University of North Carolina Athletics
Wake Forest Game Guide
October 24, 2006 | Football
Oct. 24, 2006
By Lauren Brownlow
Every Tuesday, check TarHeelBlue.com for the latest edition of the Game Guide, which provides all the information you need to get ready for gameday.
The Basics
Carolina is back in Chapel Hill and still looking for its first ACC win this weekend against a Wake Forest team that is ranked 24th in the AP poll after a 25-23 win at NC State two weeks ago. Wake Forest is 6-1 coming off a bye week, while Carolina is 1-6 and is desperately looking to get something going after the dismissal of head coach John Bunting. Carolina and Wake had faced each other for 61 straight years until the new ACC scheduling interrupted their regular meeting last year.
Game Time: Wake Forest at North Carolina, 3:30 P.M.
Carolina's game notes can be here.
Last Time: In 2004, the Heels won a 31-24 victory over Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. After getting out to a 24-10 lead with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter, Wake came back and tied the game at 24 with 7 minutes to go. When Wake Forest got the ball back again, the Carolina defense held the Deacs to a three-and-out, setting up Darian Durant and the Carolina offense for the game-winning drive at the Carolina 44-yard line. Four plays later, Durant connected with Jesse Holley on a 45-yard touchdown pass to put Carolina up 31-24. Gerald Sensabaugh's interception on the ensuing Wake Forest drive sealed the victory for the Heels. The Carolina defense, which had been ranked 116th in the nation to that point, allowed a season-low 335 yards.
Gameday Weather: Check the local weather forecast before heading for the game.
Injury Report: Barrington Edwards is suspended for the Wake game for violation of a team rule. Cornerback Jacoby Watkins has a sprained knee and will be limited this week in practice. Tight end Rock Wells fractured his wrist and will be out for the rest of the season. Larry Edwards broke his collarbone before the South Florida game and was lost for the season. Tight end Richard Quinn broke his shoulder blade in practice the Tuesday before the Rutgers game and will be out 8-12 weeks. Trimane Goddard re-fractured his surgically repaired foot in the fall and was lost for the season. Jordan Hemby was lost for the season last week at Clemson with a torn ACL.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 2:30. The radio broadcast is also available on XM Channel 191 at 3:30. Since it's a home game, the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast can be heard on XM.
TV Coverage: The game will be shown on ESPNU.
Game week TV/radio coverage: John Bunting Live airs Thursday night at 6 and the John Bunting TV show airs Saturday morning at 9 a.m. on FOX Sports.
Storylines
Coaching change: It would be naïve to suggest that this team won't be affected by the dismissal of John Bunting. How it affects them, however, remains to be seen. The seniors especially seemed shaken by the change.
"The whole team was coming in, we were getting ready to talk about what we were going to do to play against Wake Forest, and then they broke the news to us," senior tailback Ronnie McGill said. "It kind of hurt, because we've been with the coaching staff for four years, and we've been through the ups and downs, and nobody really saw this happening right now during the middle of the season. So from a player's standpoint, just a shocking and a little bit frustrating that it happened now."
Obviously the team could respond in an unexpected way and piece together some unexpected victories. There is no doubt that these players love John Bunting, and want to see him go out on a positive note. It's not unprecedented: Ron Zook was fired at Florida in 2004 after losing to Mississippi State, and went on to lose a close one to Georgia and then win the next three games, including a victory at Florida State. The players carried Zook off the field in his last game. Many players would love to see Bunting go out the same way.
"We're still focused on finishing the season real strong, playing Wake Forest on Saturday, getting a win and putting a string of wins together, and hopefully sending this team to a bowl game, sending Coach Bunting out the right way," senior linebacker Larry Edwards said. "So we're going to keep everybody positive. We're going to do everything that we can do in our power to make sure that the mood on this team stays upbeat, stays positive, and stays optimistic."
Bunting, the eternal optimist, thinks his team will be fine and will do his best to make sure it stays that way. "We're not going to be looking at anything else besides Wake Forest this week," Bunting said. "We're going to try to be encouragers, we're going to try to work positively and make the most of a difficult situation. But let's go play the dadgum ball game. Let's go have some fun."
