University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Emotional Kaleidoscope
November 30, 2008 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace
Nov. 30, 2008
by Lee Pace, Extra Points
Lost in the emotional burgoo of Mark Paschal's career ending injury last week was the story of the man who'd replace him. Chase Rice--senior linebacker, country music and NASCAR fan, former starter who missed all of 2007 after an opening-game injury. Rice took the field Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham with the words DAD etched in bold black letters on the white adhesive tape adorning each of his wrists.
There were remarkable efforts by the Tar Heels throughout a gray, chilly twilight in their 28-20 win over Duke: Hakeem Nicks' prodigious catch off his helmet for a touchdown; Shaun Draughn's runs on counter plays and receptions on swing passes for 138 total yards and two touchdowns; T.J. Yates reviving his game after his N.C. State mishap by hitting 15 of his first 16 passes; Richard Quinn's 32-yard catch and run on a deft play-action fake for the game-winning score; Greg Little's vigorous efforts for 109 yards receiving and running; Kendric Burney's fierce tackling on the flanks; and, of course, Trimane Goddard's opportune interception of Duke's last offensive gasp.
But one play that might be buried beneath the giddiness of the Victory Bell retention (18 years of the last 19 the bell retains its spot in Chapel Hill) and the anticipation of the Heels' first bowl bid in four seasons (Orlando, Charlotte or Nashville by all reckoning will be the destination) was Rice's pass defense on third down as Duke was at the Tar Heel 16 yard-line and attempting to tie the score with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
The Blue Devils had hit Carolina with a nice gain on a pass to receiver Eron Riley earlier in the game when Riley creased the Heels' zone pass coverage across the middle between Rice and Quan Sturdivant. With Duke facing third-and-six with under a minute to play, Rice dropped back into his zone and saw Riley coming on the same pattern. He jumped the route, forcing QB Thad Lewis to look elsewhere. Lewis spied running back Jay Hollingsworth slipping out of the backfield, and Rice quickly stepped forward and hit Hollingsworth and the ball just as they arrived, the pass falling harmlessly to the wet turf.
In a season when the Tar Heel defense had been ransacked too often in late-game passing situations, it took someone to step up and deliver the goods. The highlight reels will show Goddard's pick on the next snap. But it was Rice's efforts on third down that set the table.
For Rice, it could not have been sweeter given the heartache of 2008 and the passing of his father, Daniel Rice, to a heart attack at the age of 57 in May. Rice had a set of dog tags made reading "Larger Than Life 8/19/50 - 5/18/08" in honor of his father and has worn them these last six months. Saturday, he went a step further by printing his motivation on his wrists.
"I've been waiting for this opportunity the whole year," Rice said. "It was awesome to have my Mom and my brothers here. I took a second after the game and said, `Dad, that was for you.' It was a great feeling knowing he could hear me and was right here the whole time. To end the game like this, to end my career with a bowl game ... it's just an unbelievable feeling. I'm glad my Dad had the best seat in the house to watch us do it."
It's always a psychedelic display of emotions when the Tar Heels and Blue Devils reunite--whether it's Mack Brown going weepy in a post-game interview after a loss to Duke in his first year as the Tar Heel coach; or whether it's Duke fans borrowing a "Fire Carl" sign from Carolina fans in 1999 and applying it their man Franks after our man Torbush had directed a surprising 38-0 Carolina landslide.
Saturday the merriment was draped in an elephantine sigh of relief emanating from the Carolina camp. The Tar Heels clamped the brakes on their two-game losing skid and ended the season with an 8-4 record. To completely reverse their 2007 mark of 4-8 ... to do so in the face of significant injury issues ranging from Yates to Brandon Tate and now to Paschal ... to lose three games by eight total points ... and to do so while corralling two dozen verbal commitments from what appears to be shaping up as an outstanding recruiting class ... then 2008 has to be classified as an unqualified success.
"For a program to grow, it takes an awful lot," Carolina head coach Butch Davis said. "It takes a ton of heart and a ton of hard work by players and coaches. But it goes further than that. Our fans and our student body showed up every game, we had sell-out crowds, and we had a huge turnout tonight. If we are going to be the kind of football team we want to be, it's going to take everybody. This year has been a great step forward, but we're a long ways from where we want to be."
For the Tar Heels there were a couple of turnover issues--the ball popped from Draughn's grasp in the first quarter, was snared by Vincent Rey and returned 36 yards for a score.
There was a defensive lapse--Duke used an unanticipated no-huddle attack on the game's first series and quickly paraded 63 yards in five plays for a touchdown.
And there was a missed field goal--Casey Barth was wide right from 43 yards in the fourth quarter on an attempt that could have given the Heels a two-possession lead.
But the nit-picking certainly gave way to an overall solid effort against a Blue Devil team that is noticeably improved over other recent versions.
Carolina was productive and balanced on offense, rushing for 179 yards and throwing for 190. Yates looked disoriented and hesitant upon his return to the lineup last week against State. But after reconnecting to good fundaments during the practice week--"He was not getting his back foot planted in the ground," QB coach John Shoop said--and after watching tape of many of his successes over 15 games dating to early 2007 to regenerate the mental warm-and-fuzzies, Yates was his old self Saturday. He connected on his first two passes as the Heels marched 73 yards in 10 plays on their first possession and was loose and confident the rest of the day.
"I really worked on my mechanics this week," Yates said. "I had gotten sloppy. It was definitely a transition from practice back to a live game. It's so much different, and you can't replicate game-speed in practice."
The Tar Heel defense had a coverage bust on a 39-yard Duke gain early in the game, and on the next snap at the Carolina eight the Tar Heels were still getting the signal from the sideline when the Blue Devils quick-snapped the ball and Lewis hit Riley wide open for the touchdown. After that, the Heels abandoned their defensive huddle and each player looked to the coaches for the next call.
"Duke's tempo got us a little," Davis said. "It was a little of the Notre Dame mentality. We were trying to match up with them personnel wise and we didn't have time with them going no-huddle. After that, we settled down and played really well on defense."
Indeed, Duke would not get another offensive touchdown the rest of the game. The Blue Devils drove for two field goals--one of them a 55-yarder to end the first half--but the Heels kept them out of the end zone. On three straight defensive stands late in the third quarter and into the fourth, Carolina forced three-and-outs. Then came the last drive heroics from Rice and Goddard, the latter snaring his seventh interception of the year and giving the Tar Heels 19 picks, the most since 1996 when Dre Bly led the way with 11.
"It was a great ending," Goddard said. "An interception at the end of the game to beat Duke and maintain the Victory Bell--it's an awesome feeling."
Indeed, there are always plenty of feelings in this last game of the year. Very intense ones, for sure. Draughn was a firecracker of emotion and once had to be restrained by teammates after Duke lineman Vince Oghobaase ran his hand under Draughn's facemask and dislodged his helmet.
"They were trying their best to get under my skin," Draughn said. "I had to get all of that out of me and let my emotions die down. I was still playing with emotion but had to be smart about it."
The business of Duke and the Victory Bell now properly dispatched, the Tar Heels focus on exams and whatever fate the bowl gods bestow over the course of the next week.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace is in his 19th year of chronicling Carolina football through "Extra Points." He'll answer questions about the Tar Heels weekly throughout the season through his "Extra Points Mailbag" and on the pregame show for the Tar Heel Sports Network. Email him at leepace@nc.rr.com and include your name and hometown. No recruiting questions, please.
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