Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 11, 1987, edition 1 / Page 16
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8Football '87 Friday, September 11, 1987 Mice By JAMES SUROWIECKI Shorts Editor Somehow, it would seem more fitting if Mark Maye had grown up somewhere in the Midwest, on the kind of farm where during the summer the wheat fields blowing in the wind resembled a sea of .golden waves, and where during the winter the children had to , trudge miles . through the snow to get to school. His home should have been the kind of place no one had ever heard of until he catapulted it into national prominence by virtue of his arm, as golden in its way as the wheat fields were in theirs. But Maye didn't grow up on a small plot of land in the Midwest, and he didn't suddenly burst upon the scene in one blaze of greatness. Instead, he played high school football in the burgeoning metropolis of Charlotte, N.C., and never got a chance to surprise anyone with his. talent. Everyone has always known who Mark Maye is. They knew him when he called signals for Charlotte Independence in 1982 and led his team to a 9-2 record. Maye's numbers promised greatness. In two years at quarterback, he completed 257 of 491 passes for 4,400 yards and 36 touchdowns. He also broke the plane of the goal 21 times on his own. and averaged 40.4 yards a punt as a senior. In two separate games his final year at Independence, against West Mec klenburg and South Mecklenburg, Maye threw for . over 450 yards to spark last-second, one-point victo ries. So it wasn't just that he could throw. He knew what it was like to win. ' Following his senior campaign, Maye was inundated with awards. Needless to say, he was also inun dated with recruiting offers. But Maye decided to hold the state banner high and go to Chapel Hill. "AH along and deep down, I always wantedto come to UNC," Maye said. "I thought it was a big-time college program.. It really had all the things that I wanted." ' There is always, in Maye's tone. Goad moves onitside, By CLAY HODGES Staff Writer It is only fitting that Tim Goad and Reuben Davis play their final year in Carolina blue opposite each other on the defensive line. The two outstanding tackles have staked a claim to be the standard by which future Tar Heel defensive linemen will be judged. This year, with a new defensive coordinator and defensive alignment, the pair should continue the tradition. The Tar Heel defense, now under Marc Dove, will switch to a "50" scheme from last year's eight-man front. The realignment will streng then the unit's pass defense and put added pressure on the opponent's quarterback. "This defense is better than the eight-man front," Goad said. "Last year's defense was geared to the run. and our pass defense slacked off." The transition to a new coach is never an easy one, but Goad and company have made the best of the new approach. Goad characterizes the new defense as more aggressive and attacking than last year's. Con sidering the comparison is made to a defensive unit that allowed 30 or . more points in seven of its last eight carrle's! any difference' would 'seem t6 v -. , . : :'. r. .V' i Iff .. i: S ::.:ov M wvj J:- Iff v- - "' ' . -o Senior QB Mark Maye is the unquestionable leader of UNC's offense a note of self-condescension. Blessed with enormous talent and acclaimed since high school as a potential program-saving player, he refuses to accept the plaudits that are due him. Maye will never be an All-American hero in the true sense of the phrase. Americans like their heroes with a slight dash of arrogance in the mix. And if he did not have that bode well. The 50 alignment will feature Goad . and Davis at right and left tackles respectively, and the pair will be an integral factor in keeping the oppo nent's passing game off-balance. The unassuming Goad, however, doesn't see it that way. "I don't see myself as a key, the whole defense is the key. We-are more of a team unit this year," Goad said. Maintaining defensive intensity will be an important key for the front line this season, especially coming off a year during which their inability to rush the passer helped opposing offenses wreak havoc in the UNC secondary. "We're going to have to maintain the pass rush throughout the season," Goad said. "Last year we relaxed sometime on the pass rush. This year we have to consistently maintain the pressure." Davis and Goad, along with senior hose-guard Carlton Bailey, are more than familiar with the concept of a team unit. The linemen have played with one another for three years, and in 1987, as Goad admits, the trio have an instinct for each other on the field. i have played with them (Davis ando Bailey), for .three, years, (and wjet sense1 'one .iahotnerout. thcre, said. 11 ,- v arrogance after he graduated from Independence, Maye will never have to worry about it. He is undeniably humble. He seems extraordinarily nice. He is also unaccountably nervous when talking to reporters, and speaks ' with ; a stammer that becomes more noticeable as more people crowd around him. For his first three years in Chapel off ttoe iiose for Ms senior year V Tim Goad Goad, and added,It really helps out a lot." Standing in Davis' way, though, and marring this pretty portrait of an all-senior line, is sophomore Cecil Gray, who started and played well in Saturday's game against Illinois, rpavis haJ een slowed ,.3, rninpr kneb jinjiry,and GraV responded with' . Hill, the reporters who crowded around him weren't interested in how many passes he had completed, or how many interceptions he had thrown. That is because, except for a very limited stint in 1984, Maye did not play for UNC. Redshirted in 1983, he stood on the sidelines fo.r the next two seasons, biding his time waiting for his shoulder to heal. And in the