Sports Monday
Bowl Picture
Muddled by
ACC Upsets
A couple weeks ago I used this
space to talk about the ACC’s
bowl possibilities. After
Saturday, everything is up in the air.
With Wake Forest upending North
Carolina and N.C. State stunning
Florida State in Tallahassee, the post
season destinations of the ACC’s
bowl-eligible teams are in doubt.
1) Maryland: Still at the top of the
heap. With Florida State falling to the
’Pack, the
Terrapins (6-1 in
the ACC, 9-1
overall) hold first
place in their
hands and have
at least clinched
half of the ACC
Championship.
Not bad for
Ralph Friedgen’s
first year.
The Terps
have N.C. State
[JK 1
§L
RACHEL CARTER
THROWS LIKE
A GIRL
left on their plate, and should they top
the Wolfpack, the ACC’s Bowl
Championship Game, the Orange Bowl,
and the conference title goes to them.
2) Florida State: Still in contention.
Two losses in the ACC is a downright
disasterous year for the Seminoles (5-2,
6-3) but they’re still a threat to
Maryland’s Orange Bowl hopes. If the
Wolfpack defeats Maryland on
Saturday at Carter-Finley, then both the
’Noles and the Terps have two losses.
Now, here’s where is gets a little
more difficult. Florida State has two
tough games left on its schedule -
instate rival Florida at Gainesville, and
Georgia Tech. Although it’s foresee
able that the Yellow Jackets could beat
Florida State, it’s not likely. The
Gators, on the other hand, are sure to
give the Seminoles a Steve Spurrier
special -a huge, lopsided thrashing.
For Maryland to take the Orange
Bowl at this point, it would need to be
ranked five spots higher than Florida
State. Otherwise, Florida State would
get the BCS bowl because it beat
Maryland earlier in the season.
3) N.C. State: Gotta top the Terps.
Right now, the Wolfpack (4-3,6-3) is
just ahead of North Carolina because
the Tar Heels aren’t bowl eligible yet.
If N.C. State can beat Maryland, the
Peach Bowl, the No. 3 ACC bowl,
could fall to them. A representative
from the Peach Bowl has been at
UNC’s last two games - both losses -
and again the national rankings of
both teams could decide who goes to
Atlanta and who goes to Seattle.
If neither is ranked, or they’re with
in five, then UNC gets the edge
because of its Sept. 29 victory.
4) North Carolina: Win out, and
pray the Wolfpack gets bit. For UNC
(4-3,5-5), it is crucial that it wins its
last two games - otherwise all this
bowl talk is for naught. Luckily for
them, they play Duke, the definition of
a creme puff, and Southern Methodist,
also not that good. But if this week
showed anything, North Carolina has
to finish strong.
With Maryland and Florida State
likely to take the Orange and Gator
Bowl, respectively, UNC should slide
into Atlanta for New Year’s Eve.
5) Georgia Tech: Must beat Florida
State. Although the Yellowjackets
(3-3, 6-3) are already eligible, they’re
3-3 in the conference, and they’ve got
three problem games in their future:
Wake Forest, who clearly is not willing
to gently into the good night, in state
rival Georgia and Florida State.
Beating Wake and FSU is key to the
Jackets’ bowl hopes. If they manage
that, they enter die No. 3 free-for-all
for the Peach Bowl. The only thing is,
the organizers of the Peach might not
want Tech back for another year. Last
year, the team was less than thrilled to
be playing in its hometown, and that
couldn’t have sat too well with the
Peach Bowl folks. If they can’t go the
Gator Bowl - chances are, they can’t -
then Seattle would probably be the
Yellowjackets’ destination.
But that’s only if Georgia Tech beats
both Wake and FSU, and N.C. State
loses to Maryland. Those are big ifs,
but considering the way the ACC has
been going thus far, it’s not out of the
realm of possibility.
So fans, don’t buy your airline tickets
yet There’s still two weeks left to make
this season even more complicated.
Rachel Carter can be reached at
racarter@email.unc.edu.
Women's Basketball Takes Charge Early
The Tar Heels jumped out
to large halftime leads and
cruised to win their first
two games of the season.
By lan Gordon
Assistant Sports Editor
There it was, the squad finally com
plete, its game whole.
The North Carolina women’s basket
ball team pressed and trapped. It scored
in the lane and
beyond the
3-point arc.
It looked
like the team
UNC coach
Sylvia Hatchell
had praised
throughout the
Women’s
Basketball
Evansville 69
UNC 89
George Mason .. .59
UNC 77
preseason. At least in the first half.
The Tar Heels grabbed a 17-point
halftime lead before cruising to a 89-69
win against Evansville at Carmichael
Auditorium in the second round of the
2001 Preseason Women’s National
Invitational Tournament.
The victory followed a season-opening,
77-59 North Carolina win Friday night
against George Mason in the tourney’s
first round.
