Situation's Not Fair to UNC's QBs

t wasn't the first time.

Unfortunately, it probably won't be the last time, either.

After Darian Durant moved the ball just seven yards in his first two series against East Carolina on Saturday, North Carolina coach John Bunting, offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill or whoever makes the Tar Heels' offensive decisions decided to put Durant in for his third set of downs in a row.

The move bucked the two-series-at-a-time trend the UNC coaches had used with the team's quarterback combination of Durant and Ronald Curry.

It also would lead to a new, possibly repeatable low for Curry, the much-maligned senior from Hampton, Va.

With the Tar Heels trailing East Carolina 10-0 and starting at their own 11-yard line, Durant went on to lead his team to its longest touchdown drive this season.

Things were looking up for UNC. The fans were hyped. Momentum was starting to shift back to the North Carolina side. After the Tar Heels' defense forced a three-and-out, the offense took the field once again.

But when the fans realized that Curry, and not Durant, had come out to start the ensuing drive, boos rained down from every cloudy corner of Kenan Stadium.

On a day in which he would break UNC's career yardage record and have his own record for most touchdown passes as a freshman broken by Durant, the once-acclaimed Curry heard loud and clear the disgust of the Chapel Hill crowd.

"Now I know I'm about to leave, and I feel like I did accomplish some things here -- maybe not what everybody expected, but some things -- and just to be booed is kind of heartbreaking," Curry said.

That Bunting put Curry -- and Durant, for that matter -- in that situation in the first place is just wrong.

After the game, Bunting seemed to forget that he brought in Curry after Durant led his team to pay dirt.

"Any time we feel like somebody has a real hot hand," Bunting said, "we'll probably stick with that guy."

Apparently, moving the ball 89 yards doesn't constitute having a hot hand.

Bunting had to know the increasingly anti-Curry crowd would jeer Curry after Durant got the team, and the so-called Kenan faithful, back into the game against ECU.

And by replacing Durant with Curry, Bunting did both players a disservice.

Durant deserved to stay in the game. Sure, he failed to move the ball early, but he picked apart the Pirates' secondary on the scoring drive, completing all four of his passes for 69 yards and a touchdown.

By putting Curry back on the field following Durant's success, Bunting fed into the endless comparisons between Curry and Durant, seemingly saying, "Okay, Ronald, let's see you do that."

After re-entering the ECU game and hearing the boo birds, Curry's first pass, intended for Chesley Borders, was nearly intercepted by Anthony Adams.

The boos grew louder.

Curry would later throw a touchdown pass on another near-interception, but it wouldn't erase the memory of the hostile home crowd -- one that Bunting later said he thought was booing him. It was a weak postgame attempt to deflect criticism from Curry.

If Bunting continues to give equal playing time to Curry and Durant without regard to their performance, he might end up with a frustrated Durant and a depressed Curry, not to mention several more losses.

Unhappy quarterbacks usually aren't effective quarterbacks, as Curry proves every day.

All John Bunting has to do follow his own policy and consistently play the best quarterback, whether it be Curry or Durant.

If he doesn't, the ire of Kenan Stadium might really be aimed at the sideline and not the man under center.

Ian Gordon can be reached at

igordon@email.unc.edu.