FSU, N.C. State Wins Change UNC's Season

The Tar Heels, sitting at 0-3 and 0-1 in the ACC a short time ago, looked like they needed a miracle to salvage their season.

They answered their own prayers, pushing aside the garnet of Florida State and now the red of N.C. State. In doing so, they might have cleared a path to the conference promised land.

"I'm happy about the way the guys have progressed and hung in there and hung tough through some real tough times," said UNC coach John Bunting.

With the wins, North Carolina (2-3, 2-1 in the ACC) landed itself in the conference race, a place that seemed unthinkable just a week and a half ago and for the last two seasons.

September was a strange month for UNC and the ACC.

It began with UNC's fears realized in its 23-7 loss at Maryland between beatings at Oklahoma and Texas. Then terrorist attacks postponed the Southern Methodist game, leaving the team winless for another week with the Seminoles up next.

Not only that, but previously unquestioned senior starter Ronald Curry, admittedly not performing up to par, found himself in the middle of a QB controversy with a redshirt-freshman.

Hope seemed to fade by the day. Players and coaches maintained publicly that they still believed, no matter how dire the circumstances. But after a while those comments started to seem like programmed sound bites.

Few outside the team had faith Sept. 22 when Florida State came to town. It's amazing how a 41-9 upset changes attitudes.

And changes a season.

"We've maintained some high confidence," said wideout Kory Bailey, who caught two touchdown passes against the Wolfpack. "We played well at times in those three losses. But it was big for us to come in and get our second ACC win. It puts us at 2-1, right in the thick of things."

The ACC picture, in comparison to recent history, has had a lot of strange twists to it, as well. It started with FSU's loss in Chapel Hill and Clemson's defeat at Virginia the same day.

Former UNC coach Carl Torbush used to say the ACC was a toss up after FSU. This year there are even fewer restrictions.

Clemson downed Georgia Tech and Wake Forest scored 24 points against the Seminoles on Saturday. Maryland and Virginia are the only teams without an ACC loss. UNC is tied with FSU for third.

And Bunting already has won the two biggest games he could have.

"We're going to enjoy this win because it's an intrastate rival, they're a good football program, it was a big game for us -- it was an ACC game," Bunting said. "I told everybody when I took this job that's what I wanted to do; I wanted to win in the ACC first. I'm not sure if I expected to be 2-1 at this point, but we are."

With their heads high and chests out, the Tar Heels now await East Carolina and UVa. The prospect of heading to Clemson 4-3 and 3-1 in the ACC is a real one. Bunting and his players said they believe the lessons learned during the 0-3 start have made that possible.

The win against the Wolfpack also marked the Tar Heels' first road victory and the start of a winning streak. That streak will likely come to an end, but UNC's season no longer seems over.

"Sky high. Our confidence is sky high," Durant said. "To come in here and be able to win this game on the road, that's a straight confidence booster there."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.