University of North Carolina Athletics
Bunting Press Conference Quotes
September 6, 2005 | Football
Sept. 6, 2005
John Bunting Press Conference Quotes - 9/6/05
"Opening game coming up, we're all excited about that. You could sense the energy and enthusiasm on the field last evening. Getting to play a real game, getting to play someone else, that's always exciting. We know that the opponent had a big win against Auburn. That game was fierce. That was the most noteworthy thing in my book, just how hard Georgia Tech played in every aspect of the game - offense, defense and special teams. They certainly will be a difficult team to play against down on their home turf, but we've got to take care of business and try to play a little bit of the way they played - force the issue, make some plays, don't turn the ball over.
"We elected captains yesterday, and I'm really excited about who the team selected. On offense, they selected Matt Baker. I've talked enough about him, I don't need to say much more about what he means to me and this football program. Tommy Richardson was selected on defense. I think that's a great story. Tommy's overcome some difficult times. I want to accentuate the positives that he brings to this team, all the leadership that he's provided throughout the spring and summer. The other guy is a guy who has become very dear to me over the last couple of years. He was a walk-on player who earned a scholarship - Wallace Wright is the special teams captain. He is perhaps our fiercest competitor on those teams. He plays all four of the core special teams, and he developed into a terrific receiver. He has a tremendous work ethic, and I'm really proud of him.
"We're looking forward to this game. Give Georgia Tech an awful lot of credit. They played extremely well (against Auburn) and we expect to have our hands totally full when we go down to Atlanta."
On Georgia Tech QB Reggie Ball:
"He's a terrific athlete with an incredibly strong arm. He is extremely physical and very, very competitive. They do enough things with him, between his bootleg passes and quarterback runs, that he is a factor. In order to win on defense, you have to tackle him."
On not playing on opening weekend:
"The speed of this game is so much faster than you practice. It's a big advantage (to have already played) and there's nothing we can do about it. We get to see them on film and on TV. I see that the (Auburn) quarterback got hit a bunch of times. That's worth something, but to me playing the game is what's most important. We don't have the luxury of playing four preseason games and 16 regular season games, we've got 11 games to get it done."
On the improvement of the defense:
"Our defense is better, but we have to go out and prove that. The reason why I say it's better is because it's deeper. It's more talented, faster, more experienced. Now we've got to go out and prove it, put a game together. What we did last year at times was OK, and the theme of this season is the word I've used all preseason long - consistency. Consistency in a football game takes a long time to develop. I've tried very hard to simulate that in practice, but you can't do a whole game. You have to keep that focus, keep that concentration. You can't commit penalties and turn the ball over, and you have to be consistent on defense and offense."
On Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson:
"You hope to slow him down. People will devise different ways of trying to slow him down, either getting up and pressing him, bumping him or double-teaming him. There are all those defensive options that go into putting together a game plan. But you can't focus all your attention on him, because they've got other pieces of the puzzle down there that can hurt you. You can't focus all your attention on him. Someone's going to have to compete and make some plays against that guy. Last year Jacoby Watkins did a nice job against him. Some he's going to play some and Quinton Person is going to play some."
On Georgia Tech's defense:
"They play hard and they bring lots of pressure. That's been their nature for a long time, and that hurts some teams. It's hurt us on occasion. It can blow up runs and hit the quarterback, that's what that pressure can do. What you want to do to counter that is to get things blocked up and make plays. In order to beat a Georgia Tech team, you've got to make some plays."
On the upcoming debut of Matt Baker:
"He has been exciting to watch and a pleasure to be around. He hasn't been perfect, no quarterback is. It's hard to groom quarterbacks. But this guy is ready to play. As I've said all along and our team has demonstrated, we've got a lot of confidence in him. That's not going to change. As he gets on that plane, and when he wakes up Saturday morning, he might have a thought or two like all ballplayers do, whether they've played no games or 100 games, they have some anxiety, some butterflies."
