University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Victory Bell In Tar Heels' Sights
November 15, 2004 | Football
Nov. 15, 2004
by Lee Pace, Extra Points
Carolina's football team made a ceremonial display of moving from its old dressing room in the original Kenan Field House to its pristine new digs in the west side expansion in August, 1997. Chancellor Michael Hooker and head coach Mack Brown presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and strength coaches Jeff Madden and George Smith wheeled the Victory Bell the length of the field, through the entry tunnel and into the building.
Senior linebacker Brian Simmons regarded the victory spoils for the annual contest with Duke -- at the time in Carolina's possession since 1990 -- and said: "I'm not sure where they're going to put the bell. They need to find a permanent place for it."
The bell resided comfortably in a spot near the front doorway to the dressing room for six more years -- until Duke reclaimed it by bolting to a 23-0 halftime lead in 2003 and hanging tough for a 30-23 win in Kenan Stadium.
Asked following his team's win over Wake Forest Saturday if he mentioned the Victory Bell and last year's Duke game to his team in his post-game remarks, John Bunting quickly responded:
"What do you think? Absolutely," he said. "The Duke game will be huge for us. There are a lot of different implications. We win and we have a chance to do something extra special. The bell is at stake. It had been over at Carolina for a long, long, long time. We came out last year in the first half and laid an egg. I'll never forget that game. I'll never, ever forget that game the rest of my life."
Bunting has avoided using the "B-word" (a.k.a. bowl) for fear his players would lose sight of winning the one game in front of them at the moment. Should the Heels take care of business Saturday in Durham, they would be in the running for their first bowl invitation since 2001. Carolina would finish its regular season at 6-5 and could count the win over William & Mary toward its bowl-eligibility total (NCAA rules allow teams to count a win over a 1-AA opponent toward its bowl total once every four years).
Five ACC teams are bowl-eligible: Florida State (8-2), Miami (7-2), Virginia (7-2), Virginia Tech (7-2) and now Georgia Tech (6-3) after its win over UConn Saturday. The pecking order for bowls choosing ACC teams begins with the Bowl Championship Series, then runs through the Gator, Peach, Tangerine, Continental Tire and MPC Computers. There is the possibility another bowl might look for an ACC team if it cannot find suitable combatants from its league tie-ins. The Las Vegas Bowl had a representative at Saturday's game along with the Peach and Continental Tire Bowls.
Still in the ACC bowl sweepstakes are:
Maryland's odds are not good to arrive at six wins, and Wake Forest's chances are quite slim. Should Carolina and Clemson both win Saturday, the scenario could develop of having seven ACC teams bowl-eligible and only six guaranteed commitments.
"Our entire football team focused in, right after Utah, on what we needed to get done to finish the season in the way we wanted to," Bunting said. "To get to this point now, with one game to play and to be in a position to do something special, it makes it that much better."
Send your questions about Tar Heel football to Lee Pace at lpace@nc.rr.com . Please include your first and last names and hometown. . Individual replies are not possible because of volume of mail received. His Q&A column will appear each Friday during the season.