meantime, that's all the media cared about: his shoulder. What had happened was that the arm Maye had used to riddle oppos ing secondaries had put undue stress on bis shoulder and nearly worn it out. That is to say, Maye's arm was the arm of a natural. His shoulder was not. After the 1984 season, Maye underwent shoulder surgery and was unsure whether he could throw again. That year of uncertainty clearly made him wary of trusting his own talent too much, clearly contributed to his hesitancy in talking about himself. ; But when last fall arrived, Maye was ready to throw again. Weaker than he had been, perhaps, but ready to feel the laces underneath his fingers and the chewed-up turf underneath his cleats. Maye sat on the bench behind Jon Hall for five games before Hall went down with an injury against Wake Forest. The rest is best left to the bards, for they are the singers of epics. Maye hit 25 of 33 passes for 3 1 1 yards in his first start, against archrival N.C. State. In two of the next five games he set passing records. UNC went to a bowl game for the first time since 1983. So Maye has confronted the omni present specter of injury and defeated it. That, and his personality, make it impossible to wish him ill. "With all the adversity he's had," UNC coach Dick Crum said, I think every guy on the team is cheering for him to do well. He's come out from under enough trouble for 20 guys." The most interesting question is . whether the adversity has made Maye a better quarterback. Watching him, it is difficult to imagine him barking a tremendous preseason, that left coach Dick Crum raving about the Chesapeake, Virginia, native. "We thought he had good ability and when Reuben got banged up, it gave him a chance," Crum said of Gray. "Watching the films, he just jumped out at us." Davis, who stands 6-4 and 270, has a lot to regain in 1987, including most obviously his starting position. After winning All-ACC honors as a sopho more, he was sidelined in 1986 on several occasions with a series of nagging injuries. Although he had to contend with limited action in games against LSU and Clemson, he still finished as the team's seventh leading tackier. Before the season began, Davis seemed headed for a campaign that could have earned him recogni tion as one of the premier defensive linemen in college football. But Gray has thrown the proverbial monkey wrench into those works. In contrast to Davis, Goad, also' 6-4 and 270, comes off a consistent season for the Tar Heels, and is the most solid fixture of the UNC defense. In 1986, he was voted All ACC, started every game of the season and was the fourth leading klwit total hits . is,be,st garaagst .signals and leading a team by the force of his personality. But appar ently he does just that. Talent can often speak louder than words. ' "Mark's really a special guy," tailback Torin Dorn said. "He just takes ; control out there. He's the engineer of the offense. If Mark's going well, we're going well." The media coverage Maye receives seems to have no negative effects, except perhaps in his own mind. Maye's primary receiver, wide-out Eric Lewis, welcomes the press. "We respect Mark in every phase of the game," Lewis said. "He's getting us a lot of publicity. If they think of Mark as a great quarterback, then the other team is going to be more intimidated." Maye, though a senior, is in reality but a sophomore. He has played so little for UNC that it took him a while to feel at home in the huddle. With more experience, though, he acquired more a leadership role. "It feels good having Mark in there at quarterback," guard Pat Crowley said. "He's doing a real good job. He's really confident in the huddle. Last year, he was nervous at first, but as each game went along, he was more at ease and he knew he'd been there before." For Maye, part of feeling at ease is knowing that he alone does not define the UNC offense, even if his press clippings often read like that is the case. And so maybe his mediocre ' performance against Illinois in the senior opener, when Maye completed just six of 12 passes for 93 yards and the Tar Heels still scored 34 points, will help him down the road. . "So much had been written about how he had to carry the team offensively," Crum said, "and he didn't have a particularly good game and we still had enough weapons to score." Down the road, though, Maye needs to have particularly good games. He needs to be great. For nothing less than greatness is accep table from a natural. Even if he didn't grow up on a farm. he had five solo tackles and 1 1 overall. He was voted ACC defensive lineman of the week for that performance. Nor did Goad sit on his laurels. His work in spring practice won him the William Fuller Award as the spring's most physical defensive lineman. Gifted with good quickness for a man of his size, as well as his tremendous strength, Goad can impose himself on opposing offenses. .The UNC schedule in 1987 is one of the nation's most difficult. While the Illinois victory was impressive, Auburn, Clemson, and this week's visit to Oklahoma still loom. When asked to look down the road at the . future opponents, Goad politely refused. "We take each game one at a time," he said. "We definitely have a tougher schedule this year, but I think it will only help later in the season when we get into our conference schedule. A team is only as good as its competition." Goad's priorities appear to be in order, and according to him, so too are those of the entire defensive unit. Wc will be more successful this year," Goad said. "The mental part is all together. We're like a family out therev" And pgrMps .the family that . : v thinks together wins together: -1" V
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 11, 1987, edition 1
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