University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina Player Quotes
November 8, 2003 | Football
Nov. 8, 2003
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NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH John Bunting POSTGAME QUOTES:
"The kids played hard again. They played the entire game. And that's what it's going to take to beat Wake Forest. We were fortunate to get some breaks this game in terms of getting some turnovers. "
On Ronnie McGill: One of my favorites of all time, Don McCauley, came up to me after the game, and said, `It's about time you starting giving him the ball.' Ronnie reminds me of Don in many different ways. Not only is he tough, hard-nosed, slashing type runner, but he hsas the same similar-type personality. He's very humble, a great kid, a great team player. Ronnie McGill is a great football player. He is only going to get better. He's tough, he's got great balance, he sees things very well. We saw that in him when we were scouting and recruiting him.
On special teams: There is always going to be turning points and momentum swings in football games. There was a ton of them out there today.
On rebounding from last week: We're still a very young team. We still continue to build character. I have enough guys that are seniors. Those guys are strong. This game was very important. Winning at home, winning vs. Wake Forest, a team that had beaten us two times since I had been here. That was big for them and they prepared extremely well.
Overall I'm really please with our football team's effort. We played hard, we played for 60 minutes. Obviously, we almost needed every single second today to get a win over Wake Forest.
On playing Wake the last three years: "Today was a little bit different story. We were in the game the whole way. Turnovers always play an important part of any game, especially when you're on the negative side. Obviously, it hurt them and helped us. The thing that I'm going to focus in on is the play of Ronnie McGill and the way our offensive line has been blocking. That's what we want to do. Run the football and take a little pressure off the quarterback. That's helped us a great deal. It's great to win at home. Wake Forest is a very good football team, a very well coached football team. They play hard all the time. To see us block a couple of kicks on special teams and see all the hard work that we put into that pay off, obviously it's a big plus. As I told the team, the Wake Forest Bowl is now over. Enjoy tonight and get ready for the Georgia Tech Bowl."
On going for it on fourth down on the last drive. "It's not a pride call, it's just a call that we made. We pondered, we called a timeout to decide whether to kick and we decided to run."
"We want to give it to a Ronnie McGill, a power-type running back like him. You can win a lot of ball game like that. "
PLAYER QUOTES
Jeb Terry
"We knew if it was played well, we'd have a great chance of winning this game. Ronnie McGill had a great game. He read the blocks right; and this was a much-needed victory.
On Bunting's Reaction:
"He said enjoy it for now, but we want to feel this good again next week when we go down to Georgia Tech. So, he said, enjoy it for now, and make the right choices.
On Ronnie McGill:
"Well, we always knew he was a hard runner. He showed that in the spring game last year. We just used him a lot more today, and he got into the pull of the game and showed what he can do. I'm sure he got in the rhythm, got into the pull of the game. He knew how we were playing and how they were playing and showed off his skills."
On decision to go for it on fourth down with under a minute left:
"I think it was a great decision. I'm glad we did it. Coach showed, you know, trust in us, and it was a big leap of faith on his part."
On special teams:
"They had a great game - getting turnovers, hitting people hard - it was a real physical game and special teams stepped it up and played their butts off as well."
Michael Waddell
"We try to finish every game, and I think we just put it all together and played all four quarters."
On blocking field goals:
"Wake Forest, their field goal protection, it's a lot different from others. I knew that if I could get a good jump, I could come off the side and probably make something happen, and I did.
Ronnie McGill
"It was great because I knew how much everyone else wanted it because I didn't play last year, but you can feel when you walk into the locker room or walk into the stadium how the fans feel about not getting a win, and you know that deep in your heart you want that win as much as you can, and there's nothing that can stop you."
On playing more than usual today:
"I think it was just because, as I started to run the ball more and more and start to get more carries, the coach thought that I was hot, so he just wanted me to get the ball.
"It was great blocking. I mean, without them making the holes, I wouldn't have been able to read anything...I gotta give full credit to them and the fullbacks for being able to make the blocks." On team throwing almost every pass to him: "It tells me that everyone had faith in me, and they knew I could get the big yards when it really counted, and it just makes me feel a lot better."
