University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Back In The Fray
October 21, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers, Extra Points
By Lee Pace
Among the many coaches, ex-players and VIPs queuing up to shake Mack Brown's hand last Dec. 4 in New York City following his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame was Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. Foster was in attendance to honor his long-time boss, Frank Beamer, who was also coroneted that evening, and wanted to pay respects to Brown, who he had never actually coached against but knew via the coaching fraternity and the recruiting arena.
Brown was just a week into having accepted the Carolina job after a five-year coaching hiatus. And Foster, as it turned out, would be just eight months away from announcing his retirement effective after the 2019 season following 33 years coaching the Hokie defense, 25 of them as coordinator.
"I said, 'What the heck dude, what are you trying to do to get back in this thing?'" Foster remembered last week. "Are you a glutton for punishment?' He said he was just 'a little bored and he missed it.'"
Fast forward nearly a year and Brown and his Tar Heels were set to play the Hokies on Saturday, each team at midseason pivot points for the home stretch of the 2019 season—the Tar Heels 3-3 and buoyed by some unexpected ups in a transition year, the Hokies 4-2 and recoiling from a difficult start that included a narrow escape against Furman and a blow-out loss to Duke—both at home.
On Tuesday Foster reflected on his early days with the reins of the Virginia Tech defense, that 1997 season when Beamer's program was just developing a head of steam and Tech was to face Carolina in the Gator Bowl. That one was no contest as the Tar Heels, with a defense laden with future NFL stars, thumped Tech 42-3 and limited the Hokies to 185 yards of offense. That was Brown's team, certainly, but he wasn't there, having taken the Texas head job just weeks earlier.
"I can go back to our first Gator Bowl when they spanked us, and they were really talented," Foster said.
And on Friday Brown lauded Foster's longevity and loyalty to the institution, to Beamer and to incumbent head coach Justin Fuente and added that over three decades in college football circles, if the specter of Virginia Tech football came up, "You thought about Beamer Ball and Bud Foster. Those are the two icons around here. I'll look Bud up afterward and hug his neck."
Brown and Foster were like two ships passing in the night Saturday at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg when they embraced at midfield, Brown gracious in defeat after a bizarre loss—43-41 in six overtimes.
Glutton for punishment, indeed, coming in multiple forms:
* Brown's Tar Heels twice cobbled together 10-point leads in the first half and then hit Tech with a potential lethal blow with a 68-yard double flea-flicker touchdown late in the fourth quarter—but couldn't close the deal.
* After a half season of being one of the ACC's least-penalized teams, the Tar Heels had nine infractions Saturday, including two false starts amid the din of Lane Stadium, one holding penalty that affected field position at a crucial time and a delay of game that added five yards to an overtime field goal.
* Place kicker Noah Ruggles pushed one overtime field goal a whisker to the right that would have won the game, then had another blocked. The Carolina PAT/FG unit has now had three field goals blocked this year.
* The defense had a mental bust on a wheel route that had been a focus of game-week preparation, allowing Tech a 55-yard touchdown at the end of the first quarter.
* And an injury-riddled secondary was exploited with fade routes into the corner of the end zone, including an 18-yarder for a tying score in the second overtime.
"We had our opportunities," Brown said. "Three times we get up by 10 or up by three with the ball, we had opportunities to go stretch the score and put pressure on them. And we just didn't do it. A fourth-and-two, the two-point plays in overtime, the missed field goals—convert any of those and the game's over. All those things are hurtful.
"But we are who we are. I told them we didn't take advantage of those, we've got to go back and practice for Duke and get better. I told each of them, coaches included, anything you didn't do tonight that would have helped us win a ball game, we've got to do it better."
Six of the Tar Heels' seven games have been decided by six points or less. And the four teams who have beaten the Tar Heels have a combined record of 24-3. To continue to evolve, Carolina has to develop more of a killer instinct and pay closer attention to detail.
"Instead of going into overtime, we have to put it away earlier," said receiver Toe Groves, who caught one touchdown pass early in the third quarter. "We left a lot of opportunities out on the field. The defense played outstanding. The offense could have picked it up a little better. We put ourselves in a bad position going into that many overtimes."
