University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Missed Opportunities
November 27, 2005 | Football
Nov. 27, 2005
By Adam Lucas
BLACKSBURG, Va.--It turns out John Bunting is a fortune-teller.
After Carolina's 27-21 loss to Georgia Tech on Sept. 12, Bunting walked into a weight room being used as a press room and said these words:
"It was a giant M.O. We missed an opportunity. We had a chance to do something really special."
Take those words, spin them around, recycle them and 11 games later they're still perfectly appropriate.
Virginia Tech's 30-3 victory Saturday night was a physical whipping. The Hokie play selection in the second half: 31 rushes, 2 passes. And they were 31 successful rushes, rolling up 177 yards and 24 points. Carolina controlled Marcus Vick, allowing him just 1 rushing yard on 7 attempts. But it was the more basic running plays they couldn't stop. Cedric Humes left. Brandon Ore right.
"A couple times people got out of their gaps," said Tommy Davis, who finished a stellar senior year with seven tackles, including two for loss. "They were creating big gaps and that led to long runs."
But before that physical whipping ever got started, the Tar Heels absolutely refused to capitalize on several opportunities. Jesse Holley dropped a surefire touchdown pass, repeating a theme that has plagued the receivers--who came into the 2005 season with significant hype but will have to earn back respect before 2006--all season. That capped a frenetic final minute that ended with Carolina having to kick on third down rather than taking one more shot at the end zone.
It was--you guessed it--a missed opportunity.
The Hokies weren't in the mood to grant many more. In the second half, everything went wrong that possibly could. A special teams error allowed a blocked punt that gave Virginia Tech good field position. On the subsequent drive, the Tar Heel defense appeared to stiffen, but a late-hit penalty on Durell Mapp gave the Hokies 15 free yards, much better field position, and a new set of downs. Mapp was taken out of the game as a disciplinary measure and was replaced by Victor Worsley. A few plays later, there were the Hokies running over Worsley on the goal line to make the score 20-3.
Carolina simply isn't good enough at this point in the program to make those types of errors and survive them. In an environment that Bunting compared to Kansas City's raucous Arrowhead Stadium, the noise and talent level of the ACC's best team combined to crush the Tar Heels.
In hindsight, it probably couldn't have ended any other way. Carolina played just well enough to get your hopes up, just well enough to make you believe that maybe this would be the breakthrough game. That's been the story of the season. So close at Georgia Tech in the opener. So close against Wisconsin. So close at Miami. So close against Maryland.
But "so close" doesn't earn bowl bids. You can reconcile the missed holiday trip the same way Matt Baker did--"It's tough. We knew it was going to be a tough road after we let the Maryland game slip away...It's tough to not go to a bowl game. We had a tough schedule."
But even playing the schedule the Tar Heels were dealt, there were enough chances to earn a spot in the postseason. There were plays here, plays there, that will linger in the offseason. Missed catches and missed tackles and missed blocks.
Bobby Bowden famously said a rebuilding program has to lose big, then lose small, then win small, then win big.
Maybe this is the lose small era before a corner-turning winning era.
But that will come later. Right now, in the chill of the Blacksburg air, it just feels like a missed opportunity.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
