University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: New Era To Carolina-State
November 12, 2007 | Football
Nov. 12, 2007
By Lee Pace, Extra Points
A new era of the Carolina-State football rivalry ensued Saturday in Raleigh, and more than 57,000 fans gnawed their cuticles, exhausted their lungs, cried, prayed, laughed and drew on their creative reservoirs to find new epithets for the enemy. The wind whipped around Carter-Finley Stadium, the sun peeked in and out from behind the clouds and the caterwauling in the now-encircled bowl of the stadium reached thunderous pitches. Players clobbered one another during live action and oftentimes continued to jaw and thrash around after the whistle.
In the end, it came down to one play, quarterback T.J. Yates throwing to the Tar Heels' best receiver, Hakeem Nicks, on a fade route into the left corner of the end zone. Wolfpack defender Jimmie Sutton smothered Nicks and came down with the ball out of bounds, securing a 31-27 victory for State. That's now the fifth game the Heels have lost by seven points or less in 2007.
"It hurts because we could easily be contending for the one or two spot in the ACC," defensive end Hilee Taylor said. "We keep coming up short."
"We've been so close so many times," Yates added. "We've got to do something to get over that hump, because we've been doing this all season long."
The last time the Tar Heels ventured into this caldron of red, Chuck Amato was seen squawking at John Bunting over a perceived pre-game breach of protocol. Carolina proceeded to silence the masses with a 31-24 upset win over the Wolfpack and its defensive line of soon-to-be NFL millionaires, stretching a win streak that would mount to three wins for Carolina the following year and wins in 11 of the last 14 games.
On this day, two neophytes to the rivalry, Butch Davis of the Tar Heels and Tom O'Brien of the Wolfpack, exchanged hearty and sincere pre-game greetings at midfield, though O'Brien through the week did let on that he understood mission No. 1 for a Wolfpack coach was to beat Carolina. Upon O'Brien's hiring as the Wolfpack coach last December, he rejected the idea of wearing a red sports coat at his introductory press conference, saying clothing of that hue didn't look good with his ruddy complexion and red hair. But he delighted Wolfpack fans by sporting a red blazer for his TV show last weekend since "Carolina is coming to town," and he drew on his experience as a long-time assistant coach at Virginia for a little perspective on how the baby blue roils the blood near and far. "When you're in Charlottesville for 15 years," O'Brien said, "I knew the A-B-C rule and knew it was probably founded here in Raleigh."
Davis, meanwhile, is being brought up to speed on what it's like to be public enemy No. 1 in the state of North Carolina and, like Mack Brown three regimes ahead of him, refused to get into setting a pecking order among rivals. Brown would never circle one particular game in red, asking, "What if you lose? Do you cancel the season?"
"A core coaching philosophy of mine and has been for many years is that every game is really about yourself," Davis said last week. "It's not about your opponent. I don't buy into the idea that you play lights-out in a feverish slobbering pitch for one team. Then what about other 11? Why does that one team deserve any more attention?"
Indeed, the entire exercise of the 2007 season for the Tar Heels has not been so much about opponents, not so much about winning and losing as it has been establishing the Davis doctrine and setting the underpinnings of the program for years to come. There have been absolute wins (such as those on the scoreboard over Miami and Maryland) and metaphorical victories (such as the evolution of the defense into the 28th in the country through eight games, the education on practice and preparation protocol, and the nurturing of freshmen across the roster).
And there have been in-your-face defeats, such as the one Saturday against State. That the Tar Heels even had the opportunity to win in the last minute was somewhat preposterous, given the degree to which they were dominated in the running game on both sides of the ball. State finished with 167 yards rushing on 43 attempts (and did so with a third-team tailback named Jamelle Eugene), while the Tar Heels bumbled along with 12 on 20 attempts. At halftime, Carolina had minus-five yards rushing. The Heels haven't been so inept on the ground since gaining only 12 yards against Wake Forest in 1999.
