Sports
Preview
10The Daily Tar HeelFriday, September 1, 1989
(Good
ba3 news for U
Improved defense,
recruiting hope to
carry weak offense
By DAVE GLENN
Sports Editor
Put UNC head coach Mack Brown
in a desert, and he'll find a way to
make a living selling umbrellas.
And that is a very good sign for a
down-but-not-out North Carolina
football program.
The Tar Heels, coming off one of
their worst
seasons in
history, face an
uphill battle again
in 1989. But,
somehow, coach
salesman
psychologist
Brown managed
to convince an
ultra-talented
group of
freshmen to come
to a 1-10 team
with great hopes
and expectations.
There is
certainly no talk
in Chapel Hill of
a conference
championship or
a bowl game. A
winning record?
Possible, but
unlikely. But
don't say it too loudly.
Brown sticks to a more basic
approach. t4The number one thing we
have to do is get our players to have a
better self-image and gain
confidence," Brown said. "Once we
put ourselves in a position to win a
close game, we have to have what it
takes to go ahead and win it. A lot of
that simply comes with confidence."
A lot of that confidence began to
take root during an intense off-season
conditioning program under the
tutelage of Athletic Fitness Director
Rich Tuten, a name spoken more and
more often in all UNC athletic circles.
Tuten, in his second year at UNC, has
helped produce an improved
t
-" .
Mack Brown
combination of speed and strength
evident on the practice field in the
spring and summer months.
Add that to the new and improved
schedule which replaces
Oklahoma and Auburn with VMI and
Navy in the first four weeks of the
season and the Tar Heels seem
well along the road to respectability.
ur course,
glaring problems
certainly exist.
Start with a
defense that-gave
up the most points
in the history of
North Carolina
football. Add in
the departure of
tailback Kennard
Martin (see
accompanying
story), who led the
ACC in rushing a
year ago, and a
serious lack of
depth and
experience at all
positions, and you
have quite a
different scenario.
Suddenly, 1-10
seems a realistic
possibility once
again.
But Mack Brown has a plan, just as
he did at Tulane five years ago, when
his team went from 1-10 to 4-7 to the
Independence Bowl in his first three
years. However, this one is quite a bit
different.
From the originator of the powerful
"Mack Attack" offense at LSU, where
Brown was offensive coordinator in
1982, comes a faster, stronger Tar
Heel defense as the building block of
a restructured program.
Yes, this is much of the same
defensive unit that gave up almost
400 points a year ago. But there are
some new faces, some experienced
faces and some faces from the other
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DTHDavid Surowiecki
Mack Brown hopes that his restructured defense will have the speed it takes to arrive with hits like this more often in 1989
side of the ball.
Welcome ex-tailbacks Reggie
Clark and Torin Dorn to the defensive
backfield. Move impressive
sophomore Doxie Jordan to free
safety, his natural position, and throw
in the steady, experienced hand of
senior Clarence Carter and you have
quite a foursome. How well they
work together remains to be seen, but
the talent is there, something that
could not be said a year ago.
The Tar Heels' defensive front
seven is confronted with the job of
stopping the run between the tackles,
a task too tough for last year's
personnel, and putting some pressure
on the passer. Enter Brown's magic
wand once again.
The Tar Heels' second-year head
coach shifted sophomore tackle Roy
Barker to nose guard in the spring, a
move that enabled a bulked-up
Dennis Tripp to move back outside to
tackle. At the other tackle is a
slimmed-down version of
manmountain Cecil Gray, a popular
preseason pick for All-ACC honors.
The ripple effect of the moves on
the shallow front line enabled 6-1,
245-pound Willie Joe Walker to move
to linebacker in a further effort to stop
the run. But the bulk of that job will
fall to the Tar Heels' leading tacklers
a year ago, inside linebackers Dwight
Hollier and Bernard Timmons.
Hollier was possibly the best
freshman linebacker in the country
last year, and Timmons is fully
recovered from off-season knee
problems. Senior John Reed, junior
Don Millen and sophomore Eric Gash
will also see time in the second line of
defense, perhaps the only area of the
team where UNC can go two deep at
each position with confidence.
Last year, a horrendous defense
made anything produced by an
average Tar Heel offense a moot
point. This year, the roles may be
reversed.
