Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 8, 1990, edition 1 / Page 12
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Miami 20 San Francisco 24 Pittsburgh , 36 Detroit 34 Cincinnati 34 mpll N.Y.Jets 16 Houston 21 San Diego 14 Minnesota 27 LA Rams (OT) 31 PlfflfiUftllllSllll Atlanta 28 Dallas 14 Indianapolis 23 Seattle 33 Chicago 27 ii jvuuujcuiuu New Orleans 27 Tampa Bay ,10- Kansas City 19 New England 20 Green Bay" 13 Golf squad putts to Duke Invitational crown, pg. 7 rn rm fflw v n ie eod jBtffle tike Meanss Offensive surge leads UNC to win By BOBBY McCROSKEY Staff Writer WINSTON-SALEM Many Wake Forest fans came to Groves Stadium Saturday night to see an offensive dis play. Unfortunately for them, the wrong offense showed up. Quarterbacks Todd Burnett and Chuckie Burnette, along with freshman tailback Natrone Means, jump-started a struggling North Carolina offense, leading the Tar Heels to their highest yardage total (469) since 1 989's season opener against VMI. Burnett, a junior, finally lived up to his potential, delivering the best game of a Tar Heel career that has seen many ups and downs, mostly the latter. Burnett completed 17 passes on 23 attempts for 254 yards, all career marks for the 6-foot, 1 95-pounder from Burke, Va. He threw for only one touchdown but no interceptions. UNC's total of 300 yards through the air was the most since 1987, when Mark Maye and the Tar Heels racked up 409 aerial yards in a 30-23 victory over Georgia Tech. "Todd Burnett played so well to night," UNC head coach Mack Brown said. "He played so much better tonight than he's been able to play since the Connecticut game." The junior field general led the team not only with his play on the field but his confidence off it. "Putting pressure on myself doesn't help me perform any better," Burnett said. "I felt, and our offense felt, that if we would just execute and play the way we knew we could play, then we could break out after halftime and score some points." Burnett went out of the game in the fourth quarter after hitting his elbow on the helmet of Deacon defensive back Tony Hollis as Hollis sacked him. When Burnett admitted he had trouble gripping the football, Brown tapped Chuckie Burnette to replace the injured starter. "I told Chuckie he's got nothing to fear," Burnett said, "because I know how it is to go into games like that, especially at this point of the season. And I know how tough it is I didn't want him to worry or feel like he had a lot of weight on his shoulders." The younger Burnette then promptly tossed a 46-yard pass to Bucky Brooks, setting up the Tar Heels' winning touchdown. Even Brown admitted he was surprised Burnette responded so well. "Chuckie was improving up until the South Carolina game, then he sprained his ankle," Brown said. "We would have played him before this, but a quarterback with a sprained ankle can't work. We decided we weren't being effective enough in the passing game, so we needed to get Chuckie well and relieve some of the pressure off Todd. "Chuckie came in tonight and acted like he'd been out there a hundred times. That's the first time that young man has been out there under pressure since the Duke game last year, and he was tre mendous. I'm really happy for Chuckie Burnette after all the tough times he had last year." Overall, Brown said he was pleased with the offensive production against the Demon Deacons. "The thing that was different tonight is that when we threw the first three or four, we completed them," Brown said. "When we were running the ball, we were blocking people and making yards. I'm not sure if we would have had to punt if we hadn't turned it over. (Turnovers) were our big problem. "When your offensive line is domi nating and your quarterback is hitting his receivers, it makes your play selec tion easy." Burnett said the key to his success against Wake Forest was staying re laxed. "This is the most relaxed I have felt in a long time," Burnett said. "I always felt I was a step away. I haven't turned the corner yet. With winning this one battle, you can't say you've won the war." Of course, it didn't hurt matters any that Means was trying to be the latest in a long tradition of great running backs to come out of UNC. On the ground. Means garnered 134 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. In addition, the freshman phenom from Harrisburg hooked up with Burnett for a 72-yard See OFFENSE, page 7 Oss' l I ) V f'j ; 1 Freshman Natrone Means rambles Men's soccer Biaked 1-0 by By DOUG McCURRY Staff Writer DURHAM "This was the worst game I've seen in ACC soccer this year." Coach Elmar Bolowich's appraisal of UNC's 1 -0 loss to Duke was far from complimentary. And rightly so. Duke dominated