Heels sparkle in the limelight
Oct 13, 2008
A retro theme was struck in Chapel Hill on Saturday evening, echoing the last visit by a Notre Dame football team back in the days of disco. Fans did the wave. Bill Dooley, coach of the Tar Heels for that game in 1975, watched from the press box. There was even a young quarterback named Montana on the Irish roster.
But there were important differences this time around. While eventual Hall of Famer Joe Montana rallied the Irish to victory in his debut 33 years ago, his son, Nate, a freshman walk-on, was not included on the travel roster for the trip to North Carolina. Instead, the quarterback who rallied his team to a win was UNC’s Cameron Sexton, who scored the decisive touchdown on a 4-yard rollout with 14:55 remaining in a 29-24 victory.
“You can ask me 100 times, I don’t have any words for it,” Sexton said of his pleasure with the win, along with a measure of redeption for an inconsequential outing at South Bend in 2006. “I can’t describe it. I’m so happy. I’m so happy for us. I’m so happy for our fans, the coaches.” Sexton reportedly ran off the field at game's end shouting, "Are we having fun yet?"
Recent mediocrity notwithstanding, the Fighting Irish brought an undeniable touch of stardom to Kenan Stadium. Visits from programs of Notre Dame’s stature are rare in these parts. In sharp contrast with basketball, football’s big boys rarely visit the Triangle – this was just the fifth appearance by a premier program in the past 20 years. Ohio State played at N.C. State in 2004, part of a home-and-home series. Texas came to Chapel Hill in 2002, returning a 2001 visit by North Carolina. Alabama came calling at Carter-Finley Stadium in 1996 (and will apparently play at Duke in 2010.) That’s all, folks.
To his credit, North Carolina’s Butch Davis acknowledged the obvious, departing from the usual, blandly inoffensive all-teams-are-created-equal coaching line to celebrate the victory, at least in passing. “Beating Notre Dame is a huge win, let’s not kid ourselves,” he said. “It’s a nice win for our football program, but it’s still halfway through the season. We didn’t set out, our goal at the beginning of the season wasn’t to win five games.”
Maybe not, but winning five games in six outings is quite a start, particularly for a program that won only four times last season and lost T.J. Yates, its starting quarterback, to injury in a defeat against Virginia Tech on September 20.
As usual, North Carolina’s formula for success was persistent, error-free offense and a resilient, opportunistic defense. The defense made the game’s key play, an interception on the first snap from scrimmage of the second half. Linebacker Quan Sturdivant simply stepped in front of a Notre Dame receiver to pick off a pass from quarterback Jimmy Clausen, and rumbled 32 yards for a touchdown.
Just like that, a 17-9 halftime deficit was reduced to a point, and the pressure was on the Irish. “Despite the X’s and O’s, you need an inspirational play, something good to happen,” said Davis, noting that Sturdivant’s interception “electrified the whole team.”
Clausen operated comfortably throughout the first half. He was rarely rushed as the Heels dropped seven and eight men into pass coverage, allowing repeated short passes and runs as the Irish built their halftime edge. Clausen drove his team up and down the field in the second half too, but produced a single score. The sophomore was sacked three times in the half, and harassed into a pair of interceptions and a fumble caused and recovered by defensive tackle Aleric Mullins. The product of East Wake High School stripped the ball from Clausen's hand on a pass attempt and fell on it late in the third quarter.
Clausen finished with a career-high 383 passing yards on 48 attempts, along with a pair of touchdowns. He also mounted a desperation drive in the game’s final seconds that petered out at the UNC 7-yard line, where receiver Michael Floyd’s fumble – Davis thought it was a failed lateral – was recovered by Carolina with three seconds to go.
The Big East officiating crew chased the celebrating Heels off the field, then studied the replays long and hard before reaching a verdict that left Davis relieved and his counterpart, Charlie Weis, fuming. “It’s a bitter ending, but it is what it is,” Weis said after the call on the field was upheld, dropping his team to 4-2. “I thought that (the official) had called him down, but it really doesn’t make a difference what I thought.”
What mattered was that the Heels, ranked by the Associated Press for the first time since 2001, solidified their standing as one of the nation’s more pleasant surprises. A surprise, anyway, to those not paying attention to the depth of talent assembled by Davis and John Bunting, his fired predecessor.
North Carolina continues to develop new strengths, most recently the shifty, nifty running of tailback Shaun Draughn, a converted safety who rushed for 91 yards on 17 carries against Notre Dame. “He’s just a playmaker,” said admiring teammate Hakeem Nicks, who contributed nine receptions for 141 yards. Draughn repeatedly tore off significant yardage, bolstering the effectiveness of the play-action passing game, which Sexton executed to the tune of 18 completions on 32 attempts for 201 yards and no interceptions.
North Carolina’s ability to find players like Sexton and Draughn within its ranks may again be sorely test. Brandon Tate, UNC’s game-changing kick returner and receiver, set the NCAA record for combined career kick return yardage two weeks ago at Miami. In the first quarter against Notre Dame, he suffered a knee injury that may prove serious.
“Let’s be honest,” Davis said. “We’re not where we want to be. We’re really not. We’re still a work in progress.” Perhaps. But the mark of a good team is its ability to adjust to changed circumstances, whether in a game or across a season. And, with six contests left, a team already a win shy of securing its first bowl berth since 2004 is surely a good team.
