University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: The Week After
September 29, 2005 | Football
Sept. 29, 2005
By Adam Lucas
It's been a familiar reception for Carolina football players on campus in Chapel Hill this week.
Classmates offer more pats on the back. Practice seems shorter. Interviews with the media have a brighter tone.
That's the same reaction the Tar Heels get after every big win, of which there have been plenty over the past year. But now they want to do something more unusual -- enjoy that same feeling twice in a row.
Over the past three years, Carolina's only two-game winning streak was a mid-November pair of victories over Wake Forest and Duke last season. The Heels have had plenty of big wins, but those victories have sometimes been followed by equally big losses.
The Georgia Tech win last season, which at the time seemed like a breakthrough, was followed by a 34-0 home loss to Louisville. The pulsating win under the lights over NC State was followed by a disappointing road trip to Utah. And the heart-pounding win over Miami was followed by a home loss to Virginia Tech.
Part of the problem last season was the competition, of course. The three teams that dealt the Tar Heels the above-mentioned losses finished 2004 a combined 33-3. But effort was lacking in two of those defeats, a reality that indicates some players might have been focused on the past rather than the present.
"We dwelled too much on the big wins last year," Jesse Holley says. "We have to take the momentum we have now and carry it into the next game. State's over and Utah is up next and I guarantee you that Utah doesn't care what happened last week. We don't either."
That's easier said than done. Players had Sunday off and spent Monday accepting congratulations from fellow students who previously hadn't bothered to say hello. It's a catch-22 situation. Winning won't be taken for granted around Chapel Hill until it's done consistently, but it can't be done consistently until the program starts taking it for granted.
"I'm hoping that is part of the culture change and leadership change," John Bunting says. "Coaches have to coach the same way every week. We've been close and lost and now we've been close and won. I hope we've learned from all of that. We need to go forward rather than backward and we know that. It starts with the leadership of the team and the leadership of the program."
And it helps to have a solid defense. That's the one variable that has changed this year. Last year's upsets were so remarkable because the Tar Heels had been crushed in previous games. This year's team has been steadily motoring along -- coming within a last-second possession of tying the game at Georgia Tech, missing a couple of key plays against Wisconsin, and finally breaking through against NC State. Although the record is just 1-2, there have been hints of the consistency that Bunting has been emphasizing since early August.
Last year's big wins came because of unexpected defensive stands or solid defensive performances. That wasn't the case Saturday, when the defense simply continued playing the way they'd been playing all season.
The improvement has perhaps saved John Bunting and Marvin Sanders a few extra gray hairs. But it's also caused the Tar Heel offense to take notice.
"It makes us so much more comfortable as an offense to know we can punt the ball and our defense can get it back in three plays," Holley says. "Of course we want to make every single play every single time, but this year we know if we don't do that the defense will get it back for us. It makes us much more comfortable and relaxed as an offense."
This might otherwise be a week for the defense to relax as well. But the specter of Utah and their unique offense looming over the practice field eliminates that possibility. Ordinarily, stepping out of league play after an important conference game would be the recipe for a letdown. But Utah is a timely opponent -- it's hard for the defense to be overconfident when they're lining up across from a team that posted 669 yards last season.
Coaches haven't harped on last year's game much this season, believing it's important to continue the "last year is last year" message. But players have long memories, and the recollections aren't pleasant.
"We have to stay hungry," Tommy Davis says. "Right now we're hungry and we want to win. We can't get caught up in everyone saying good job."
Because this time, they want those good wishes to continue for more than seven days.
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.
