University of North Carolina Athletics
Opportunity Opens Up In The Secondary
September 14, 2004 | Football
Sept. 14, 2004
y David Droschak, TarHeelBlue.com
CHAPEL HILL - It's only mid-September, but John Bunting looks like he's ready to start making some changes to North Carolina's secondary.
The coach of the Tar Heels was upset with the ability of the cornerbacks to make tackles on the outside this past weekend in a lopsided loss at Virginia and is opening up the competition at that position this week.
In other words, don't be surprised if true freshman Trimane Goddard and junior Cedrick Holt see significant playing time at cornerback this Saturday in Kenan Stadium against undefeated Georgia Tech.
"Everybody is involved in stopping the run, including the cornerbacks," Bunting said Tuesday. "Most good football teams force the corners to make the tackles. They are going to get a hat on everybody else. It eventually spills out to the corners and the corners have to make some plays."
One stop that was made over the weekend was a key fourth-and-1 late in the second quarter from Virginia's own 30. The score at the time was 28-10.
"That was a tremendous opportunity for us to get the ball back, and if we did there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to score."
Instead of a potential loss, however, Virginia gained 4 yards on the run and marched down the field for another score.
"Those plays in football have got to be configured right, then figured out, then reacted to. So we're opening it up a little bit at that position to see who is going to play the pass and who is going to be able to tackle fast. It's wide open competition this week in the back end."
East Tennessee State transfer Gerald Sensabaugh appears to be the only defensive back that has secured a starting position.
Holt has started before for North Carolina and is the team's primary nickel back, while Goddard has been impressing the coaching staff with his desire since the first day he stepped on campus.
"Trimane Goddard got out on the field and played very well for us last weekend," bunting said. "He played hard. What we thought about him coming out of high school is coming true early in the season. We're going to give him a shot to compete for playing time."
Bunting said he was more concerned about poor tackling from his defensive backs than the fact that the Tar Heels haven't intercepted a pass in 11 games, dating to last season.
Goddard and Holt will likely be tested on the corners by the powerful running of P.J. Daniels and the multi-dimensional play of quarterback Reggie Ball, who has already thrown six TD passes in two games.
"Ball throws the ball as far as anyone I've seen since I've been back in the college game." Bunting said. "The guy can really toss it."
And Daniels rushed for 240 yards against the North Carolina defense last season.
"P.J. Daniels is very good. He's tough. He's physical," Bunting said. "We were right with them last year and then their running game just wore us out in the fourth quarter.
"But this is another opportunity for us to get better. I would love to do it this week and we would love to do it in front of our great fans. I'm expecting we will. I want to see a lot of improvement this weekend."
Bunting also called some of the mistakes against Virginia on special teams "intolerable" and promised more changes there, too.
