Bunting leads team to Tire Bowl berth

It took six wins, a bowl berth, and arguably the biggest victory in North Carolina football history, but John Bunting proved he was the man for the job.

Rumors of a coaching change haunted Bunting for most of the season, but after UNC beat Duke on Nov. 22 to secure its first bowl berth since 2001, Chancellor James Moeser announced he would recommend that the coach’s contract be extended by two years.

Bunting is now under contract through 2010.

“We believe in this man. We believe in this program,” Moeser said. “It’s headed in the right direction, and we’re going to be competitive at the very highest level. I’m extremely proud of John and his staff and his team. It really represents Carolina at its best.”

Four games into the season, few could have pictured such a happy finish.

The Tar Heels started 2-2, but the wins against Division 1-AA William & Mary and mediocre Georgia Tech were offset by embarrassing blowouts against Virginia and Louisville.

The Cardinals especially humiliated UNC, handing the Tar Heels a 34-0 loss at Kenan Stadium that put Bunting’s job in serious jeopardy.

But a last-second victory against hated rival N.C. State on Oct. 9 was a sign of things to come for the Tar Heels. North Carolina’s much-maligned defense stopped Wolfpack running back T.A. McLendon on the one-yard line to secure the win.

McLendon had seemingly scored on the previous play, but the initial touchdown was overruled when the referees conferred and the points were taken off the scoreboard, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Freshman defensive lineman Khalif Mitchell forced McLendon to fumble on the next play, preserving the 30-24 win.

“I wanted (McLendon) all night, and I didn’t get a chance to hit him all night,” Mitchell said. “And I was like, ‘If I get my hands on him, I’m going to go get him.’”

The Tar Heels were on the road to improvement, and the dramatic win proved to be only a stepping stone.

“(The players) are a very resilient group,” said Bunting after the N.C. State game. “Are we the best football team? Are we even an average football team right now? Probably not. But we certainly try hard, and we might get better. We might surprise some people.”

UNC certainly surprised many college football fans three weeks later when it humbled then-No. 4 Miami. Freshman Connor Barth’s game-winning field goal soared through goalposts that fell seconds later as the jubilant crowd stormed the field.

The game was an intense battle, and the Tar Heels set the tone in the opening minutes.

On the fourth play of the game, UNC sent Mike Mason — making his first start of the season — down the left sideline against All-America candidate Antrel Rolle. Mason out-leapt Rolle to reel in the game’s first score.

The message was simple. Despite the Hurricanes’ gaudy ranking, undefeated record and seemingly vast edge in talent, the Tar Heels would not be intimidated.

“Our guys are as equally or better than their guys, bottom line,” said sophomore wide receiver Jesse Holley.

“We had to come out there and show them, ‘We’re not afraid of you.’ ... We wanted to come out first and we wanted to say, ‘Listen, we’re as tough as them, and we can play with them.’”

The UNC defense, which had struggled against the run all season, held Miami’s ground attack to 77 yards on 23 carries.

“My hat’s off to North Carolina,” said Miami coach Larry Coker. “They outplayed us overall tonight, and they deserved to win this football game. We win as a team and lose as a team, and that’s the case for us tonight.”

And with the win, which effectively ended Miami’s national title dreams, the Tar Heels sent a message to the college football world.

“Tell Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Mark May, all the ESPN staff, because I was watching the (Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech) game Thursday night, and they said that we didn’t have a chance,” Holley shouted.

“They can all break that pencil in three and chew on it because we went out there and beat the (No. 4) team in the country when everybody said we couldn’t.”

In the home finale one week later, the Tar Heels came a field goal short of defeating ACC champion Virginia Tech, but rallied to win their final two games on the road against Wake Forest and Duke.

The victory in Durham brought a berth in the Continental Tire Bowl, where UNC fell to Boston College to finish the season at 6-6.

But the loss could not dampen the spirits of a team that defied the odds and finished tied for third in the ACC.

UNC’s success earned Bunting an extension and high praise from senior center Jason Brown, the team’s outspoken leader.

“We owe it to that man,” said Brown. “He bleeds Carolina blue, and we have no bigger fan than Coach Bunting. We truly owe it to him, and we love him.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.