Nov. 11, 2002

The following is an excerpt from Lee Pace's latest edition of Extra Points. To read more about the Clemson game, click here.

By Lee Pace

Fourteen seniors left Kenan Stadium Saturday with their sixth home loss of the season and no chances left to erase bitter memories of the 2002 season.

Asked about watching those kids end their careers without a win at home, John Bunting said simply: "It's about as tough as it gets. It's really, really bad. I don't know how to describe it any worse than that. Maybe you guys can come up with other words. I don't know how to say it other than it's worse than I've ever felt."

Kevin Knight felt the same way. The senior cornerback was in pure agony in the interview area after the game.

"I can't explain how I feel," he said. "I'm hurting bad right now. It's very frustrating for me."

Across the room, receiver Sam Aiken was the proud new owner of Carolina's single-season receptions record. With eight catches against Clemson, he has 58 this year and breaks the mark of 55 set by Na Brown in 1997 and 1998. He's only 88 yards shy of Octavus Barnes' single-season receiving yards standard of 970 set in 1995.

But Aiken was not thinking of individual glory on Saturday.

"I'd do anything not to set the records and get the victory," he said.

Aiken, Knight and Malcolm Stewart were three seniors who were among five true freshmen to play off of the 1999 recruiting class, the first one signed by Carl Torbush and staff a year after taking over from Mack Brown. Tailback Daniel Davis played that year but was booted from the team for disciplinary reasons, and Jeb Terry played as well on the defensive line. He was red-shirted in 2000 following an ankle injury and then moved to offensive line.

Knight had what Bunting termed the best individual performances on defense Saturday, notching six solo tackles, two assists and nailing Clemson QB Charlie Whitehurst on a first-quarter safety. Knight and DeFonte Coleman also stuffed Clemson on a second-quarter fourth-and-one.

"We had a lot of momentum and made some big plays in the first half," Knight said. "I don't know -- we just couldn't hang onto it."

Aiken was a big part of the Carolina offense Saturday, receiving short, medium and long passes from a variety of formations. He'll continue to be the most consistent threat the Tar Heels have in their last two games of the year.

"Sam is a great player, and he's got to be a big part of our game plan," QB C.J. Stephens said. "He's such a great weapon. We've got to get the ball in his hands. He can do great things once he gets it. We're lucky to have Sam on our team and we need to keep looking for opportunities to get him the ball."

Bunting says that if the Heels had a roster full of players as talented, dedicated and mature as Aiken, they'd not be mired in a 2-8 season this year.

"Sam's a special player," Bunting said. "I saw last year how he worked in practice, how he worked in the strength and conditioning program. This year he's taken it to a different level. He's never, ever satisfied. He's an extremely motivated football player. I think he's got a lot of football left to play."

Unfortunately, Aiken took his eye off a third-and-five pass late in the first half, dropped the football and the Heels had to punt to Clemson, giving the Tigers possession for a late-half touchdown and valuable momentum.

"I tried to make a move without securing the ball first," Aiken said. "It was a mental mistake on my part. If I'd made that catch they wouldn't have the opportunity to go down and score. It would be a first down and we'd still be driving."