University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes
September 18, 2005 | Football
Sept. 17, 2005
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NORTH CAROLINA COACH John Bunting QUOTES
VS. WISCONSIN, SEPT. 17, 2005
With Woody Durham:
"We had some opportunities, we had some field position. Sometimes we didn't. But heck we gotta run the ball better than that. We got to protect the quarterback better, too. I was disappointed in some of the breakdowns there. We have to get over this quickly. We can't dwell on it because we have a lot of football games left and we have a heck of an opponent next week."
(running the ball)
"Part of it are the runners, part of it is the offensive line and part of it is the lead blockers. And part of it has been the wide receivers. That's the way it was last week. I'm going to anticipate it being the same when I look at the tape. That's the way it was against Georgia Tech."
(penalties)
"Far too many. I don't think we've ever had this many in my four years here and I'm disappointed in that. It's horrendous and I was one of the guilty people. So I'll start with me. We've got to clean that up."
With media:
"Well, our two-game season is over. I had a talk with our football team during training camp that these two games were extremely important. The opener and the home opener and we are 0-2. That's the bottom line. Really disappointed that we wasted a pretty good defensive performance, best one we've had around here in a long time. Really disappointed that we are not more consistent offensively right now. You see signs every week that we can do some things. We have not been able to run the ball effectively and that's been a trademark around here for most of the past two years. I don't see it being all that different in our offensive line."
"I thought our quarterback was very gutty staying in there. I know he would like to have played better. I also would like to protect him better. And we've got to get to the bottom of that."
"I thought we did a better job on third down in the second half. We did a lot of good things getting to the runner and got some pressure on the quarterback, too. The penalties, I've never seen so many flags flying in a game. That was certainly different than I've been accustomed to being around. One was thrown on me and I am very ashamed of that. One was called on me at the beginning of the game on the punt return."
"We've got to get things figured out on offense so we can move the ball and score some points."
"I've sensed this coming all throughout training camp. I'm very proud of the way these kids have been working. We are better up front which helps us play better."
(offense) "We're not getting enough on first down. We're not doing good enough job on first and second down."
"We're not making enough plays with our wide-outs."
"Inconsistent, too inconsistent. That's about the only way to describe it. We've got to do a better job up front, we've got to do a better job with our running backs, and the receivers have to do a better job making some plays. And the quarterback needs to help out, too. That guy is tough, he can make throws, he wasn't perfect tonight, but we have got to run the ball better."
NORTH CAROLINA PLAYER QUOTES
VS WISCONSIN, SEPT 17 2005
Kendraus Guy
On Carolina's defensive effort:
"I don't know what we had on rushing yards but we stopped that run. I don't know what their passing total yards was, but we stopped it. What'd they have, 60 points average a game? Holding them to 14, that's good. We're loving that right now."
On dealing with the offense's performance:
"It wasn't tough for us because we love defense that much. We wanted to go out there. We wanted to go out there every play. Our rotation right now, we're so good we don't worry about getting tired. Wisconsin's offensive line couldn't handle the pressure. They were running, but they weren't running like us."
On the defense's fatigue after being on the field for so much time:
"It was too much running on the off season. Our preparation right now is at its peak. We're ready to play five quarters if we need to."
On recording his first sack:
"It felt great. Chase Page has been staying after practice with me. We've been trying to do as much as we can. How many we have? Five? We trying to get at least 40 in the season ... well maybe more than 40. We're trying to get a lot of sacks. We're just trying to get a lot of sacks."
On Wisconsin's offensive line:
"Well, they got a good line. But, we've got a good d-line. We knew they were going to be physical. But, we out-physicaled them tonight. We showed them. We stopped the run tonight."
On Matt Baker after the game:
"He's alright. He's tough quarterback. He can take a shot or two. He's a strong quarterback and I'm proud of him. He's probably got his whole body on ice but he'll be alright."
On his goals this season:
"Just to have my team win. I just want to do whatever I can to help my team win. I want to make plays, give up my body and to whatever it takes to help my team win."
On Brian Calhoun:
"He's a good running back. He's fast. He broke a couple of my tackles, so yea, he's a good running back. You've got to give a lot of credit to Wisconsin. They're a good team."
On bouncing back:
"Just stay positive. Stay positive with the offense. Stay positive with the defense. Get better the next week. Obviously we've got State next week and that's a big game. Everybody gets excited for it; fans, coaches, us players. I think we've just got to go back to work and do exactly what we did last week and try to pull it out on Saturday."
On his physical condition:
"I'll be fine. Nothing's a big problem."
On the major problems for the Tar Heels:
"For one, penalties. We had a lot of penalties. We could never get in a rhythm and there's no one place to point the finger. I'll take the heat for a lot of it. I didn't do a very good job of running the game today. But, there's no one place to point to finger, so I'll take it."
On the penalties:
"Some were communication problems. We had a lot of holdings. I haven't seen exactly what they all were. But, there were too many to win a football game."
On correcting the problems:
"I'll take it and start with me. The only place that I can point the finger is at me. We've got to be able to run the game better, make better decisions, make better calls, get people lined up in the right place. We had a lot of alignment problems. Part of that is them. But, I'll take the majority of the heat for it. It starts with me. That's how it works."
Wisconsin Head Coach Barry Alvarez:
"We did some good things in the kicking game. Kenny [DeBauche] really kicked well. Our coverage was good. A couple punts they did a nice job on, but they're very dangerous on that. I think it's obvious we made a lot of mistakes. We hurt ourselves. We took points we off the board. There was a foolish penalty with the hold - down the field. It took a first down away. We had a first down, a third down conversion taken away after the ball. Two clips in the second half. Field position game instead of having the ball near mid-field we are back around the 25. A lot of mistakes. A lot of penalties. Things we are going to have to correct but we over came them and it's a very good win."
On if this is a sweet win for him:
"This has been a very emotional week. I am just emotionally drained I`m zapped. I'm totally zappped. I'm real pleased to come out of here with a win. This is a gift for me."
On if the rain delay affected the player:
I don't think it effected them [players] I did not try to use it as motivation. I was there all but one practice. I didn't even tell the team. I think the guys read it in the paper. I think the kids were ready to play and the young guys stepped up. Thank goodness it didn't rain. Important thing is we don't lose focus. We had a nice night."
On the spot of the fourth and one play:
"I saw it on the replay, I thought it was a poor spot. You guys probably had a better view and could have seen it a couple of times on tv. I watched the replay board. I thought where the ball was was just short of the line. They spotted the ball a full yard behind the line."
On his thought process when they went for fourth and one:
"We called time out and in a game like this we're down here and this is what we are all about. We're supposed to be a physical team. Lets go for it. We might be able to put them away right here. I thought it was a good gamble. We scored on fourth and one on the first touchdown. I thought lets put the onus on the offensive line and our running game and see if we can get a yard and really take the momentum in the game."
