University of North Carolina Athletics
Droschak: Almost a Special Senior Day
November 6, 2004 | Football
Nov. 6, 2004
by David Droschak, TarHeelBlue.com
CHAPEL HILL - Football players aren't into moral victories. It goes against the grain of their rough exteriors and win at all cost mentality.
But as far as losses go, Saturday's 27-24 defeat against No. 18 Virginia Tech was OK in the minds of most North Carolina players and showed just how far this team has come in the last month.
This loss wasn't 56-24, 34-0, 38-16 or 46-16.
Not even close.
For the second straight week, the Tar Heels were in it to the end against a highly-ranked opponent - a team with better talent and way more experience.
"We gave the crowd what they wanted to see," said senior defensive lineman Jonas Seawright.
"As you can see, there is still so much hope for our program," added center Jason Brown.
A Connor Barth field goal last weekend against Miami went the way of the Tar Heels, setting off one of the wilder celebrations in school history.
This time, his 54-yarder was just short and signaled a disappointing end at Kenan Stadium for seniors Darian Durant, Madison Hedgecock, Brown and others.
Maybe it would have been good in the still night air of Kenan, where North Carolina is 3-0 this season. But this was in the middle of the day and a swirling wind caught enough of Barth's kick to make it lose steam - and drop aimlessly to the turf.
"I thought it was in, but then I saw it die down a little bit," said Barth, a freshman who was the school's campus hero for a week. "I hit it well, but there was too much height on it."
"I had confidence in Connor because I've seen him kick 70-yarders in practice," defensive back Gerald Sensabaugh said. "But we can't expect Connor to save us all the time."
North Carolina (4-5) was nearly perfect against the Hurricanes, but couldn't match that same sound football against the Hokies. There were missed tackles, allowing Mike Imoh to run for 236 yards, there were bad penalties and the most untimely sack of Durant's brilliant career.
Durant's 11-yard loss left Bunting no other option than to turn to Barth for a long, long field goal to try to tie it late.
Despite the distance, there was hope, since Barth began his practices with the Tar Heels in the fall by kicking 57-yarders.
"When the ball took off I thought it was in there," Bunting said.
Maybe it was more wishful thinking than reality for Bunting, who has seen his team remain poised in the face of long odds.
"We were close to pulling off something special," Bunting said. "These kids have had mud kicked in their faces over the last two years. Now we need to get them back up because we're down to a two-game season."
Yes, a bowl game could still come the way of the Tar Heels with season-ending road wins against Wake Forest and Duke.
More long odds.
"It's in our hands," Bunting said. "We're growing, which is what I said would continue to happen. If we continue we're going to be a good football program."
Looking back over the Virginia Tech loss, the Tar Heels actually lost it in the opening half by gift-wrapping the Hokies' first two scores.
There was a late hit called against Sensabaugh after Virginia Tech was stopped on its first three plays, and later in the drive an offside penalty on third down.
"Stuff goes by so fast, but it probably was late," Sensabaugh said. "During the moment I was just trying to be physical and trying to make a statement."
Then, in the second quarter, the Tar Heels failed to hold Virginia Tech after forcing a first-and-26.
"We've just got to make those stops when it's that long," Sensabaugh said.
"Did we play a good game? Did we play our best game? No," Brown said. "We were not technically sound. We made a lot of mental errors."
Probably the most dejected player was Durant, who was barely audible during his postgame interviews.
"We lost, there's nothing positive about that," the senior QB said. "The only game that means something out of these two is the Miami game because we won."
Bunting wouldn't allow Durant to be a goat for not unloading the ball in time. "What are you going to say?" Bunting said. "That guy is a great player. He made a lot of plays today, a lot of plays."
David Droschak is the former sports editor for the North Carolina bureaus of the Associated Press, the largest news-gathering organization in the world. In 2003, Droschak was named the North Carolina Sportswriter of the Year. He currently works in public relations at Robbins & Associates International, based in Cary.
