2003 UNC Preseaon Myths

Every year, ACC fans are subjected to the same tired diatribe from Carolina fans about the upcoming football season. Here’s a breakdown of the most commonly overheard myths associated with the Carolina football “program”…


Myth #10: Our team will be better because our players are a year older and therefore a year better.

Truth: This, at an absolutely basic level, is not untrue. It’s simple-minded and a gross overstatement, but not untrue. Repetition will make any player better – that’s why seniors beat out freshmen for playing time. Carolina fans tend to forget that while their players were going through offseason drills and intense strength & conditioning…SURPRISE!…so was every other team in the nation. Ultimately, it’s still the same marginal talent that will be going against superior teams that have progressed, as a whole, at roughly the same rate. Apparently Carolina fans think they have the only team that does anything over the summer.

Myth #9: Our recruiting class will provide instant help.

Truth: This might be true at some of the offense skill positions – given that the top two receivers are gone and the backfield is full of indecisive and unspeedy running backs. The freshman receivers might be able to get separation from their coverage…too bad Durant will be already be on his back or scrambling for yet another 3 yard pickup. But you have to be a little worried when freshmen linebackers – competing for time at one of the toughest positions on the field – might be called upon for significant minutes. Good for the future, maybe, but not too good for now. Hey, on the bright side, the freshmen can’t be any worse than the vets.

Myth #8: Our football smarts can overcome the other teams’ speed and athleticism.

Truth: Uh, no. Just because Ohio State beat a speedier Miami doesn’t mean Carolina can suddenly compete with the Florida States of the world. Doug Justice can be the smartest player in America (and we’re talking in extremely hypothetical terms here), but brains won’t help him catch that running back that just blew past him. Slow is slow and it can’t be outcoached (and hey, even if it could, we’re talking about Bunting…).

Myth #7: Kenan will be rocking in the home opener.

Truth: Kenan will be rocking in the home opener…for about the first 5 minutes of the game. Don’t you think Florida State will remember what happened two years ago, when they came to Kenan a bit complacent and cocky? Dexter Reid, meet Greg Jones. Hope you have a lot of Icy Hot on hand.

Myth #6: There’s nothing wrong with the free safety being the leading tackler on our team…

Truth: …If “we’re” playing intramural flag football. A free safety’s job is to make the play after everyone else misses (thus the origin of the name, “safety”). This position leading in tackles means, quite frankly, that the guys in front of him didn’t get the job done.

Myth #5: 2004 will be our year.

Truth: Have you bothered looking at the depth chart? The few reasonably dependable players outside of Durant (Terry, Blizzard, Waddell, Reid) are seniors this year. Think 2002 – a decent quarterback with nothing much around him, a lot of whining about inexperience and having to play freshmen. Throw in Miami and Virginia Tech, and Carolina’s upside is scratching and clawing for 5th place, maybe. Savor that Peach Bowl Win from 2001, Heels, it’s the closest you’ll get to a decent bowl game for a long time.


Myth #4: Durant will be Offensive Player of the Year – look at what he did last year!

Truth: Sure, let’s look at what he did last year. He almost single-handedly blew a cupcake game against Miami of OH. He managed to pull out a game against a very weak Syracuse game. His shining moment came against Arizona State, where he threw 5 TD passes but also threw 2 INTs. Over the course of his injury-shortened season, he threw 18 TDs…But he also threw 9 INTs and put the ball on the ground at least 7 times, not counting a LOT of fumbled center exchanges. Bottom line? An 18:16 TD to Turnover ratio. That’s around 1.13. Think about it.

Myth #3: We can move the ball anybody.

Truth: That’s great, you just can’t score on anybody. Last time I checked, yards don’t tally up in the win loss column, points do. #1 in Passing Offense last year (266.6 yards per game) and dead last in Rushing Offense (102.5 yards per game), for a total of 369.1 yards per game, netted only 18.6 points per game. Let’s think about that for a second. Let’s say the drives began around the 30-yard line (on average). That means Carolina’s offense drove that seventy-yard distance to the goal over five times per game (5.27, to be exact), and yet were not even able to score three touchdowns (2.66). [As a comparison, NC State drove that same 70-yard distance 5.6 times, and scored an average of 4.7 touchdowns.] This is affirmed by Carolina being next to last in Red Zone Offense, edging out Duke, whose percentage was lower, but still managed to get into the Red Zone eight more times in the same number of games.

Myth #2: Our running game will be much better this year.

Truth: Based on what? A Rutgers transfer with a history of injury who’s overweight and will probably shift to fullback? An undersized SEC reject with only one 100-yard game in 16 career starts? Yeah, it sounds like they’ll fit right in with Lewis and Parker. Fortunately, they’ll be running behind exactly the same line that could neither run or pass block last year, allowing a league-worst 46 sacks and tallying only 102 rushing yards per game. Yeah, the future looks bright…for opposing teams.

Myth #1: We have the talent to play with anyone.

Truth: You have the talent to play anyone, you just don’t have the talent to beat anyone. A 3-9 season kind of speaks for itself. If there’s so much talent, then the coaching must be pretty horrible. The smattering of talent that Carolina purports to have had little cohesion in 2002, and even less heart when it came time to step up and play hard. Much like the basketball team, look for the 2003 team to be all about individual achievements and stats, the only solace to be found in yet another pitiful campaign.

 

another myth...UNCC football

 

LowPointFortyWiner talks bout the Heels because he doesn't have a life and no football team too pull for either.

You'll have too wait for basketball season jackass, oh wait, UNCC sucks in basketball too.

Guess you're fucked.

 

no, sucks is going 8-20. We don't suck.

 

:applause: :applause: :applause: :xyzthumbs :xyzthumbs

 

Hmmm, UNC always wanting to be the biggest. How about that "world's largest ram statue" in front of the stadium dedicated this week by the Belk family? Already there are at least 2 stautes in the world proven to be larger than this one.

But then if Dick Baddour had anything to do with it I can understand the mix up.

 

The world's largest ram?

 

Scotland ram

 

So what is your defintiion for 13-16?

 

Prick teasing?