University of North Carolina Athletics
Walston: Welcome To The Jungle
September 12, 2009 | Football
Sept. 12, 2009
Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction is a VH-1 Classic that has endured for 22 years. The release of the 1987 album from the L.A. group was a seminal moment for rock n' roll. Forget the glam, this was hard rock. The Tar Heels may want to keep it on the shelf for a while.
At the University of Connecticut, the introduction of "Welcome to the Jungle" is played over the public address system before the Huskies defense prepares to line up for a third-down stop. Every. Single. Time. Timeout? Penalty? Start it up again.
The song, accompanied on the scoreboard by an animated slithering snaked, worked the Husky students and fans into a frenzy, imploring their team to get a big stop. For three quarters, it worked. Through 45 minutes, the Tar Heels were stopped on 9 of 12 tries. Shaun Draughn was not able to get things going on the ground, and T.J. Yates and his targets simply couldn't find each other.
At least 17 times on Saturday, the Tar Heels heard Slash's guitar and Axl Rose's prolonged `Ooooooooh' blast throughout Rentschler Field. It usually didn't herald good things for Carolina, as nearly all of the 38,000 fans made it difficult for the offense to communicate. "For this size stadium, it got very loud," left tackle Kyle Jolly said after the game. "Their student section was going really crazy, so it was a little tough, but we were just trying to get through it."
Trailing by a touchdown, Carolina took over at their own 24 early with just under ten minutes to play. A three-yard pass and an incompletion brought up 3rd down and 7.
Welcome to the Jungle.
A Jolly false start backed them up five yards; 3rd down and 12. "We could barely hear," Jolly said later. "I don't think everybody heard the snap count."
Welcome to the Jungle.
Yates tried to audible at the line of scrimmage, and his 24-yard completion to Harrelson was negated; 3rd down and 17.
Welcome to the Jungle.
Somehow, Yates found Erik Highsmith on 3rd and 17 to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, the Tar Heels started with 1st and 10 inside the UConn 41. Enter Ryan Houston.
"I'm the number two running back, so I wasn't really trying to be like, `Put me in, put me in.'" Rather than beg for playing time, Houston studied the Connecticut defense, trying to find holes that may open for him given the chance. "I'd look and say, `OK, they're looping, they're biting on this, no. 8 is not doing this, he's doing this.' If I got in, when I got the ball, I knew exactly what I was going to do."
The junior went to work. For four straight plays (and six of the next seven), he did what to that point the Tar Heels had been unable to do: find yards between the tackles. "He brought something," Jolly said. "We just kept calling that same play, and he just kept rolling with that thing."
Houston's 33 yards on that series set up Yates to find Zack Pianalto in the end zone, and Casey Barth's extra point tied the score minutes later. Houston's progress on the ground also helped chew up nearly seven minutes of game clock, giving an exhausted defense a chance to catch their breath. Defensive end Robert Quinn was held in the end zone on the ensuing UConn drive, and the safety gave the Tar Heels two points and the winning margin. The Tar Heels' 134 fourth-quarter yards equaled their output from the previous three combined.
The Guns N' Roses effect may have backfired on Ryan Houston. "I like that song," he said later. "Every time I heard that song, it's 3rd and short, I'd just act like it's home. It's just football, we're just at a different place."
On Saturday, the Tar Heels escaped a pack of hungy Huskies. Next weekend, a gang of Pirates awaits. Welcome to the Jungle.
Turner Walston is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly. Follow the THM staff on Twitter.
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