University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina-Miami Quotes
October 30, 2004 | Football
Oct. 30, 2004
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North Carolina head coach John Bunting
Obviously I am very, very proud of this football team in the way they
responded since that game in Utah. We just beat an extremely, extremely good
football team and a great football program. I am very honored as a head
coach to be out there with those kids. I was proud of the way those kids
battled and hung in there. We talked about the game being a fourth quarter
game. We just kept on battling and battling and battling. And then it comes
down to a kick and our young freshman put it through.
It was a very gratifying win and it was nice to see they did not get 100 yards rushing. When is the last time that happened - 100 years or so. I¹m really happy for our fans and these people who have been supporting us these last couple of weeks.
We¹ve been practicing that 2-minute drill and Darian Durant went in there and did a great job.
I can¹t say enough about Chad Scott. This young man had the game of his career. We knew we weren¹t going to play Ronnie and we knew it was very unlikely we would play Jacque. This young man (Scott) really came through. And what can you say about the offensive line and what they did tonight.
The defensive line also did a great job, obviously holding them to 77 yards rushing.
On the win
I¹m been able to be around a lot of big wins and in the light of the last
week, to come out and play like this is really terrific. This is absolutely
a big win. I¹ve been around a bunch of them. I¹m just so happy for the kids
and for this staff. I¹ve had a lot of big wins. This one was nice but I am
really happy for these kids.
On what was going through his mind
It¹s over and we win. And I¹m wondering if I will ever get to see Larry
Coker (with the kids on the field). I never got to see him. I tried. It was
a mob scene out there. And the next thing I saw was the goal post going
down, which was kind of cool. Dick Baddour (the AD) said he would be glad to
pay for them week in and week out.
On Chad Scott
He¹s always hanging around. He¹s always a guy we can go to. But we never
figured he would have this type of football game. Give him a ton of credit.
A very, very courageous effort.
Darian Durant
Thoughts on the last play
" [It was] Just a quarterback draw. We knew we were in his range and we just wanted to try to make the kick a little easier for him so we just wanted to put the ball in the middle of the field."
Thoughts of the victory
"Man, it was huge. It just goes to so you that, you know, anybody can be beaten on any given day especially in this conference, and you know, we worked hard; we had two weeks to prepare for them, and our coaches did a great job with the game plan."
How key was it to hold the ball 13 and a half more minutes than them?
"That was very key. You know, that's the name of the game really, keep the defense off the field, offense move the ball, put points on the board."
How are you feeling? You must be bursting inside after this.
"I am, I am, I'm very excited. But you know, this is only one game...it's a huge game but it's only one game. You know, this is my senior year, and in order to accomplish our goals we need keep winning. That's my goal."
Any doubt with 2:25 left could move the ball and win?
"We practice two minute [plays] at least twice a week so you know it was just routine."
Thoughts about going out and attacking them
"I mean that's how you have to do it, if you fear them or try to be finesse with them they're going to beat you so our objective was to attack."
Is this the best game in your career here?
"I don't know the stats, but as far as the victory is concerned, you know, what I did and what I accomplished...it was for me."
Jason Brown
Plan at towards the end of the game
"We wanted to get a couple more yards. We also wanted to get the ball in the center of the field to get a kick for Connor Barth, and that's what we did."
Were you nervous after Connor had missed one earlier?
"But you know what, you make it when it counts; that's all that matters."
What made you believe in a freshman
"Our teammates have faith in every single one of our teammates the entire game. If you don't have faith in your teammates, how can you have faith to pull a big game like this out? You have to have faith and that's with every single one of the guys here, and that's the reason that we won tonight."
How does this game rank compared to the Florida State win a few years ago?
" Both together...big wins. Those are the only two games that they tore down the goal posts."
Is it better?
"After the past couple of years, you know, the type of seasons we've had. It was time again for a big win."
Jesse Holley
Thoughts and emotions when that ball went in at the end
"I was speakless, in tears, just happy. Speakless, I couldn't...my yell wouldn't even come out. I was trying to yell, wasn't nothing coming out. I mean, it was just..oh man, like, man, I can't talk about it now. Wow. Way to go Connor Barth."