Deacons' Comeback Rolls Over UNC
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Wake Forest running back Tarence Williams (12) tries to break through linebacker Quincy Monk's hold.
Williams rushed for 101 yards on 29 carries and one touchdown Saturday.
Wake Offense Follows Tech's Lead, Tramples Tar Heels
By Owen A. Hassell
Assistant Sport Saturday Editor
The Wake Forest offense picked up
where Georgia Tech tailback Joe Bums
left off.
And it also left the North Carolina
defense searching, yet again, for
answers.
“I thought last week (after the
Georgia Tech loss) it would shake a lot of
guys up, but obviously it didn’t,” said
UNC defensive tackle Ryan Sims.
Bums ran straight through the Tar
Leitch's Defensive Help Boosts Men's Soccer
By Owen A. Hassell
Assistant Sport Saturday Editor
Whatever shots North Carolina goal-
keeper
Michael
Ueltschey
could not
stop, UNC
defender
Men's Soccer
USC 0
UNC I
Chris Leitch did.
In each game, North Carolina (2-0)
used extended mns at the beginning of
the first half to put away its opponents.
But all weekend, the Tar Heels struggled
to maintain their poise and offensive
flow after the break.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” Hatchell
said Sunday. “The second half, we didn’t
come out of the locker room with the
defensive intensity that we needed to,
and we let them get on a roll.”
But the first half against Evansville (1-1)
was all Nikki Teasley. The senior guard
made her first appearance as a Tar Heel in
nearly 20 months, and she didn’t disap
point. After Teasley entered the game four
minutes, one second into the half, UNC
went on a 16-0 run to take a 25-7 lead.
Teasley’s slashing moves to the basket
and pestering defense wreaked havoc on
both ends of the floor. She scored six
points and dished out five assists as the Tar
Heels built a 49-32 first-half advantage.
The rest of the Tar Heels got into the
first-half act, as well. With the smaller
Purple Aces collapsing on UNC center
Candace Sutton, guard Coretta Brown
found open looks and shot 4 of 6 from the
field en route to 10 points before halftime.
“You kind of have to decide which way
it’s going to go,” said Evansville coach
Tricia Cullop. “Once they start knocking
See WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 7
Heel defense on Nov. 1, gaining 198
yards in the Yellowjackets’ 28-21 victo
ry against the Tar Heels in Atlanta.
But unlike Georgia Tech, the Demon
Deacons’ offense used some trickery to
spark their come-from-behind 32-31
win.
Wake, which boasts the ACC’s sec
ond best rushing offense, completed two
end around mns in the third quarter for
touchdowns, the first to John Stone and
the second to Fabian Davis.
“They had run them previously but
were handing them to the back,” said
And their
efforts resulted
in a 1-0 victory
for the No. 7
Tar Heels
against No. 13
Against Former
Teammates, Testo
Steps Up Game
See Page 7
South Carolina on Friday night. It also
marked UNC’s 10th shutout of the sea
son and the 26th of Ueltschey’s career.
North Carolina coach Elmar Bolowich
said Leitch was a big part of the team’s
i
DTH/BRIAN CASSELLA
Nikki Teasley scored 12 points in her first game
back for North Carolina since 2000.
North Carolina linebacker Merceda
Perry. “We just bit down to the back too
many times, and then they handed it off
to the receiver coming around, and we
didn’t have outside containment. That
was basically it.”
The Demon Deacons finished the
game with four rushing touchdowns.
Touchdown scampers in the fourth quar
ter by tailback Tarence Williams and
quarterbackjames MacPherson sealed
the Tar Heels’ fate.
Sims said a total breakdown of defen
sive assignments in the second half led
narrow victory.
“He definitely had a great perfor
mance,” Bolowich said. “I give him a lot
of credit for being mentally strong.”
Leitch did more than provide mental
support After David Testo put UNC
(15-3, 4-2 in the ACC) ahead 1-0 in the
fourth minute, Leitch and the Tar Heels
stifled the surging Gamecocks (10-4-2)
throughout the contest with some heady
plays.
Flanagan
Takes Ist at
NCAA Meet
Sophomore runner
Shalane Flanagan (left)
won the women's race
at the NCAA Regional
meet Saturday, leading
UNC to a second-place
finish. See Page 9
UNC's Own Ace
Returns in Win
By Brad Broders
Assistant Sports Editor
It took all of nine seconds to prove she was back.
Nikki Teasley, suiting up for the North Carolina women’s
basketball team for her first regular-season game in more than
19 months, entered the Tar Heels’ game against Evansville
with 15:59 remaining in the first half.
She did not disappoint.
Just after she entered the contest to loud vocal support at
Carmichael Auditorium, Teasley already was creating. She
slashed to the hole and whipped a crisp pass to forward
Chrystal Baptist on the left side of the goal for a layup.
