University of North Carolina Athletics
Bunting Quotes
October 20, 2006 | Football
Oct. 20, 2006
By Lauren Brownlow
Opening comments:
Not a lot from me to be said. I think a lot of it's obvious. We had an opportunity to do something unique up here in light of this very frustrating season. We just were not good enough. We were anemic on offense. We made the switch at quarterback because we just felt like it might give us a boost. Defensively, I appreciated the effort the players made. I'm real disappointed we gave up 3 at the end of the half. I would have loved to have gone in (down) 6. We're leaving football out there on the field. We move the ball at times, (and) we get down in a position to make some scores. That 40-yard line seems like a doggone barrier for us at times. We've been around it a lot this year and haven't gotten enough points. I know that the players are disappointed, and I'm sure that they're discouraged at this point. I've asked them to take the couple of days off they have here and think about trying to get better - trying to get better individually, and trying to get better collectively. These kids have followed our lead for the most part this year. We have not been successful. I don't need to tell you that, and it hurts. It hurts them, it hurts me, it hurts the staff, and it hurts all the people that have been supportive in this program. Not much more to be said.
On the struggles of the passing game:
We missed some throws. You could see we threw some in the ground. We had a deflected pass, we thought, but obviously it was ruled otherwise, a backwards pass. When I look at these statistics, I see 9-20 - that's not a winning percentage. We need to throw 55% with our passing game. We need to stay efficient with the run and we need to be more accurate and make the plays. I don't think there were a lot of dropped balls, I just remember one in particular, (that) we ought to make a catch and get a first down. The turnovers -we're not getting enough and we're giving up too many. That margin must be getting really ugly at this point this season, and it's hard to win when you're on the minus side of that. It really is.
On the quarterback situation:
We'll be out working tomorrow recruiting. We'll get together I'm sure at least by telephone and talk about it. We'll try to make what we believe is the best decision about where we go with that. There was a time when I wanted to alternate them. I haven't done that yet. We're trying to do what we think is best, and we'll try to do the same again.
On the re-evaluating team goals:
Right now, the goals going forward is to win a football game. That's pretty much been a goal for the last two or three weeks. Play well enough to win. Get more points than they get. To be shut out, it was really disappointing.
On whether the team took a step back:
I wouldn't say that. I would say that we took a step forward on the defense. I would say that we played well on the (special) teams. Our punter did a good job. Our kicker didn't get to kick. But we certainly did not resemble any type of precise passing (game). That has to happen at this level. It was nice to have Hakeem (Nicks) back. I know that our protection broke down - in my mind, at least, for the first time this year. The way that I see it, I think it broke down. I get to see it differently from everybody else, and I think for the most part this year it's been good, and I don't feel like it was good today. That always contributes to negative passing plays, either through the sack or through the pressure. But today's the first time I felt like we were not very good at all at times in the protection phase.
On playing from behind changing the offense:
It was 9-0 at halftime. We were moving the ball, and we were at midfield I believe, and had the backwards pass call. They scored after that, and now you're behind the eight ball. That's tough. A huge momentum swing. We're moving, and then just get smacked in the nose, and it's hard. It's hard for young people. It's hard for the coaches. It's discouraging. But still, I believe that we kept playing, and that's encouraging. That's the way you should play anyway. You never stop playing this game. You keep playing.
On not getting a run game established:
I felt good about the run game going in. I felt fairly good about the way we tried to do it. We needed to make some more plays throwing the football than we did tonight. It was anemic; it was imprecise.
On Joe Dailey saying there was a lack of passion:
I don't know what Joe's talking about. I love Joe, but you don't play this game without passion. It's the greatest game in the world.
On Joe saying that some players on the team don't love football:
If you've been around me, I love football, and I talk to our players about it all the time. It's really hard not to play this game if you don't love it. When you lose, it hurts. It takes a lot out of you. I'm sure they're hurting. You want to make sure you don't interpret that - when you're down and you're disappointed, with the 1-6 record, you get a little discouraged. Joe is a great young man, and we have fully supported him, and we will continue to do so. But I don't think you can read a lot into the disappointment into a loss like this. I know that there are probably a couple of guys on this team that don't love it like some others do. I'm not going to make a big deal out of that.
On the Garrett White incident before the game:
I'm not going to get into that. He did something that's unbecoming of any young person, certainly of this football program, this great university. So we did what was the right thing to do. It's unfortunate. Coming into this environment, there are a lot of things going on. I talked about how this would be, and you've got to show some restraint. That's part of growing up. I won't tolerate that type of behavior. It's simple.
On whether Virginia's struggles this season make this loss more disappointing:
It's disappointing. Shocking is not the word I would use. Once again, as I have said previously, it's not about other programs. It's about us. It's about trying to get some wins, and us starting to play more consistently. Once again, we didn't, and that results in a loss.
