Sept. 3, 2002
Fans know it is simply coaches' talk.
After all, they hear it all the time.
It is a coach's way of not building up his star players too soon.
"To have a chance, we must avoid turnovers and have a solid kicking game."
It's been said so many times every season that it's nothing but a cliché
to fans. Coaches often add "be sound defensively", but it's the turnovers and kicking game they always emphasize.
Any Carolina fans who still feel that's "coaches' talk" can also be talked into believing the Tar Heel women's soccer program is on the decline.
It was, of course, nine turnovers that led to Carolina's season-opening
27-21 loss to Miami last Saturday. Not since the 1930's has a Tar Heel team committed that many turnovers in a game.
Six fumbles were lost and three passes were intercepted as the season opened on an extremely disappointing note.
"I've never seen anything like it," said Coach John Bunting. "We did not give ourselves a good chance to win the football game.
"I don't know when I've ever been so upset, so furious about a game. I don't want to take anything from the Miami players and coaches. Maybe they would have won anyway. But, our performance was embarrassing."
A steady and sometimes heavy rain fell throughout the game. But, the Redhawks had to play in the same conditions and only lost the ball twice on turnovers.
A pair of UNC giveaways inside its own 20 led directly to Miami touchdowns.
Carolina was operating from a shotgun formation at its own 20 in the second quarter. Center Jason Brown snapped the ball when quarterback Darian Durant was not expecting it and it bounced off his chest. Miami recovered
and scored in five plays on a pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Michael Larkin.
A third-quarter interception was perhaps the most costly turnover of the day.
On their second possession of the second half the Redhawks drove from
their own 16 to the Carolina four before turning the ball over on downs. This was a 17-play drive that took 8:57 off the clock.
This Miami drive featured one of the day's brightest moments for Carolina.
The Redhawks ran six plays inside the UNC seven and had a
first-and-goal at the one without scoring. Strong safety Dexter Reid had a big hit on first down at the one to get the give new life to the defense. He then shot through to drop tailback Luke Clemens in the Miami backfield on fourth down.
But, on Carolina's third offensive play after that big defensive stand
came another error. Under heavy pressure in the end zone and about to be
dropped for a safety, Durant had a pass picked off by defensive back Milt Bowen at the 20. The Redhawks scored in five plays against the exhausted UNC
defense.
The turnovers simply kept the young Carolina defense on the field much
too long. They allowed Miami to dominate the time of possession 38:17 to
21:43. In the second half the defense had to play for 21:30, while the offense controlled the ball just 8:30. Even without the visitors' drive of 8:57, Miami had the ball longer than the Tar Heels.
Of Carolina's 15 offensive series, 10 lasted five plays or less and another was just six. The Redhawks converted nine of 20 third down plays, while the Tar Heels were just three of 10 on third down and did not make any of its third down plays in the entire second half.
Now the question becomes whether this first game marks the beginning of
a disastrous season. Considering the difficulty of Carolina's schedule it's
a shuddering thought. The Tar Heels still must play two of the top five
teams in the nation, Texas and Florida State. In addition there are game at Syracuse
and Arizona State and the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference teams, who always seem to be at their best against the Tar Heels.
However, Carolina has opened other seasons with games decided by errors
and bounced back to have good years. The Charlie Justice Era did not have a
wonderful start in 1946. The Tar Heels threw an interception and lost four fumbles. Virginia Tech returned a blocked punt in the fourth quarter for its
second touchdown in a disappointing 14-14 tie. Carolina finished 8-2-1, losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Carolina rolled up 402 yards of offense, but lost four fumbles in a 20-9
loss to Syracuse in 1995. UNC led 9-3, until a fumbles led to a to a fourth-quarter touchdown. The Orangemen added 10 more points for a 20-9 win. Carolina finished 7-4 in the regular season before losing to Texas in the Sun Bowl.
Five turnovers and horrible field position allowed Oklahoma to grab a 31-7 lead at halftime of last season's opener at Norman. The Tar Heels played better in the second half in a 41-27 loss. Bunting's team rallied for a 7-5 finish, including a Peach Bowl win over Auburn.
The fact Carolina only lost 27-21 last Saturday despite all the mistakes
is reason to believe this team has enough talent to still have a good season. Carolina compiled 447 yard, while Miami had 379. But, the Redhawks ran 89 offensive plays to 74 for UNC. That included twice as many running plays, 56-28. Miami's ability to run the ball that many times helped control the clock.
"It's a tribute to our players and coaches that they never gave up," said Bunting. "It's amazing we actually had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds. We can build on that."
Another "coaches' cliché" is that teams make their most improvement of the season between their first and second games. It's the feeling that teams have their base offense, defense and kicking game set at that time and the opener points out small areas that need to be ironed out or changed.
But, it will be unfair to do that with the Tar Heels this year. The plethora of turnovers against Miami kept coaches from getting a true idea of how their team will play under normal conditions.
The game with Syracuse will have to serve as the opener in that respect in what can still be a good season.