play throughout the game, out-shooting the Tar Heels 1 8-4. Blue Devil striker Chris Yankee beat North Carolina goalie Watson Jennison at the 1 5:55 mark of the first half with a left-footed blast for the game's lone goal. The loss drops the Tar Heels to 8-4 on the season. More importantly, it lowers their conference mark to 1-3. UNC avenges Upset, trounces UNH, By ROBERT BROWN Staff Writer The top-ranked Tar Heel field hockey team suffered its second loss of the season Saturday, falling 3-2 to Mary land, and then bounced back to crush New Hampshire 5-2 in a Sunday after noon contest. After the Tar Heels were stunned by the No. 8 Terps Saturday, head coach Karen Shelton and her squad were grateful for a chance to redeem them selves Sunday against the Wildcats. "We were thankful to have the op portunity to play again today," Shelton said. "We wanted to improve." The win pushed UNC to 10-2 on the season. New Hampshire fell to 7-2-3. Sunday, the Tar Heels jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first half. The opening period was an erratic one, with the action continually shifting from end to end between the two squads. Midfielder Laurel Hershey, who led the Tar Heels with two goals and an assist, put UNC on top 1 -0 with 23:02 to play. Amy Cox had driven up the left side of the goal, and when her deflected shot landed in front of Hershey, the senior slapped the ball in for the score. With just over 15 minutes to play in 12The Dally Tar HeelMonday, October 8, 1930 for some of his 134 yards in the Tar Duke extended its winning streak to four games, upping its record to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC. Because of the loss, UNC is probably out of contention for an elusive NCAA tournament bid, something second-year coach Bolowich desperately desires. Bolowich wants to vindicate himself after last year, a disappointing season in which the Tar Heels went 9-9-1 overall and 1-4-1 in conference play. "Basically, today we had a technical breakdown," Bolowich said. "Usually, we have players there that I expect to do well in their positions because they have done that consistently. Today we had four or five players that just did not do it. Maybe it's too much to handle." It could be too much for this young the half, New Hampshire threatened to even the contest when the Wildcats had back-to-back penalty corners. UNC goalkeeper Peggy Storrar knocked away the first shot, then deflected a follow shot. The Tar Heels then broke up the second penalty corner before New Hampshire had a chance to get a shot off. UNC went up 2-0 with 10:58 left in the half when senior forward Peggy Anthon, positioned just to the right of the goal, tapped in a pass by Hershey. New Hampshire scored its only goal of the half five minutes later to cut the UNC lead to 2-1. Tracy Hayes maneu vered down the field between Tar Heel defenders and passed off to Laurie Geromini, who drove to the left of the goal and shot. Her deflected shot was knocked in by junior midfielder Brenda Canning. UNC came out more relaxed in the second half and was much more suc cessful in keeping the action at its end of the field. The Tar Heels put the game away in the second half when they all but shut down the New Hampshire of fense. UNC outshot the Wildcats 16-5 See HOCKEY, page 7 5-2 Yackety YackG. Thacker Heels' dramatic 31-24 win Saturday team, but the loss certainly does not alleviate any of the pressure. North Carolina currently ranks third in the Southern Region, behind only N.C. State ranked third in the country and Clemson, the nation's sixth ranked team. Duke is ranked seventh in the South. The loss will certainly cause UNC to slip out of the top three or four in the regional rankings, a drop which is much more significant than it might appear. The NCAA normally invites only three teams from the South to the tour nament. With UNC out of the top three, the only way the team could qualify is to win the ACC tournament. Judging by their 1-3 conference record, the Tar Heels would be hard pressed to win the UNC's Stephanie Walsh (left) battles ! 1 II , I I a, - f i ' I .... mi '.: if , . w A ILj'f . il w j L. .-imJ , - " - 0t0mK It f - J ( J yf$zs' -1 -f A I i.M.fM,,,, k.i IMC wkm 4th Tailback, both QBs direct 31-24 comeback victory By BOBBY McCROSKEY Staff Writer WINSTON-SALEM North Carolina finally found the Means to an end Saturday night. The UNC offense utilized career high efforts from freshman tailback Natrone Means and junior quarterback Todd Burnett, while the Tar Heel de fense shut out a potent Wake Forest attack in the second half en route to a 31-24 come-from-behind victory over the Demon Deacons in Groves Stadium. UNC improved to 4-2, 1-1 in the ACC, while Wake dropped to 2-3 and 0-2 in the conference. The win was the first road victory for UNC head coach Mack Brown since he took over the program in 1988. "I couldn't be more pleased with the effort and the courage of this football team tonight," Brown said. 