University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Look To Rebound Against Terps
October 28, 2003 | Football
Oct. 28, 2003
AARON BEARD, Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - For the second straight week, North Carolina must do more than just prepare for an opponent's offensive and defensive schemes.
The Tar Heels also have to overcome the sting of a narrow defeat.
In the past two weeks, the Tar Heels lost one game on the last play and lost another after fumbling away a possible game-tying score late in the fourth quarter.
Now, heading into Saturday's game against Maryland, the Tar Heels again have to pick themselves up, dust off their jerseys and try again.
"You've just got to keep grinding away," coach John Bunting said Tuesday. "If you continue to do that, you're going to keep knocking on the door. And one of these days, you're going to knock the door down."
Two weeks ago, North Carolina (1-7, 0-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost to Arizona State 33-31 after giving up a touchdown pass as time expired. The next week, Darian Durant's fumble at the 1-yard line sealed a 36-28 loss at Clemson.
The Tar Heels put themselves in a position to win both games, something they failed to do in several of their early season losses. But closer losses still hurt.
"It's been tough for (Bunting) to know what to say to us after the game," offensive lineman Jeb Terry said. "It's tough on us too ... because we're all hurting. It's not like anyone's happy about the situation."
The Tar Heels managed to rebound well from the loss to the Sun Devils. They rushed for a season-high 287 yards against the Tigers, their highest output in nine years. Durant led the team with 110 yards, while Chad Scott added 73 yards.
Terry, a senior, said the thought the Clemson performance showed that the youth-laden Tar Heels were improving. He said the team rebounded better this week than it did after a 49-47 triple-overtime loss to Syracuse, which was followed by a loss at Wisconsin.
"And last year, we didn't rebound at all after anything," he said.
North Carolina will have to regroup quickly heading into Saturday's game against the Terrapins (5-3, 2-2), who beat the Tar Heels 59-7 at Kenan Stadium last year. Maryland compiled 588 yards in the game, got a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown from Steve Suter and handed the Tar Heels their third-worst margin of defeat in school history.
Considering those numbers, North Carolina can't afford to have any lingering memories from the Arizona State and Clemson losses.
"You just try to put it out of your mind and focus on the game that you're going into," freshman tailback Ronnie McGill said, "and not really worry about what happened the prior week."
NOTES: North Carolina leads the ACC with 4.3 rushing yards per carry. ... Saturday's rushing output was the most by North Carolina since getting 335 against Maryland in 1994. ... The Terrapins have won two straight games in the series. They have not won three straight since taking four in a row from 1982-85. ... North Carolina has not won at Byrd Stadium since beating the Terrapins 40-14 in 1997.