Added middle linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel: "There's a lot of things we can look at and say, this lost the game, this lost the game, that, that that. But for me, the plays I missed in the first half are going to bother me. I feel like as the 'Mike,' I shouldn't be making mistakes like that."
Just as he did in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brown is resurrecting the Tar Heel program first with players already on campus and second by recruiting for the future. The Tar Heels are looking to sign a top-20 class in December. That recruiting acumen is already bearing fruit with what freshman quarterback Sam Howell has meant to the program. Howell signed on in December, enrolled in January and has been editing the Tar Heel record book through seven games this fall.
"We've got to be the cool place to be, we've got to have fun, we've got to have kids wanting to come to our place and join the others," Brown said. "The kids on your team are your best recruiters. I told them I want them to have the most fun of any team in college football. That's the one thing I came back for. There are not many coaches and kids having fun.
"But there's a catch: The only way you have fun is win. Have fun, be disciplined, be focused, be tough."
On Saturday at the end, it was Foster and the Hokies having fun, Brown and the Tar Heels solemnly trudging back to the locker room for a shower and then a three-and-a-half hour bus ride back to Chapel Hill. A reporter asked Brown if the energy in Lane Stadium and drama of the game reminded him of earlier skirmishes against Beamer and the Hokies. Brown reminded the guy that Virginia Tech wasn't in the ACC during his first run through the league from 1988-97. Back then, the arch-rival from north of the border was the University of Virginia, and what a war that was with Brown and George Welsh landing haymakers at one another.
The Tar Heels get the Cavaliers in two weeks. But first there's Duke, and both old rivals come to Kenan Stadium on consecutive Saturdays with sell-out crowds expected and bowl berths and the Coastal Division slot in the ACC Championship Game up for grabs.
Welcome back, Mack. The answer to the question Bud Foster posed in December is crystal clear.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (UNC '79) is in his 30th year writing "Extra Points" and 16th reporting from the sidelines for the Tar Heel Sports Network. Follow him @LeePaceTweet and email him at leepace7@gmail.com.
Among the many coaches, ex-players and VIPs queuing up to shake Mack Brown's hand last Dec. 4 in New York City following his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame was Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. Foster was in attendance to honor his long-time boss, Frank Beamer, who was also coroneted that evening, and wanted to pay respects to Brown, who he had never actually coached against but knew via the coaching fraternity and the recruiting arena.
Brown was just a week into having accepted the Carolina job after a five-year coaching hiatus. And Foster, as it turned out, would be just eight months away from announcing his retirement effective after the 2019 season following 33 years coaching the Hokie defense, 25 of them as coordinator.
"I said, 'What the heck dude, what are you trying to do to get back in this thing?'" Foster remembered last week. "Are you a glutton for punishment?' He said he was just 'a little bored and he missed it.'"
Fast forward nearly a year and Brown and his Tar Heels were set to play the Hokies on Saturday, each team at midseason pivot points for the home stretch of the 2019 season—the Tar Heels 3-3 and buoyed by some unexpected ups in a transition year, the Hokies 4-2 and recoiling from a difficult start that included a narrow escape against Furman and a blow-out loss to Duke—both at home.
On Tuesday Foster reflected on his early days with the reins of the Virginia Tech defense, that 1997 season when Beamer's program was just developing a head of steam and Tech was to face Carolina in the Gator Bowl. That one was no contest as the Tar Heels, with a defense laden with future NFL stars, thumped Tech 42-3 and limited the Hokies to 185 yards of offense. That was Brown's team, certainly, but he wasn't there, having taken the Texas head job just weeks earlier.
"I can go back to our first Gator Bowl when they spanked us, and they were really talented," Foster said.
And on Friday Brown lauded Foster's longevity and loyalty to the institution, to Beamer and to incumbent head coach Justin Fuente and added that over three decades in college football circles, if the specter of Virginia Tech football came up, "You thought about Beamer Ball and Bud Foster. Those are the two icons around here. I'll look Bud up afterward and hug his neck."
