University of North Carolina Athletics
Bunting Press Conference Quotes
September 12, 2006 | Football
Sept. 12, 2006
Head Coach John Bunting
Opening Statement:
Regardless of what took place the week before, it's over with me. The Monday night [practice] schedule we have has been great for our team the past couple of years - it's over with them. This football team will refocus and go after a win this week. Our focus will be playing better, continuing to try to improve on both sides of the ball, and, obviously, taking care of the big problem we had on the punt team. There's lots of room for improvement on both sides. We're playing a team that loves to run the ball, and they do it quite well. They always have. They've been averaging eight wins a year since 1978. That's pretty doggone good. They also do a great job stopping the run, which has been as big a thorn in our offensive side as anything. We need to do a better job with that. Furman is ranked No. 4 [in Division I-AA] - I have a great deal of respect for their coach.... That's a good program. They are very disciplined. They've got some good players. If we don't have our "Big Boy" pads on, we'll be in for a long day trying to stop their running attack. [Cedrick Gipson] is averaging 90-yards-plus [per game], and the big fullback, [Jerome Felton], is a mean guy. He's a mean dude.
On the starter at quarterback:
We are going to start Cam Sexton at quarterback. Joe Dailey will play in this game.
On how he decided who the starter would be:
Every decision I make is trying to help us have a better opportunity to win. From the game, we did not convert very well on third down, and there's a reason behind it. And it's not the quarterback, first. We had nine runs on those 14 third downs that we faced and we were two-of-[14] in terms of conversions. We had nine first-down runs for a total of seven yards. We had five first-down passes for a total of seven yards. So we have to do a heck of a lot better on first down to have an opportunity to win. That's the type of thing we're always talking about as an offensive staff, as a defensive staff, as a special teams staff - get better. We want to give Cam this opportunity to start this week. There were some things that he did well. There are some things we see him do well in practice. Once again, both of [the quarterbacks] are very competitive. Joe will play in this game. We want to see if Cam can help us play better, perhaps on first down throwing the football, perhaps running the football.
On if there will be a script for getting each quarterback time:
I'm going to think about that as the week progresses. That's an option that I've chosen before - to go every two series. I don't see that right now. But I certainly want Joe to play, and I want him to play earlier rather than later. I want to get him in the game because I think he can help us win, too.
On what Coach Cignetti's input was:
It was very similar to mine. We're very grounded in our approach to what we're doing. We want to give this young man an opportunity to go out there and see if he can help us do some things to help the offense improve its production. In the first game we moved the ball and had a lot of yards, and in game two we had almost twice as many first downs as our opponent but we didn't score points. We've got to get better at scoring points. But that first-down statistic that I gave you is probably the most critical one.
On the psychology after an 0-2 start:
There is no time to panic - it does nobody any good. I'm not that kind of guy anyway - never have been, never will be. I want to get us to focus on getting better. I want us to continue to learn how to play football. I've got a bunch of players that are pretty good. Once again, those two young receivers [Brooks Foster and Hakeem Nicks] that we were throwing a lot of accolades at last week didn't make as many plays mostly because we didn't get the ball to them.... There's a breakdown here and a breakdown there. It's not every play either. It's just every once in awhile. We break it down. Some plays we ran quite well. We got what we want.... We've got to take advantage of our scheme.
On the defensive and special teams miscues:
Defensively, we need to get better than we were last week. We missed some tackles. We gave them some yards by missing tackles. We've got to become a better tackling team. We fit the plays better last week. That's important. But the blocked punt - inexcusable. Things we do 25 times a day in that protection scheme we didn't do on that blocked punt. Did not do. I have never seen a punt blocked with an outside twist, which is what they gave us. But it happened because we totally broke down. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about getting better. Focusing on getting better. Improving offensively, improving tackling on defense, and never getting off track with what we do in terms of protection for the punt.
On his view of the program:
I'm not satisfied. [The fans] shouldn't be either. But I'm not discouraged. We're doing a great job recruiting. We're doing a great job with our character on this football team. We're doing a great job in terms of what we're doing academically - nobody under a 2.0 [grade point average] for the first time in the history of the football program as far as I know. Nobody under a 2.0. Those are great things. But we need to win. I understand that too. That's what [the fans] are dissatisfied with. They are dissatisfied we're 0-2 instead of being 1-1 or 2-0. That's real simple math this early in the season. Real simple math.
