University of North Carolina Athletics
Pace: Bunting Confident In Baker
August 24, 2005 | Football
Aug. 24, 2005
By Lee Pace
Reserve quarterback Roger Heinz undergoes surgery Wednesday for a herniated disc in his lower back, adding another chapter to the snake-bitten story of the Tar Heels' search for a backup quarterback.
The good news for Carolina as it completes its second week of preseason camp is the performance of Matt Baker. The 6-3, 212-pound senior from Rochester Hills, Mich., turned in a performance in Saturday's scrimmage that was as good, John Bunting says, as any he's seen from a quarterback in August.
"Everyone's worried about our quarterback," Bunting says. "I'm sure not. Matt's a good leader, an excellent passer and has a great command of our offense. I see him having a great season."
The backup quarterback is the issue that's giving Bunting and offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill reason for concern. Two quarterbacks are injured, and as yet none of the others have stepped forward to take command of the backup slot. Among those competing with the second team are one returning scholarship player (Joey Bozich), two walk-ons (Jay Spence and Ben Johnson), one true freshman (Bobby Rome), and one transfer ineligible to play this year (Joe Dailey).
Carolina has had remarkable stability at quarterback over the last three years with Darian Durant owning the position for the first half of 2002 (before a hand injury sidelined him for four games) and all of 2003 and '04. Bunting and his staff over the last three years have targeted some of the top quarterbacks in the country for their recruiting attention to fill the void they knew would come. They believe they were having success planning for the day when Durant departed, but first one bad break and then another has haunted the position.
* Heinz began experiencing back pain this summer and began preseason drills before pain in his back sent him to the sideline. He has a family history of back problems as his brother, an offensive guard at Florida State, had to retire from football with the same injury.
* Cam Sexton graduated from Scotland County High School a semester early and entered Carolina in January to get a head start preparing for this fall. He was learning the system and progressing nicely until he broke his foot in a scrimmage in March. He is participating to a limited degree in preseason work but has yet to put on pads.
* A highly-rated QB prospect in last year's class committed to the Tar Heels and went on to become his state's 4-A Player of the Year. He changed his mind in the home stretch of the winter recruiting campaign and decided to go elsewhere.
* Mike Rozier signed with the Tar Heels in their 2004 signing class and was set through most of the summer of '04 to enroll at Carolina. But the Boston Red Sox offered a $1.575 million signing bonus, the third highest signing bonus ever awarded to a Red Sox draft pick, and Rozier decided to play pro baseball. Through Aug. 22, he had a 5-4 record and 3.78 ERA with the Greenville (S.C.) Bombers of the South Atlantic League.
* Nick Cangelosi signed with Carolina in February, 2003, and would be a red-shirt sophomore this fall. The native of Haddon Heights, N.J., announced he was homesick early in the spring semester of his freshman year and transferred to Georgetown University.
"Someone needs to step up," says Bunting. "Joey Bozich can be a good quarterback and in the last few days, he's just that. He's proven he can be a capable backup. Bobby Rome is tremendous athlete and has a bright future. Cam Sexton was coming along last spring but got hurt.
"The No. 1 thing for any quarterback we have is to be able to go out there and manage the offense."
Lee Pace is the author of Extra Points, a newsletter devoted exclusively to covering North Carolina football