Problems abound for Brown almost
everywhere on the offensive side of
the ball. All-America candidate Pat
Crowley, a 6-3, 283-pound senior at
right guard, is an island of
consistency amidst a sea of disarray.
Without Martin at tailback, the
See FOOTBALL, page 11
Book fomaDly cDoe on Mwtm's UNC career
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1 988 ACC rushing leader
won't wait out suspension
By JAMIE ROSENBERG
Assistant Sports Editor
North Carolina football coach
Mack Brown finally lost patience
with Kennard Martin this summer.
Now, Martin has lost patience with
UNC.
Martin, last year's ACC rushing
leader as a sophomore tailback for the
Tar Heels, has decided not to return to
Chapel Hill after being suspended for
the 1989 season by Brown in July for
what Brown called "continued
academic inconsistencies."
Martin racked up 1,146 yards and
11 touchdowns in 1988 and was one
of the few bright spots in an
otherwise dismal 1-10 season. But the
Winston-Salem native said in a
telephone interview with the
Charlotte Observer earlier this week
that he plans to take classes at High
Point College this fall while
attempting to transfer to another
Division I-A school for the spring
semester.
"I'd J'.e to transfer somewhere,
anywhere really, so I can play football
again next season," Martin said. I"I
don't have any particular school in
mind yet. I haven't talked to any
(schools) yet, but I will try pretty
soon." '-
Martin's troubles started on April
27, when Brown suspended him
indefinitely after he was arrested and
charged with breaking and entering
and larceny for alledgedly stealing
nine textbooks from a room in
Ehringhaus Residence Hall.
See MARTIN, page 15
DTM Picks of the Week
Everything is right again in Blue
Heaven. Classes aren't far enough
along that you can't go out and blow
off homework, the womenfolk are
still wearing flimsy summer outfits
and the Daily Tar Heel is back to
normal after a surprisingly auspicious
summer under the tutelage of Dave
(Was there ever any doubt?) Glenn.
Most importantly, it's time once
again for the premier of the world
famous DTH Football Picks of the
Week. Tune in this summer and
match wits with Dave, Andy (God I
really, really wish I was in
Wilmington) Podolsky, Jay (Unpaid,
underappreciated, but not forgotten)
Reed and Jamie (Dude I like, don't
surf, that's soooo bogus. Surf's up
dude) Rosenberg.
Mike (no, he no longer deserves a
nickname now that he works in
Durham) Berardino won the title last
year, so Glenn decided to honor the
departed one by creating the
Berardino Trophy, which, of course,
goes to this year's champion. After
all, Mike likes ACDC, too.
Glenn, who copped the title two
years ago, is the early favorite among
bettors in his final year with the DTH.
This is also Podolsky's last chance at
a title before he graduates. He'll be
trying to shake off the effects of last
fall's dismal choke finish. It's Reed's
last time around too, while
Rosenberg, the lone underclassman
on the panel, will try to dis' his eldets
by kicking their proverbial butts
(word). News flash: the Irish beat Vd.
A few notes: It's quickly
approaching 4 a.m. (no kidding), and
we need to add one mote
prognosticator to our panel of experts.
The call goes out for John Bland, he
of Less Filling fame, to fill the space.
Sorry we woke you up, Marlon. Tell
Bambi and Roxanne we said hello.
Without further ado, although this
week's games are rather weak, let the
mudslinging begin ...
DTHDavid Surowiecki
Like Derrek Fenner, Kennard Martin left the Tar Heels with an unexpected void in the backfield
Virginia at Notre Dame (TH)
Maryland at N.C. State
Duke at South Carolina
Furman at Clemson
LSU at Texas A&M
So. Miss, at Florida St.
Texas at Colorado
Southern Cal at Illinois
Stanford at Arizona
Dave
Glenn
ND
NCSU
use
Clem.
LSU
FSU
Colo.
use
Ariz.
Andy
Podolsky
ND
NCSU
use
Clem.
LSU
FSU
Colo.
use
Ariz.
Jay
Reed
UVa.
NCSU
use
Clem.
LSU
FSU
Colo.
III.
Stan.
Jamie
Rosenberg
ND
NCSU
use
Clem.
A&M
FSU
Colo.
use
Stan.
John
Bland
ND
NCSU
use
Clem.
LSU
FSU
Colo.
use
Ariz.