'To be down early in the second half, to have five turnovers in a span of five minutes and to come back and fight through that adversity makes me very proud of them." Wake Forest head coach Bill Dooley had a different reaction. "I was very disappointed with the loss tonight," Dooley said. "I thought our football players played well enough to win the ballgame tonight, but you just can't expect to allow 30 points on the scoreboard and win the ballgame." As usual, the defense kept the Tar Heels in Saturday's contest with its superb play. Led by the linebacking corps of Tommy Thigpen, Jonathan Perry, Dwight Hollier and Eric Gash, the Tar Heel defense turned in a tre mendous second-half performance af ter giving up all 24 Wake Forest points in the first half. But the biggest surprise came in the form of the Burnett(e)s, Todd and Chuckie. The elder Burnett shook off last week's disappointing performance against N.C. State and delivered 254 yards on 17 completions in 23 attempts, both career highs for the junior from Burke, Va. His completion percentage of 73.9 was the highest for UNC since mnranked Devils Nov. 4 Duke-hosted tourney. Until then, UNC will anxiously await the return of leading goal-scorer Derek Missimo, who suffered a knee injury during Wednesday's 4-1 victory over Radford and sat out Saturday's contest. "Derek usually attracts attention and is marked up by two guys," Bolowich said. "I wouldn't put it all on him. We have enough talented players... There was absolutely no leadership, and it showed." With the exception of midfielder Marco Ferruzzi, backs Tom O'Connor and Richard Wachsman, and a handful of other Tar Heels, the team looked lethargic. Ferruzzi worked to distribute the ball to a lackluster offense, and O'Connor and Wachsman did their best New Hampshires' Jean Courtney for Scott Stankavage went 17-21 in a 1983 game. The quarterbacks helped the UNC offense pile up its hightest total yardage since last season's opener against VMI. "I'm really happy for the team," B urnett said. "A lot of good th ings came out of this game. I think this is the best our offense has clicked in a long time." B umett 's confidence and poise under pressure inspired the Tar Heels when things looked bleak in the opening half. "When we were down 14-3, the character of this team is to not let the pressure build up," Burnett said. "You don't even look at the score. You just go out and execute." However, an elbow injury late in the fourth quarter made it difficult for Burnett to grip the football. At this point, the Tar Heels were tied with the Deacons at 24 and trying to engineer a drive that would give them their first ACC victory in 13 tries since a 1988 win over Georgia Tech in Chapel Hill. Enter the other Burnette, the often embattled sophomore who was just re covering from a sprained ankle. After Means was dropped for a 2-yard loss, Burnette hit a wide-open Bucky Brooks down the left sideline for a 46-yard gain to set up a first-and-goal for UNC at the Wake 7-yard line. Means leaped over the goal line three plays later from 3 yards out to cap the five-play, 5 1 -yard scoring drive and put the Tar Heels ahead for good. Clint Gwaltney, who has never missed an extra-point attempt in his three years at UNC, spl it the uprights to end the scoring with UNC leading 3 1-24. "(Leaping into the end zone) seemed like the best way to get in there," Means said. "I was going to try to go over the linebacker, but he submarined under the blocking back, so I just went over the top." Means proved to be the catalyst that the UNC offense has sorely needed this season. Besides gaining 134 yards on See FOOTBALL, page 7 to hold together a very porous Tar Heel defense. Duke constantly sent strikers through this defense on penetrating runs. UNC was only saved by a somewhat effective offsides trap and the goalkeeping of Jennison. Duke's goal resulted from a breakdown in UNC's marking defense. The Blue Devils had several more opportunities that they did not capital ize on. Yankee failed to score on a one-on-one chance against Jennison early in the second half. Minutes later, he missed an easy shot after Jennison had whiffed a punt. UNC's best scoring chance came with 25:00 remaining in the second half. Freshman Brent Walker lofted a shot from point-blank range over the goal. DTHGrant Halverson the ball in the Tar Heels' 5-2 victory
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 8, 1990, edition 1
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