Lack of identity on offense: Bunting termed the passing offense last week at Virginia "anemic" and "imprecise." The trouble was, Carolina got down to an early 9-0 deficit and were forced to abandon a successful running game for said passing game.
"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," Bunting said. "We need to stay efficient with the run and we need to be more accurate and make the plays."
Ronnie McGill had 7 rush attempts for 31 yards after the first quarter, but in the second only got one more yard on three attempts. McGill had 41 yards in the third quarter on six more attempts, but down 16-0, the McGill had no more rushing attempts as the Heels were forced to largely abandon the running game.
"It (the running game) was there, and once you get down, you've got to get away from it, because the clock is running," quarterback Joe Dailey said. "Every time you run the ball, the clock is moving. You've got to pass the ball and get out of bounds. Obviously, we ran the ball decently. We were forced to get into the pass game, and we weren't very successful."
As has often been the case this season, Carolina has found itself in an early hole and is forced to rely solely on their struggling passing game to play catch-up. So if the running game is working well, then they are forced to abandon it. The offense is not able to choose between the pass and the run when it is facing deficits, and that lack of an option is hurting the Heels when McGill has the hot hand.
"Right now, we've got some really good guys in the backfield that could make some things happen, and we're failing to get them the ball," Dailey said.
Inability to maintain momentum: Though it seems that nothing goes right for Carolina, that is not entirely true. This team has gotten a number of breaks, but they haven't been able to sustain any momentum.
Bunting called the 40-yard line a "dadgum barrier" for this Carolina offense, and that makes sense. It's not because the Carolina offense is incapable of moving the ball past the 40, but because when it does, it turns the ball over. The Carolina offense has only been inside the red zone 14 times, last in the ACC, and has turned the ball over three times while inside the 20. Inside the opponent's 40-yard line, Carolina has scored 11 touchdowns, five field goals, punted once, and turned it over a whopping eight times. Virginia was no exception. Carolina's best drive of the day ended on the Virginia 20 with a Ronnie McGill fumble, and when Joe Dailey took the offense to the Virginia 38-yard line in the third quarter, a controversial backwards pass call ended that drive.
"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," Bunting said. "We're moving, and then just get smacked in the nose, and it's hard."
It hasn't always been turnovers, miscues or even penalties that have haunted the Heels this season. Trimane Goddard would have been a great counterpart to Kareen Taylor at the safety position, but he was lost to injury in the preseason. Larry Edwards was a fantastic anchor at strong side linebacker, but now Martel Thatch, who played in his first game last week at linebacker, has been forced to step in.
"This struggle this year, it's been a little bit of Murphy's Law. It's just one thing after another, whether it be an injury here or whether it be the bounce of the ball (there)," Bunting said. "You've heard me say before, it's an old Bud Grant (saying): You can control just about anything except the bounce of the ball. We haven't been able to take advantage of some things that have been presented to us, and on occasion, we've gift-wrapped some things for our opponents, which really hurts."
Quarterback controversy: Neither Sexton nor Dailey played well at Virginia. Sexton started and went 3-of-8 for 22 yards before Bunting decided to make the switch at halftime. Dailey went 6-of-12 for 62 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
"There's frustration along those lines with both quarterbacks, but we'll do what we think is best to help us do as best as we possibly can on offense. I watched the tape, and neither quarterback was as effective as we'd like them to be," Bunting said. "It certainly wasn't - and it never is - all (of) their faults at all, but we've got to have more production out of that position. My first inclination is to let them share. We may just want to share those responsibilities with both of them."
Both Dailey and Sexton have had some good games. Dailey played very well as the sole quarterback against Rutgers, going 24-of-36 for 234 yards, rushing for 38 yards, and throwing one touchdown and two picks. Sexton's best game came against Furman, when he went 14-of-20 for 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. But in the five games Sexton has played against Division I-A opponents, Sexton is a combined 37-of-105 for 495 yards, two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and seven interceptions. Dailey has gone 44-of-73 for 401 yards, thrown only one touchdown and rushed for another, but has also thrown five interceptions.