State was ahead 17-0 midway through the second quarter and threatening to add more points, but Charles Brown intercepted a pass and raced the length of the field for a touchdown that changed the momentum of the game. Still, with Yates struggling most of the day and Carolina bungling in the running game, it took another interception for a touchdown by Kendric Burney and a nice trick play covering 50 yards for a score to keep the Tar Heels within striking distance.
Carolina made some personnel, assignment and alignment adjustments in the second quarter and at halftime, and Davis admitted Sunday the Tar Heels should have made them sooner to help batten down the porous perimeter of the run defense. Since his arrival in Chapel Hill almost a year ago, Davis and his staff have emphasized the importance of being able to run the ball and defend the run as a cornerstone to building a championship program. Saturday was certainly a setback.
"One of the most important and critical phases for us over the next year, certainly for the next two games, is that we have got to be able to run the football," Davis says. "That will be a crusade next spring, it'll be a crusade in training camp. If you're a team that can run the football, vicariously you're usually a team that can stop the run. Those two things tend to go together. We have got to become considerably more consistent on both sides of the football."
Meanwhile, the staff will continue to search for the individual success stories across that roster that, in time, will meld into a successful team story as well. Bobby Rome is Exhibit A.
Rome came to Carolina for the 2005 season from Granby High in Norfolk with a sparkling quarterback resume, but after his red-shirt year, it was apparent his 5-11 size would be a detriment to becoming a top-flight Division I quarterback. He was moved to fullback, was a little apprehensive at first but has come, he said last week, "to fall in love with the position."
Running backs coach Ken Browning has taught Rome to use his considerable leg strength (squat thrust best of 520 pounds) to become a force as a blocker, and he's caught 12 passes this year for an average of 13 yards a reception.
"I'm exceeding a lot of people's expectations from a blocking standpoint," Rome says. "I'm a much better blocker than I was a year ago. I've never blocked anyone in my life. I've had a chance to catch some passes this year, and the more I catch, the more T.J. has confidence in me and the more the coaches have confidence to call plays for me.
"I never envisioned this, never in a million years did I see myself playing fullback," he adds. "But I'm actually good at it. Coach Browning said I have the potential to be among the best who've played the position."
Rome has become one of the fieriest players on a side of the football usually populated by the more reserved on the roster, while defense gets the fire-breathers. The black-eye strips he wears each week read ROME IS under the right eye, BURNING under the left eye.
"Coach Browning said you're allowed to get excited about making a good block," Rome says. "I get pumped up over good blocks. Every block, I want to knock the guy off his feet."
Still, Rome is quick to cite the fact he can throw the football farther than anyone on the team--78 yards shuffling into the throw, 55 yards flat-footed--and he's proud of the 4,829 career passing yards that rank him with Ronald Curry, Michael Vick and Aaron Brooks as the top schoolboy passers from the Tidewater region. Rome's prodigious arm strength drew the attention of offensive coordinator John Shoop during a recent Friday walk-through.
"Hey Bobby, come here a minute," Shoop said, a mischievous kernel taking root in his brain.
The offensive staff installed a pass for Rome the week of the Maryland game, rehearsed it for two weeks and then set it up against State by having Rome carry the ball twice in the first half. On first down from midfield in the third quarter, Rome took a pitch from Yates, feigned a run and then reached back and heaved the ball to Brandon Tate, who was 20 yards clear of the nearest State defender. The touchdown pulled Carolina within a touchdown.
"I knew he would be open," Rome said. "I had no doubt about that. I just didn't to overthrow him or underthrow him. I wanted to hit him in stride."
He did just that, but unfortunately Carolina was off-stride on too many elements of its game Saturday.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace is in his 18th season writing "Extra Points," a colorful and in-depth look at Tar Heel football. He'll answer your questions about the Tar Heels regularly during the season in his "Extra Points Mailbag" column and on the Tar Heel Sports Network's pregame show. Email him your questions (please, no recruiting questions) about the Tar Heels at leepace@nc.rr.com and he'll answer the most interesting ones.
