Hurricanes look to avert another Carolina upset bid

Posted 5:32PM on Friday 6th October 2006 ( 18 years ago )

MIAMI - Brandon Meriweather sees the reminder every day. It's a photo of North Carolina fans celebrating moments after the Tar Heels stunned Meriweather and Miami 31-28 on a last-second field goal two years ago. They tore the goal posts down at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill that night, as Meriweather could only stand and stare in stunned silence. ``You never forget a loss,'' said Meriweather, one of Miami's star defensive backs. ``I still remember losses I had in Pop Warner football. I kept the picture of that loss we had up there. It's always going to be a big motivator for us. And it will be this week.'' The Hurricanes narrowly avoided falling victim to another Carolina upset last season, rallying from 16-7 down at the Orange Bowl to win 34-16. They will host the Tar Heels again Saturday when both teams will seek their first Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the season. On paper, it's probably a mismatch in Miami's favor. Then again, so were the 2004 and 2005 games, so no one in the Hurricanes' camp is expecting anything to come easily in this one especially considering Miami's struggles in the season's first four weeks. ``It's another team that we're not going to take lightly,'' Miami quarterback Kyle Wright said. ``As an offense, we want to go out and be efficient. We've got three games coming up that we should win before going into some of the bigger games on our schedule. Not saying that by looking past these teams, but it's definitely a time where we can keep our confidence going and kind of get some momentum going.'' Miami (2-2, 0-1) eked out a 14-13 win over Houston last week, and faces North Carolina, Florida International and Duke over the next three weeks. Combined record of those teams: 1-12. So, barring any huge upset, the Hurricanes should be 5-2 heading into critical tests against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. But North Carolina (1-3, 0-2) has a penchant for playing especially well coming out of bye weeks. The Tar Heels were beaten 52-7 by Clemson two weeks ago. They have had some huge victories after getting two full weeks to prepare under coach John Bunting, including a 41-9 win over Florida State in 2001, a 7-5 win over ranked Virginia last season, plus, of course, the win over Miami two years ago. Bunting has been asked countless times, he said, about his bye-week secret. He has no idea what it is. ``Yes, there is a history of us doing that, but it is something that I can't pinpoint,'' Tar Heels center Scott Lenahan said when asked about the bye-week resurgence of past Carolina teams. ``It's just getting rest. That can always rejuvenate you and get you fresh again.'' Given that the Tar Heels rank near the bottom of the 12-team ACC in virtually every defensive stat (12th in total defense, 12th in rushing defense, 7th in pass defense, 12th in scoring defense and 11th in pass defense efficiency), Bunting decided to spend the bye week putting his team through physical, training-camp style practices. The result, he hopes, will be noticeable Saturday. ``There's a lot of football left,'' Bunting said. ``The first third of the season is over. Our players understand that. They don't feel real good about the way they played the last game and I really believe they want to play a heck of a lot better this week.'' The same can be said about the Hurricanes, who'll be playing their second straight game as an unranked team and cannot afford any slip-ups if they want to remain in the hunt for an ACC title. Wright said the emphasis for Miami is on playing a complete game, something the Hurricanes haven't done yet this season. ``We started fast and we finished last game. Now we just need a middle,'' Wright said. ``We're getting there.''

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/10/102525