Talk about inception
"Oh yeah, that was..yeah..that was a great...when ya'll talk to Coach Bunting, tell him Jesse Holley said because we had a meeting a couple of weeks ago and he told me I ran a 4-6..I love my coach to death, but I don't think that was a 4-6 running right there. That's just the way I play...100%, till the clock says triple zero."
Why does this time play better at home at night?
"That's the same question I want to know! Heck, if it was up to me, I'd pick the rest of the games to be at home and at night ... I don't know what it is. Our fans come out; I want ya'll to know, our fans come out. They're electrifying, and they get us something to play for. Those guys are great, and we just rally behind our fans."
Did you imagine the goal posts would come down that quickly
"Did it come down? I didn't see it. Wow, I didn't...I was being smacked in the face, and I was actually trying to find Antrell to tell him he played a heck of a game, he did some real good things today."
Connor Barth
No, I just thanked God before I made that. It was awesome. It's the best
feeling in the world. I've never made a game-winner like that. That was
the first one ever, and what a game to do it in. I was thankful to help the
team out. Our defense was just incredible tonight and our offense put some
points on the board. It was just a great effort. You©^ve just got to be
confident. As a kicker, you know you are going to make them. I missed one
earlier, and I got down a little bit. You©^ve got to credit Greg (Warren)
and Jared (Hall), the best snapper and holder I©^ve ever had. They help me a
lot. They keep me relaxed.
On rebounding after a miss
"Once you miss it, you©^ve just got to put it behind you. Things happen, but
then you get to out and kick the game winner - nothing better than that."
"It might not have been the nicest kick ever, but it went through the uprights. That©^s all that counts."
Miami Head Coach Larry Coker
Opening Statement
"First of all I'd like to congratulate North Carolina on a tremendous effort and a great football game. I'd also like to congratulate coach Bunting, his staff and his players. They were well prepared and played extremely hard. They made some plays when they needed to make plays and were able to win the football game.
"We gave ourselves a chance in the second half. We really pinned them deep and made them go the length of the field and kick a field goal. That's kind of the story of the game. We couldn't stop North Carolina the entire night. I congratulate them for that. We did some things well offensively and I think Brock Berlin had an outstanding night. He threw the ball well with a couple of touchdowns and no interceptions. Our protection was outstanding as well. I don't think we gave up a sack all night.
"But again, my hat's off to North Carolina. They outplayed us overall tonight and deserved to win the football game. We win as a team and lose as a team and that's the case for us tonight."
On surprises this game
"There weren't really any surprises at all. They did have two weeks to prepare and were well prepared. But, there really weren't any surprises. I think they executed well and had opportunities to make plays. We were playing with some young players in some areas and made some mistakes and they took advantage of it."
On Chad Scott's performance
"I was very impressed with him. He did a great job. North Carolina had some injuries that they had to get by and he did a good job. We knew North Carolina was an outstanding offensive football team. They have been all year long. They didn't really surprise us with it.
On how this game changes the talk of a national championship for Miami
"We never even talked about a national championship. We what we did talk about is beating North Carolina. That didn't happen and we've got four more games left in the season. We've got an opportunity to get better. We've got an opportunity to go back home. We've been on the road. We played one Saturday game in the Orange Bowl in the months of September and October. We've had a very tough schedule. We've been on the road. Again, we've got some guys nicked up. We haven't even talked about a national championship. We're going to talk now about beating Clemson."
On the crowd in Chapel Hill
"I don't know that the crowd really intimidated us. I think that Carolina did a really good job tonight. I'm sure they fed off the crowd. I don't think we were surprised. We knew it was a sellout crowd. It's homecoming here. When you play on the road you like to do some things to take the crowd out of it. We weren't able to do that. The things we did really energized the crowd."
On Miami's penalties
"We had some young players that made some mistakes. Most of those things can be corrected by coaching. But, young players are sometimes going to make mistakes. All in all, you can't have too many of those mistakes in order to win."
On the defenses performance in the past few weeks
"It's mind boggling. We're just making some mental errors and some mistakes that we just shouldn't be making. We haven't changed defenses. It's definitely frustrating for all of us."
On Devin Hester
"We have certain plays we use him. He's played running back and wide receiver before he got to us. He's also played wide receiver and running back for us before he moved to defense. We like to use his speed and his athletic ability with certain plays. He certainly made a couple of big plays for us tonight."
