Tar Heels Look To Use Bowl As Springboard

December 8, 2008 | Football

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Dec. 8, 2008

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By Lauren Brownlow

Just a little over three weeks ago, Carolina needed only to win its remaining games to reach the ACC Championship game in Tampa, Florida. West Virginia was picked to finish first in a mediocre Big East this season but dropped two early out of conference matchups. Neither team had its season end quite the way they wanted, though both began with different sets of expectations.

Still, Carolina is in a position to win its first bowl game since 2001 when Julius Peppers was in school and will play in its first bowl game since 2004. Carolina has reversed a 4-8 record into an 8-4 record and accomplished quite a few of its goals already this season. This team controlled its own destiny and even though it didn't make the title game, the team saw teams approach them differently.

"We had to work harder in practice because we kind of became the hunted this year," E.J. Wilson said. "At one point in the season, we were on a roll and it was looking like we were going to win the ACC. So it's kind of role reversal. We had to learn how to handle success this year so it's a big difference from last year."

What that also means is that this team played in meaningful, important games. Programs like Notre Dame and Miami aren't the national powers that they once were. But wins against teams like that meant something to outside observers and to this program. Carolina now has a chance to get another one of those wins.

"We wanted to play in meaningful games, games that were important," Butch Davis said. "We wanted to play on national TV. We wanted to play when the blimp was in the air. There were a lot of things that we were able to accomplish this year and going to a bowl game is certainly one of those steps along the journey of trying to build the program."

Carolina would have liked to have played in a more high-profile bowl, but there are a lot of advantages to playing locally. Davis has recruited very well in-state and with an in-state bowl game, that is likely to continue. Players are going to be able to bring their families to a bowl game whereas many family members would not have been able to come otherwise. Ryan Houston and Hakeem Nicks are just two of the Charlotte natives on the team very excited about playing in their home town.

What's perhaps a more significant reward is the chance to face a high-profile program that has been to a BCS bowl two of the last three seasons. Even though West Virginia didn't have the season it would have liked, it is still a sexy name in college football. With names like Pat White and Noel Devine, it's a team that has the potential for big plays time those dynamics playmakers touch the field. Deunta Williams said that he and Trimane Goddard use West Virginia on the NCAA Football video game because of the team speed.

Some teams approach a bowl game as a reward for a hard-fought season and treat it more like a vacation than a business trip. As usual, Davis wants this team to approach it with balance, the same even-keeled approach that has benefited the team so much this season.

"Certainly, the bowl is a reward for the kids. This has been a ten-month process to get to a bowl game," Davis said. "You want them to have a great time. But by the same token, the best way to have a great time is to win the game. You want to play well. You certainly want the season to end on a positive note and play as well as you can. If you really like football and you enjoy what you're doing, you'll put things in perspective."

Carolina has dealt with countless injuries this season, some to more high-profile players like Mark Paschal, T.J. Yates and Brandon Tate and others to important players like Anthony Elzy, Devon Ramsay and Zack Pianalto. Williams said that the team's "resilience, diligence and determination" are what allowed it to persevere.

But the even-handed, steady approach of this coaching staff is not to be overlooked. "I thought our coaching staff did a good job of not using injuries as an excuse," Davis said. "Then when we won big games, we didn't get too high. When we lost some games, we didn't get too low and we were able to bounce back. All of those things help you grow your program."

This team will be facing a speedy spread offense that Carolina will not have an easy time defending. But the way that this team has approached each game all season long will prevent any sort of panic. Some of Carolina's injured players can come back and the ones who had to step up in their absence will all benefit.

Now, the players who were freshmen in Butch Davis' first season will be rising juniors. Carolina's leaders who have had to endure so much in terms of pessimism and endless losing are graduating and moving on. Wilson will be one of the seniors and leaders next year on the defense and said that the Carolina defensive line has the potential to be not only the best in his time here, but one of the best in Carolina history. The new class of Carolina's leaders can use the bowl game and the extra practices to start to emerge.

"We've got some guys that have got 24 starts under their belts like Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter and E.J. Wilson and Marvin Austin," Davis said. "We need some guys from each of the position groups to kind of step up and assume some of that responsibility for leadership, not only for this bowl game but certainly as a springboard into next year."

Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.