University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Boston College Quotes
November 5, 2005 | Football
Nov. 5, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery
NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH John Bunting FOLLOWING 16-14 WIN OVER BOSTON COLLEGE, NOV. 5, 2005
JB: "Well that may not have been as pretty as some people would like it to be, but it certainly is what I have been looking for in terms of having a complete game...doing some really good things on special teams. The kickoff return to start the ballgame, having our field goal kicker make all three, was the difference in the game. Having our team move the ball, run the football some, pass the football some, and playing some pretty doggone good defense against a team that last year took us out behind the woodshed and spanked us. This time we were able to hold them to 100 net yards rushing. I think that is remarkable and I am really, really proud of their efforts. Everybody. Once again it may not be a pretty score, but that is a near complete game as we have played and it came at a very timely fashion. I am real excited about this win. I am really, really thrilled about beating oston College here in Chapel Hill before some fans that were really loud and helped us win the ballgame and I thank them.
"The defense has been coming together since last season and when you have the opportunity to play eight defensive linemen in the game, Larry Edwards is having his finest season, Durelle Mapp, our third middle linebacker, is playing very well for us in his second year, Bryan Bethea goes out there and plays good football for us today. It's really good to have all those things come together. I've seen us play really good defense this year and I think we can still get better. That's a result of all those players that are playing and contributing and the coaching staff working extremely hard together. Marvin (Sanders) of course does a great job, Ken Browning, Brad Lawing, Tommy Thigpen, they really are fun to work with. Great chemistry on that staff.
"It was a whole effort, it was a complete game played in all phases. We moved the ball today. The time of possession is really significant.
"Jesse (Holley) was a game captain today, the first time I've named a game captain who was anything but a senior. He is a guy that is going to be a leader on this football team. Seems like wherever he is, if that ball is in the vicinity he's going to snatch it. He has been the thread that has continued to keep this offense from the passing game going.
"To see us convert 9 of 18 third downs is significant. That's a great team effort by the offense. Jesse stepped us big today. I'm thrilled for that young man because he is special. He's been playing extremely well lately.
(on Barth)
"He's been kicking the ball in practice fairly well, in fact, very well, all
during this time frame. I do believe he was a little relieved during
practice. He was hitting the ball, it was coming off his foot harder than
has before so I think he feels real good about all his mechanics. His
footwork, where he is striking the ball. The ball really came off his foot
this week in practice."
BOSTON COLLEGE HEAD COACH TOM O'BRIEN
Opening Statement:
"It was a tough day for us today. We didn't play well enough to win the football game. We seemed to move the ball in between the 20s, but then when we got in the red zone, we couldn't get the ball in the end zone. We couldn't get off the field in the first half. We didn't tackle very well then. And then they made some long drives and played keep-away and didn't give us much of an opportunity, so credit them."
On the fourth-quarter quarterback change:
"It seemed like we needed a spark there starting the fourth quarter. That's why I went to Matt Ryan. Obviously, he brought something when he got in the game, so I'll have to sit down and assess that situation."
On Boston College's struggles offensively:
"We seemed to always come up fourth-and-one or -two. We couldn't seem to make first downs. They seemed to find a way to make third-down conversions when they needed them. We ended up fourth and a yard short, you know, fourth-and-two, fourth-and-one, a long one. We just couldn't that first down going."
On North Carolina converting on third down:
"I mean, they were nine of 18, 50 percent - that's a high percentage. They get one off a tipped ball, too. So, it was their day. It wasn't ours."
On the opening kickoff return:
"We get the kick, the guy fumbles the ball, we get out of our lanes, and then he pins it. He's a heck of a return guy, and he gets to the perimeter. They pin our contain guy, and that was it; he went down the boundary. But I think as he was bobbling the ball around, everybody went after the football instead of staying in their lanes."
On missed opportunities:
"We gave up too many first downs. They drove the ball. They kicked field goals, which was good, but we couldn't ever get a drive back going. We had the opportunity - I guess Blackmon didn't come back behind the line of scrimmage. That's what they called on the touchdown pass they called back. You know that one goes in there, and then who knows what kind of ballgame you've got. But as it was, I think we got sacked twice after that, and we went backwards."
On a possible turning point:
"You know when we took the two losses we took there, and got ourselves back out of scoring range. We had to punt the ball. We couldn't even kick a field goal. You're down there, you don't take losses. You kick a field goal and then score the touchdown at the end, and it's a different outcome here."
UNC PLAYER QUOTES
"There still things we need to work on. When we get to the red zone two, three times - we need seven points. When we get in the red zone, we still got to make plays and get touchdowns instead of threes. But hats off to Connor [Barth]. I'm hoping he's out of his slump right now. I'm glad to have him back. Glad to have the old Connor back. Let's hope he continues to do the things we know he can do."
On being in sync with quarterback Matt Baker:
"We got in the zone. Man, I got in the zone. It just was like nothing else mattered. I didn't care what coverage they were in. I didn't care who was draped over me, where the ball was thrown. I just had a sense of urgency, and everything that was thrown to me, I said to myself, "We're going come down with it." Before you know it, we started to get stuff going. Matt [Baker] felt comfortable with me. I definitely feel comfortable with him throwing the ball to me. I was just in a super, super zone, and I'm just happy."
On how critical this game was:
"[This game] was very important. That's a good team. That's a very good team. The thing that we did early, we found a rhythm. Wallace [Wright] got out there and got a kickoff. That got the crowd into it, got us into it. Then we kind of find a rhythm. Our whole purpose is we want to come out and play a complete game, not just a good first half. We wanted to come out and play a solid second half."
"We got off to a little slow start, but a few passes here, a few passes there and get the run game going - and we found that rhythm again. We just continued to drive down the field besides the one interception that Matt [Baker] threw. We had a couple good drives - 13 play drives, 16 play drives. I don't care what defense you put out there, you get 13 and 16 play drives at a time in 80 degree weather, somebody going get tired. I know we're the best conditioned team around, so it was them [who got tired]."
On the difference between playing well and playing poorly:
"It's just about momentum. Keeping the offense rolling, keeping them high. When you end up starting at third-and-long like we were earlier in the season, the offense gets down. It's tough to execute when the offense isn't feeling it. And we have done well on first down and well on second down, so it makes third down a lot easier to execute."
On the importance of this game:
"It was a tough game. Both teams were fighting hard to the end. Our defense played great - we came up with a lot of big plays. So it really had the adrenaline going. It was high all game, and then jumping around on the sideline, trying to get the crowd going. I was fired up at the end of the game."
On the team's progress:
"I think overall, this team came into the season with confidence - there's no doubt about that. But we've built confidence throughout the season. They were already confident, but you can see in practice and you can see every day the confidence build on this team. And our defense is playing lights out right now. For them to bounce back after that Louisville game where everyone said, "Uh-oh. Here goes Carolina defense going in the tank again." But that's not how they feel. They work hard every day in practice, and their hard work's paying off right now."
On the turnaround of the defense from the past year:
"It's not complete yet. We're still trying to get in that top 25 as far as defenses go nationwide. Until we continue to get into 25 and up, we're still striving every day."
