3rd-and-4 from the 12.
"He won his first start, and he feels good about that," Bunting said. "I think he feels good about going through some adversity at the beginning of the game and overcoming that and playing so well down the stretch."
All Eyes Turn To Texas: Carolina's attention this week turns to the big test of hosting No. 2 Texas on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Kenan Stadium.
"Texas is a great football program with some of the most highly-prized recruiting classes -- year in and year out, year after year," Bunting said. "It's a great spot to play football. There's probably no better place in the country that appreciates it as much as in the state of Texas."
Not only is Texas one of the top teams in the country and a contender to play for the national title, Saturday marks the return of Texas head coach Mack Brown to Kenan Stadium. Brown left for Texas in 1997 after coaching the Tar Heels for 10 years and Bunting knows there will be plenty of attention on Brown's return to Chapel Hill.
"There are going to be a lot of people talking about Mack Brown," Bunting said. "Similar to last year, I will say early on that neither Mack or I will be suiting up. It's Texas versus North Carolina, and I'm not going to let it be a distraction from our football program, that's for sure.
"I'm sure Texas wants to come in here and win a football game. They're extremely talented and well coached. They'll come in here, I am sure, excited about playing us and playing in Chapel Hill in one of the great stadiums in the country."
Injury Report: Jason Brown, Willie McNeill and Malcolm Stewart all suffered mild left knee sprains in Saturday's win over Syracuse but are all expected to return for practice on Tuesday after Monday's off day.
