University of North Carolina Athletics
Droschak: Bunting Deserves Credit
September 24, 2005 | Football
Sept. 24, 2005
by David Droschak, TarHeelBlue.com
RALEIGH - Plain and simple, it's about time to start giving some major props to John Bunting.
Wins like the one Saturday at arch-rival North Carolina State have happened too many times in less than five seasons to lump them into one big pile of coincidences.
By my count, North Carolina's 31-24 victory at Carter-Finley Stadium marks the sixth time a Bunting-led team has pulled off something it really had no business pulling off - a victory during difficult times.
Bunting's first stunning upset came against Florida State in September 2001 after the Tar Heels had started 0-3. A season later, there were wins at Syracuse and at Arizona State during a 3-9 season. And last year, Bunting beat favorites N.C. State and Miami in Kenan Stadium en route to a surprising bowl trip.
On Saturday, the Tar Heels were in another deep hole, starting out 0-2 and heading on the road as a 10-point underdog. From the outside, things appeared bleak and desperate. On the inside, Bunting and Co. were confident, anxious for the challenge.
On Thursday after practice, Bunting had one simple message to the team: "Grow up and be a men Saturday."
"A lot of guys did that," said senior offensive lineman Skip Seagraves. "He put it out there for us, challenging us."
Bunting gets credit on this day for sticking with a running game that was abysmal during losses to Georgia Tech and Wisconsin and for propping up an offensive line that was underachieving. And let's not forget about a defense that recorded six sacks and pressured Wolfpack quarterback Jay Davis most of the afternoon. Bunting had the foresight to play some of those defenders two and three years before they were ready to get on the field in the hopes of a payday like Saturday.
Cha-Ching.
"A lot of people talk about soft Carolina Blue and all this other stuff, but since John has come in to the program we've been fighting our butts off, every play, every series, every game," said offensive lineman Steven Bell. "Coach Bunting knows that. Some coaches get on your butt after a loss and ride you, and he has done that before on losses when we didn't play as well as we should have, but he has really been positive this year and kept us up. We know what we can do and he's been on the same page as us and he's been pushing us to get there.
"We're two or three drives from being 3-0 and that's the way we view it," Bell added. "You aren't going to change that record, but we know we gave ourselves opportunities to beat those teams. In our minds, we knew we could do this, but it's nice to show everybody we could do it. That's a little vindication and hopefully the media will stop riding us."
And riding Bunting, who shifted the credit after the game to the players and away from himself and his coaching staff.
"The players have confidence and they believe they can win, and they prepare well," Bunting said. "We have enough players to win."
But it didn't appear the Tar Heels (1-2) would win this one early in the third quarter after they had squandered several scoring chances in the first half, only to see the Wolfpack put two quick TDs on the board early in the third quarter to grab a 24-14 lead.
But Baker caught fire and Carolina's defense bowed its back, stunning the Wolfpack with a near flawless final 25 minutes.
"I'm proud of this team because we didn't lose our poise when we went down in the second half," Bunting said. "That's a characteristic of our ball club and I think it's a characteristic of our football program. I'm proud of those things.
"Just to do that against this defense was remarkable," Bunting added. "It shows you there was some poise, it shows there was some confidence that couldn't be broken. Sometimes teams can get broken and go down into the tank. We just came back and played harder and made more plays."
It's said often that teams take on the personality of their head coach. That couldn't have been truer Saturday, when the Tar Heels used grit and determination, plus superior execution, to beat the Wolfpack for the third time in five years under Bunting.
"A lot of people don't give him the recognition he deserves," linebacker Larry Edwards said of Bunting. "He does whatever it takes to get us prepared for the week."
Added wide receiver Mike Mason: "John has been enthusiastic about this team. He was trying to pump everybody up in practice. He was telling us to pump each other up. He loves this kind of environment, he loves big games."
That's becoming rather apparent.
David Droschak is the former sports editor for the North Carolina bureaus of the Associated Press, the largest news-gathering organization in the world. In 2003, Droschak was named the North Carolina Sportswriter of the Year. He currently works in public relations at Robbins & Associates International, based in Cary.