The dish was the first of eight the senior guard from
Washington, D.C., would make on the day. She moved into
first place on UNC’s all-time assist list in the Tar Heels’ 89-69
win against Evansville in the second round of the 2001
Preseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
Teasley narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 12
points, eight assists and eight rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
Teasley sat out Friday’s contest against George Mason
because of a violation of the NCAA’s outside competition rule
but came back strong to lead UNC to the victory.
“I wish she would have waited another day,” said
See TEASLEY, Page 9
By James Giza
Sport Saturday Editor
With a blue athletic bag slung over
his right shoulder, Darian Durant
walked out of his postgame interview
Saturday in the Kenan Football Center.
Wearing a
red button
down shirt,
blue jeans, a
gold chain
around his
Football
Wake 32
UNC 31
neck and sneakers, he had removed any
evidence that he was North Carolina’s
starting quarterback that day.
The redshirt freshman took the white
towel he was holding in his hands and
whipped it over his left shoulder before
disappearing through a side door.
“Coach,” Durant said to UNC’s John
Bunting in his office Thursday, five days
after going home after the death of his
stepmother, “life goes on.”
And so, too - if they are to keep their
postseason hopes from slipping out the
door - must it now go on for die Tar Heels.
With an 8-4 season and a Peach Bowl
invitation, at least, seemingly theirs for the
taking, they lost their nerve on defense
and squandered a 24-point halftime lead,
falling to Wake Forest 32-31 in front of
53,000 at Kenan Stadium on Saturday.
Durant, who started despite his recent
loss and having missed nearly an entire
week of practice, threw four touch
downs, three of them in the first half.
But the UNC defense, which had
vowed to make amends for its lackluster
play last week against Georgia Tech, was
to the defense’s inability to stop the run
for a second-straight week.
“The coaches put us in a position to
make tackles, but we had people missing
them,” Sims said. “And it all falls upon
us. The guys need to take responsibility
and make the plays.”
But as the second half wore on, few
plays were made by the UNC defensive
unit.
Wake converted on six of eight third
down conversions in the final 30 min
utes of play and rushed for 143 of its
final 212 yards on the ground.
In the 31st minute, the ball was head
ed into a swarm of UNC and USC play
ers. The Gamecocks’ Joey Worthen
came up with it and got open for a
one-on-one strike against Ueltschey.
As the senior goalkeeper broke to his
right in an attempt to move to the ball,
Worthen kicked it low, left and straight
into Ueltschey for the save.
On a South Carolina comer kick in the
59th minute, the Gamecocks’ Ryan Daley
INSIDE:
■ Michigan bounces
UNC out of NCAAs.
Page 9
■ Volleyball drops
match to FSU. Page 9
■ Men's basketball
wins exhibition game.
Page 9
left searching for answers after surren
dering 235 total yards in the second half.
Bunting called it “perhaps the most
complete collapse I’ve ever been around.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that
before in my life,” Bunting said. “And
I’m absolutely shocked by it. There are
absolutely no excuses.”
His players didn’t try to make any,
either.
“I don’t know what to say because
this is the second week in a row that the
defense hasn’t really played well,” said
linebacker Quincy Monk. “It’s just
tough to take right now.”
With the loss, the Tar Heels’ postsea
son hopes got a bit more complicated.
“This really throws it up in the air,” said
Peach Bowl representative Bob Hovater,
who attended die game. “It was probably
clearer before this game than it is now.”
Still, UNC (5-5,4-3 in the ACC) can
put itself in line for the Peach Bowl with
a win against Duke and a N.C. State loss
to Maryland. A Wolfpack victory could
drop the Tar Heels to a Seattle Bowl bid.
“We just lost a lot of things we were
playing for,” said defensive tackle Ryan
Sims. “A January bowl, we just lost that
We have to, basically, play to get in a bowl
now. We’re scrapping to get in a bowl.”
For pointers on scrappy play, the Tar
Heels need only watch the second half
Wake Forest (5-4,3-4) played Saturday.
Trailing 24-0 at intermission, the
Demon Deacons began churning out
long drives that wore down UNC’s
defense and kept its offense off the field.
See FOOTBALL, Page 7
“We’re supposed to have a good
defense, and we weren’t able to find a
way to stop the ran,” said UNC line
backer Quincy Monk. “They were able
to find gaps in the defense and find holes.
They executed well in the second half.”
Wake Forest free safety Quintin
Williams said the offensive line was
ready for the challenge of making up a
31-7 deficit.
“It was like we suited up 11 different
guys,” Williams said. “They came out
See OFFENSE, Page 9
kept the ball away from UNC and found
an opening on the far left side of the goal.
But when Daley made a strike, Leitch was
on it, knocking it away on the goal line to
keep USC scoreless.
“I read the guy, and I saw him look at
the left side," Leitch said. “I was about to
put my hands up, to be honest. Good
thing he hit it low, and I was able to stick
See MEN'S SOCCER, Page 9
12