University of North Carolina Athletics
Noting The Tar Heels
September 18, 2003 | Football
Sept. 18, 2003
Tar Heels on Hurricane Alert
With Hurricane Isabel bearing down on the North Carolina coast, the Tar Heel football team is ready in the event of severe weather in Chapel Hill. Carolina will practice at its normal time on Thursday from 4:30 - 6:10 p.m., but will move practice to the Eddie Smith Indoor Facility. The indoor facility, which includes an 80-yard turf field, is located next to UNC's practice fields.
On Friday, the Tar Heels are scheduled to depart from RDU airport at 11 a.m. If the inclement weather persists through Friday morning, Carolina may push back its departure time if necessary. Carolina is schedule to have light workout (walk-through) at Camp Randall stadium at approximately 12:45 p.m. central time.
More importantly, Carolina head coach John Bunting and his staff have already contacted the relatives of UNC's 26 players who live in the path of Isabel.
"We want to make sure our players are in touch with our families," said Bunting. "We didn't want to get up to Wisconsin and find out one of our players had lost touch with somebody. So we'll take that potential distraction, and also concern, away."
Blizzard Will Not Play; Dunn To Start
Tight end Bobby Blizzard has not practiced since missing the Syracuse game with a severe viral illness and will not play on Saturday at Wisconsin. Blizzard, considered one of the top tight ends in the country, caught three passes in the season opener against Florida State, but began feeling ill on the Friday prior to the Syracuse game.
"I told his mom, all I care about right now is to see Bobby Blizzard smile," said Bunting. "I do not think about Bobby playing football right now. All I care about is him getting well. I think he is starting to get well and when he does, we'll start to talk about football."
John Dunn, a walk-on from Hendersonville, N.C., will make his second consecutive start this weekend at Wisconsin. Dunn is in his third year at Carolina and played quarterback his first season. He switched to tight end last season and played in Carolina's loss to Maryland.
Last week against Syracuse, Dunn made his first career start and caught a 10-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to give Carolina a 10-0 lead.
11 True Freshmen Have Played This Year
Carolina has played 11 true freshmen this year and linebacker Joe Kedra may become the 12th this weekend at Wisconsin. Carolina played just seven true freshmen all of last season. Bunting indicated at his weekly press conference this week that linebackers Larry Edwards and Fred Sparkman will get their first snaps on defense after playing the first two weeks on special teams.
"It's yet to be determined how much they'll get on the field and how many snaps they'll play,'' Bunting said. "But those young men have tremendous athleticism. They have great football skills and instincts, but are still learning how to play the game this fast at the Division I level."
Mason First True Freshman WR With TD Since 1989
True freshman wide receiver Mike Mason caught two passes for 49 yards against Syracuse, including a 44-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. It was his first career scoring reception and the first touchdown catch by a true freshman wide receiver at UNC since Randall Felton in 1989. Mason, a native of Rocky Mount, N.C., has seven catches for 74 yards this season. Felton holds school records in receptions (37) and yards (495) by a true freshman.
True Freshmen Wide Receivers at North Carolina (since 1989)
Player, Year Rec., Yds, TD
Randall Felton, 1989, 37, 495, 1
Julius Reese, 1989, 12, 137, 0
ucky Brooks, 1989, 12, 144, 0
Marcus Wall, 1992, 1, 10, 0
Na Brown, 1995, 3, 45, 0
Bosley Allen, 1998, 3, 107, 0
Sam Aiken, 1999, 3, 16, 0
Derrele Mitchell, 2002, 15, 232, 0
Mike Mason, 2003, 7, 74, 1
Durant 10th In Passing
Junior quarterback Darian Durant enters the Wisconsin game ranked 10th in the country in passing, averaging 24.5 completions per game, and is 18th in the nation in total offense, averaging 275.5 yards per game. He leads the Tar Heels in both passing and rushing this season and has accounted for five of the Tar Heels' six touchdowns. He needs eight completions to move ahead of Ronald Curry into second place in the UNC career record book and 257 passing yards to pass Jason Stanicek for second place in the UNC career record book. He is 560 yards shy of Curry's career passing yards record and 34 completions shy of Stanicek's career record.
Players Mentioned