Dailey has been more accurate overall, but has a propensity to turn it over and can't throw the long ball as well as Sexton. Sexton is less mobile than Dailey. This will not be anything close to a Curry-Durant rotation, where both quarterbacks brought different strengths to the table, but the hope is that a Sexton-Dailey rotation can result in a more balanced passing game overall.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: WCHL 1360 is the local affiliate.
Parking/construction update: Plan to arrive early at Kenan Stadium this Saturday, and take note of parking and pedestrian route changes. The changes are significant and all fans should plan to add some time to their pregame routine in order to arrive in time for kickoff.
Pregame activities: Tar Heel Town opens Saturday at 12:30, and the Tar Heels will make the Old Well Walk at 1:15.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
ESPNU coverage: The game will be available on ESPNU.
Names To Know
Ronnie McGill: If asked to remember one Ronnie McGill moment, most would recall the freshman who notched a career high 244 yards and three touchdowns against Wake Forest in 2003, leading the Heels to a 42-34 victory.
McGill has had trouble getting in gear this season, the first that finds him fully healthy so far. The Heels often have to play from behind, which means McGill and the running game have had to take a backseat to the passing game. McGill got it going against Virginia with 72 yards in the first three quarters, but did not have another rushing attempt.
McGill has rushed for 406 yards, 4.1 a carry, including five touchdowns and an average of 58 yards a game this season. He is the leading rusher on the Heels, but is tied for 10th in the ACC. He is tied for seventh in the league in scoring touchdowns with 5.1 points a game, and leads the Heels in points with 36 points. The Heels will need all the offense they can get out of McGill--with Barrington Edwards out due to violation of a team rule, McGill will carry the majority of the rushing load--on Saturday to prevent the Carolina offense from being one-dimensional.
Kentwan Balmer: The senior defensive end had a stellar game at Virginia, notching two tackles, including a seven-yard sack. He has nine total tackles on the season and one pass defended. The junior defensive lineman will have to continue his solid play to help a weak Carolina pass rush get to the quarterback and make stops.
Jesse Holley: The last time the senior receiver faced Wake Forest, he caught the game-winning touchdown. Holley has only caught one touchdown this year, but he is leading the team in average receiving yards per game (45) and average yards per catch (15.8). The senior wide receiver did not meet with the media after last week's loss at Virginia and seemed lost after the South Florida defeat, which is understandable. But the Tar Heels will absolutely need Holley to step up both on and off the field to lead this team and get this offense back on track. He is one of the many receivers to have dropped at least one ball this year, but he has shown many times throughout his Carolina career that he is capable of the big play. It's possible that if he does his part and hangs on to the ball, he could finally make that happen for the Carolina offense.
Sam Swank: Ranks third in field goal percentage (11-15 for 73.3), tied for first in field goals (11 total, 1.57 a game), third in kicking scoring with 7.3 points a game, fifth in total scoring with 7.3 points a game. Swank is also the No. 4 punter in the ACC with 42.9 yards a punt and a long of 86, and 81% of his punts are not returned. He is the leading scorer on the Wake Forest team with 51 points. The next-closest players have 24 points. Swank is also the only kicker in the country to have four field goals of 50 yards or more (3 of them came in one game, the Deacons' win over NC State). Carolina has good special teams, and if they can hold Swank's leg in check, they can likely hold what has been a relatively low-scoring Wake Forest offense in check.
Riley Skinner: It would be easy to underestimate the player at the helm of a weak Wake Forest passing offense, which ranks dead last in the ACC. Skinner ranks ninth in the ACC with 130.3 yards a game. But the redshirt freshman quarterback ranks first in the ACC in pass efficiency with a 148.4 rating and a completion percentage of 67.9. He is one of only three quarterbacks in Division I-A with just one interception on the year, and his efficiency could cause problems for a Tar Heel defense that desperately needs to force turnovers.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
