Sept. 15, 2002

By Woody Durham, The Voice of the Tar Heels

Saturday night's final was 52-21. That's the most points Carolina has ever given up in Kenan Stadium, but Mack Brown's victorious Longhorns are a national championship contender, and their talent level is similar to Florida State. That's something the Tar Heels knew going into the game. Yet John Bunting thought his players competed and actually had a chance to win the game in the final 15 minutes. In fact, Bunting, his coaches and players would like to play the game again.

"We had a great day on offense," said Bunting after reviewing the game tape. "We could have even had more points. Our offensive line played the best it's played since I've been here. I'm really thrilled with that. We ran the football. We threw the football, but we didn't get enough opportunities, and we lost momentum several times because they were able to make big scores against us."

Texas, with 223 yards of total offense in the decisive fourth quarter, outgained Carolina 569 to 343, but the UNC head coach thought his defense gave the visitors a lot of yards. "They had a scheme or two that we knew about and practiced against during the week, but our players didn't hold up. Between 17 missed tackles and some other missed assignments we gave them over 200 yards of gift yardage. You can't do that and win a big ballgame."

Yet Bunting gave some credit to opposing quarterback Chris Simms even though he didn't throw for 50%. "He threw some deep balls against our blitz, and they made some plays. Roy Williams had a great day."

A year ago in Austin, Williams had only four catches for 38 yards, but Saturday night he grabbed five of Simms' 14 completions for 136 yards and two scores. "He got a deep one on us," Bunting pointed out, "and he also took a couple of quick hitches and made us look kind of silly." Bunting constantly tells his secondary that it has to expect the other team to make catches, but it has to be able to tackle the catch. "In order to be a complete player you've got to be able to make those open field tackles."

Michael "Rabbit" Waddell, who had the coverage of Williams for a second straight year, made a bad judgement decision on a punt return which was one of three turnovers for Carolina, but he did average 10.5 yards on four returns. "We set up a new return on the first one, and we nearly took it to the house," explained Bunting. "On the second one, if Michael had just been a bit more patient and come back across the field I don't know how far that one might have gone. It might have also gone to the house."

That ball was kicked into the boundary along the Texas sideline, and Waddell made a decision to stay there. The game tape showed he needed to come back across the field and get to his blockers.

Two other bad decisions were made when Darian Durant threw a couple of interceptions in the endzone. "Those possessions could have been either touchdowns or field goals," the head coach reflected. "Both of the plays came on second down, and I told him we have to live for another down. If it's not there don't force it. He's been coached on that and he knows he made a mistake. Otherwise, he played a doggone good football game."

The sophomore quarterback went 12-for-23 for 158 yards, and also ran 12 times for 74 yards, which was the best rushing effort of his career. "That's unusual," Bunting admitted. "I don't think he ever ran it more than four or five times last year. He showed us what he can do if he wants to do it, and it's a tribute to the way he has approached this season."

Yes, Bunting would like to play Saturday night's game again. That's one of the many things you like about him. Yet he knows that's impossible, but he promises Carolina will be better for having played Texas.