Carolina vs. Texas prediction
September 12, 2002

Raleigh__  Sometimes players, coaches and fans need a little bulletin board material.  Well, someone should print a couple of posts from the Longhorn Internet message boards and hand it to John "the Beast" Bunting.  The Texas Longhorn fans are giving us a gold mine!

All kidding aside, the Heels will get all the motivation they need from the Beast and his staff.  Our coaches are doing a great job of teaching our young team and gradually bringing them up to speed with some controlled aggression.  This Saturday could be the game where the dogs are unleashed.

John Bunting himself has admitted that Carolina doesn't have the talent level across the board that resides in Austin.  But the Beast and staff can coach.  From last year I can vividly remember some "big game" coaching - 41 - 9 over FSU and 38 - 3 at Clemson.

Talking about "big game" coaching, let me get the side note out of the way.  To me it wasn't the fact that Brown left.  It was how he left.  The night before his announcement of taking the Texas job, he told his Carolina players that they were family, he loved them, and he wasn't leaving.  The next day his players were devastated and some were in tears.  That was the act of a low-life opportunist.  That could have been handled much better.  It was how he left.  I will neither applaud nor boo him Saturday.

Now I focus on the game.  And the Heels must... must bring their A-game!  Anything less will amount to a loss.  But I can see a way to get a huge upset victory over the Horns.

We've been reading about our growing-up defense... the no-names because of all the new starters.  This game is their chance to claim some fame and move to capital letters with that moniker.  They will be known as THE No Name Defense.

On our young defense, I can tell our front 7 are quick learners and well coached.  They seem to cover their assignments well and are swarming more quickly to the ball.  They need to get off the blocks a little quicker.  This will be their 3rd game.  If they can't get Simms' attention early, we'll have a long day.  They'll need several forced turnovers and/or interceptions to keep us in the game.  As I've read, Texas will have an adjusted starting offensive line.  Can their first game talent in Kenan match up with our third game experience?

I hope we've learned to kick away from their kick returner, Nathan Vasher.  He will hurt people taking it to the house. On our returns, we're averaging something like 1.1 yards.  I'd almost rather see a fair catch than risk a fumbled return attempt.  Our special teams must pick it up a notch and give good field position or the Horns will have us playing catch-up early.  We still don't know if Orner can kick on grass.  Syracuse was his first game and on carpet.  If he can, we'll need 12 to15 points from him to be competitive.

Our offense can move the ball.  We had a chance to win our first game during the last minute even with nine turnovers.  The first half at Syracuse we were still sloppy.  But Durant and Co. got on a roll during the second half.  Jason Brown is a man and has answered the bell.  The offensive line is showing steady improvement.  And the whole offense is due a 60 minute game.  Minus butter-fingers and if they bring an A-game, we should be very close at the end. Our wide receivers vs. their corner backs will say a lot.

Are the Longhorn "over-hyped" as some of their fans may wonder?  To me, not on talent.  A better question may be how well they can jell as a team-in-sync and on the road.  Are the Heels better than demonstrated so far?  I can see subtle, but steady, improvements in all facets.  If they can focus for 60 minutes, the Horns may well have their hands full.  I'm expecting a hard fought game.

Darian Durant on this Saturday's crowd:  "The big crowd is something that we feel we need to beat this team.  A lot of people call their crowd the 12th man.  Hopefully inside Kenan on Saturday our crowd can the the 12th man to help us."

Remember last year... FSU game... 41 - 9!  I'll never forget how deafening it was when everyone started banging plastic cups on the back of the metal seats.  It worked.  FSU was rattled and the Heels were pumped.  That's being a 12th Man!  And wear Carolina blue.  That's being a 12th Man!  Our new slogan should be "Blue out, and Bang!"   Pass the word.

Believe it or not, I think the game will be won if the Carolina 12th Man shows up.  So, I'm going out on a limb and say the Tar Heel Nation will be in Kenan ready to go.  Call me crazy and color me Carolina blue, Carolina 33 - Texas 27.

CarolinaFan.com    E-mail Ram Man