Brown and Foster were like two ships passing in the night Saturday at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg when they embraced at midfield, Brown gracious in defeat after a bizarre loss—43-41 in six overtimes.
Glutton for punishment, indeed, coming in multiple forms:
* Brown's Tar Heels twice cobbled together 10-point leads in the first half and then hit Tech with a potential lethal blow with a 68-yard double flea-flicker touchdown late in the fourth quarter—but couldn't close the deal.
* After a half season of being one of the ACC's least-penalized teams, the Tar Heels had nine infractions Saturday, including two false starts amid the din of Lane Stadium, one holding penalty that affected field position at a crucial time and a delay of game that added five yards to an overtime field goal.
* Place kicker Noah Ruggles pushed one overtime field goal a whisker to the right that would have won the game, then had another blocked. The Carolina PAT/FG unit has now had three field goals blocked this year.
* The defense had a mental bust on a wheel route that had been a focus of game-week preparation, allowing Tech a 55-yard touchdown at the end of the first quarter.
* And an injury-riddled secondary was exploited with fade routes into the corner of the end zone, including an 18-yarder for a tying score in the second overtime.
"We had our opportunities," Brown said. "Three times we get up by 10 or up by three with the ball, we had opportunities to go stretch the score and put pressure on them. And we just didn't do it. A fourth-and-two, the two-point plays in overtime, the missed field goals—convert any of those and the game's over. All those things are hurtful.
"But we are who we are. I told them we didn't take advantage of those, we've got to go back and practice for Duke and get better. I told each of them, coaches included, anything you didn't do tonight that would have helped us win a ball game, we've got to do it better."
Six of the Tar Heels' seven games have been decided by six points or less. And the four teams who have beaten the Tar Heels have a combined record of 24-3. To continue to evolve, Carolina has to develop more of a killer instinct and pay closer attention to detail.
"Instead of going into overtime, we have to put it away earlier," said receiver Toe Groves, who caught one touchdown pass early in the third quarter. "We left a lot of opportunities out on the field. The defense played outstanding. The offense could have picked it up a little better. We put ourselves in a bad position going into that many overtimes."
Added middle linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel: "There's a lot of things we can look at and say, this lost the game, this lost the game, that, that that. But for me, the plays I missed in the first half are going to bother me. I feel like as the 'Mike,' I shouldn't be making mistakes like that."
Just as he did in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brown is resurrecting the Tar Heel program first with players already on campus and second by recruiting for the future. The Tar Heels are looking to sign a top-20 class in December. That recruiting acumen is already bearing fruit with what freshman quarterback Sam Howell has meant to the program. Howell signed on in December, enrolled in January and has been editing the Tar Heel record book through seven games this fall.
"We've got to be the cool place to be, we've got to have fun, we've got to have kids wanting to come to our place and join the others," Brown said. "The kids on your team are your best recruiters. I told them I want them to have the most fun of any team in college football. That's the one thing I came back for. There are not many coaches and kids having fun.
"But there's a catch: The only way you have fun is win. Have fun, be disciplined, be focused, be tough."
On Saturday at the end, it was Foster and the Hokies having fun, Brown and the Tar Heels solemnly trudging back to the locker room for a shower and then a three-and-a-half hour bus ride back to Chapel Hill. A reporter asked Brown if the energy in Lane Stadium and drama of the game reminded him of earlier skirmishes against Beamer and the Hokies. Brown reminded the guy that Virginia Tech wasn't in the ACC during his first run through the league from 1988-97. Back then, the arch-rival from north of the border was the University of Virginia, and what a war that was with Brown and George Welsh landing haymakers at one another.
The Tar Heels get the Cavaliers in two weeks. But first there's Duke, and both old rivals come to Kenan Stadium on consecutive Saturdays with sell-out crowds expected and bowl berths and the Coastal Division slot in the ACC Championship Game up for grabs.
Welcome back, Mack. The answer to the question Bud Foster posed in December is crystal clear.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (UNC '79) is in his 30th year writing "Extra Points" and 16th reporting from the sidelines for the Tar Heel Sports Network. Follow him @LeePaceTweet and email him at leepace7@gmail.com.
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