Oct. 6, 2008

by Lee Pace, Extra Points

So now this is getting fun again.

Ten Septembers ago, Carolina's football team was ranked No. 12 in the nation. The RedHawks of Miami (Ohio) came to Chapel Hill for Carl Torbush's first game as head coach, popped a stunner on the Tar Heels and left town with a 13-10 victory. Since Sept. 5, 1998, the Heels have played exactly one game ranked among the Top 25 teams in the land--that in 2001 after pounding Clemson on the road and peaking at No. 22 prior to a Thursday night game at Georgia Tech. The air was a bit light up there, however, and a 28-21 loss dropped the Heels back into the proletariat.

The decade has been scandalous, for sure, for an institution with the resources, attractions and heritage of Carolina. The Heels went to the Sugar Bowl when Truman was President, won the ACC when Nixon was President, finished ranked fourth in the country when Clinton was President. We know how to win football games in Chapel Hill. Yet we'd forgotten over the last 10 years.

Hope sprang eternal each August, certainly, that a sterling recruiting class, a sharp new coordinator, the maturation of the incumbent head coach, some ballyhooed transfer or an eye of newt and tongue of dog properly boiled would do the trick and put the Heels back in their rightful place among the elite in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But by the first week of most Octobers, Carolina was already saddled with three losses or more and the clichéd "Wait `till basketball season" mantra was coursing through conversations statewide.

Long gone were the memories of Kelvin Bryant shredding some paper-mache defense from Virginia and the band striking up Another One Bites The Dust. Reduced to rubble in the archives were visions of Dre Bly pilfering another ill-fated aerial from some poor clod masquerading as quarterback for the opposition. And did Mack Brown really tell ABC amid the frenzy of the Georgia Tech win in 1992, "I'm proud that big-time football is back in Chapel Hill"?

What goes around comes back around--eventually. The Tar Heels are slowly, surely, methodically rounding the bend from oblivion to respectability. Indeed, this is getting fun.

Carolina bounced No. 23 ranked Connecticut 38-12 Saturday night in a vibrant environment in Kenan Stadium and a day later found itself listed 22nd in the Associated Press poll. The Heels are 4-1 and now entertain Notre Dame Saturday in Kenan Stadium in a game not matched for hype and anticipation since the Florida State game of 1997. The 26-point margin over UConn was the biggest by the Tar Heels against a ranked squad since a 38-3 win at Clemson in 2001--the very same win that last propelled them into the national rankings.

Butch Davis wants nothing to do with any revelry over rankings given that there are seven games left on the schedule. "I don't think they give any trophies for where you're ranked after week five," Davis says.

He's right, of course, but these five games do reflect a positive trajectory for the program in Davis's second year at Carolina.

"This team is headed in the right direction," quarterback Cam Sexton says. "All the pieces are in place. Last year we were just feeling each other out. But we did not come here to win four games. We're not where we want to be. The only thing we have to do as a team is to remain focused. I think this team has a lot of potential, and the leadership needs to keep us focused."

Three blocked punts ... three more pass interceptions, including one by a 300-pound tackle and returned for a score ... a stout defensive effort against the nation's top runner ... the continued evolution of a dynamic talent at tailback ... a mature and resolute reaction to an odd in-game stoppage of play because of lighting malfunctions ... all were elements to this win.

The script varied, however, from the norm of 2008 in that big plays from Brandon Tate in the return and passing game were not part of the equation; in fact, a 31-yard pass to Hakeem Nicks from Sexton was the biggest play through the air. Tate's imprint on the game came in a circuitous route: So worried about his lethal punt return ability was the UConn staff that it coached punter Desi Cullen into a series of intricately aimed kicks away from Tate. That process slowed Cullen's operation time enough to allow Bruce Carter to shave one kick and then cleanly smack down two more.

"There have been a number of different guys in different areas that have stepped up and played well at a given point in time," Davis says. "There is a sense on our team that if you chip away and keep hanging in there, something good is going to happen."

Hanging around was exactly what the Tar Heels knew they'd have to do against the Huskies, whose modus operandi is to hand and pass the ball to Donald Brown, their well-cut and intelligent tailback, and let him power and scat to his average of 181 yards a game. Offensive coordinator John Shoop predicted a short game with fewer possessions due to the Huskies' ball-control mentality. He placed the onus on Sexton, now the starter following his strong performance against Miami in the wake of T.J. Yates' injury, to lead the offense by making good decisions and getting the ball to the receivers and a varied array of tailbacks that increasingly features sophomore Shaun Draughn (109 yards Saturday).

"Our offense is good enough," Shoop says. "We have enough playmakers. If you just think like a point guard, `I'm just going to distribute the ball,' you'll be fine. Don't think you have to do anything special. What Cam is feeling is a little of what T.J. felt. `I'm just a point guard. I'm going to let Worthy finish. I'm going to let Malone finish. It's not about me.'"

The Huskies ran 35 more offensive plays, earned 10 more first downs, gained 115 more total yards and had possession of the ball for 13 more minutes than Carolina. Still, Carolina kept Brown in check, limiting him to 63 yards in the first half. For the game, Brown netted 161 yards, but 40 of those came on one snap in the fourth quarter when the outcome was no longer in doubt. And the Heels totally flummoxed quarterback Zach Frazer, notching seven QB hurries, seven pass break-ups and picking off three throws for a season total of 12 interceptions, tops in the nation.

"We had the nation's leading rusher coming in here, and I think we did a pretty good job with him," said Marvin Austin, who benefitted from E.J. Wilson's largesse in the third quarter. Wilson slung Frazer around on a pass rush and Frazer, instead of eating the ball, launched a wounded duck that Austin grabbed and hauled to the goal line. So excited was Austin--"It was a dream come true," he said--that it looked as if he started his celebratory ball spike before he crossed the goal.

"Marvin, we're going to start timing you guys with hour glasses after that run," Davis joked in the locker room afterward.

Indeed, football season is fun again.

When it was over, the Tar Heels stretched across the goal line on the west side in a line two and three players deep. They swayed to and fro as the band played Hark the Sound and woofed and cackled into the dozen sections of The Tar Pit student lair that was still packed and electric.

"Seeing my folks up in the stands, seeing all the students cheering for us, it was a special moment," senior Mark Paschal said. "We've been right there on the brink. Now we're kind of reaping some rewards. We've got a long way to go--eight games. Yeah, this is fun. Football is always fun, but it's a lot more fun now. And it's going to be fun to come in tomorrow."

(Notice he said eight, not seven as in the number of regular season games left).

"That's one of the memories I'll never forget, for sure," Sexton added. "To beat a team like that in dominating fashion was special. The student section was still packed, and singing the alma mater in that atmosphere was great. They feed off us and we feed off them."

Sexton paused, smiled and nodded his head.

"Football is fun again. Definitely, it's fun again."

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.