John Bunting walked into his post-game news conference in the players' lounge in Kenan Memorial Stadium just like always. Win or lose, the coach's demeanor is always the same -- low-key and business-like.
But you knew, even if he didn't show it, that Saturday's win over archrival N.C. State meant everything to him. He had gotten the win he wanted so badly. He had beaten the Wolfpack for a third straight time, and you can say what you want about his unsuccessful six years as the head football coach at Carolina, he had a winning record of 4-2 against Chuck Amato and N.C. State.
This one game won't erase all the losses, but the joy that Bunting felt on the field as the seconds ticked down is something he won't ever forget. John Bunting won his last game at Kenan Stadium, and he did it against UNC's most bitter rival. There have been many more losses than wins in the Bunting era, but this was one to savor and one for him and his players to remember. And they all will.
On the other side, an embattled Chuck Amato seemed at a loss for words. Amato didn't feel much like talking after Saturday's game. And really, you can't blame him. He knows the wolves who proudly wear the red are howling. He knows, as well as anybody, how much State hates losing to Carolina in anything. He wore the State uniform years ago and he knows. He knows that State fans everywhere are upset and angry, and I can tell you this: None are angrier than the former Wolfpack linebacker. It seethes beneath the surface.
He's seen his State team make mistake after mistake, suffer through six straight losses, all of which they had a chance to win. He has an offense that can't score touchdowns. They have two of the best backs that this state's high schools have ever produced, but it's a team that can't run the ball. He has a team that draws penalties like flies to a garbage dump. State has suffered game after game from poor execution, at times dubious play-calling, missed opportunities galore. If it's not a dropped pass, it's a personal foul penalty. If it's not a key fumble, it's an interception or a silly celebratory penalty. It's letting a 1-9 Carolina team have a 147-8 total offense advantage in the first quarter.
It's always something with this team. It was like the football gods told State that cool September night: "We'll give you the Boston College game, but you have to pay the price down the road." And that price is steep, and the coach knows it. They have been so close, sometimes just inches, but yet those inches might as well be miles. And more times than not, their biggest enemy has worn red and white.
Some still believe that State has underachieved and that might be so. And then maybe again, they just aren't very good, and it is what it is -- that the highly recruited talent is just not what it was hyped to be. Or just maybe again, the talent there hasn't been coached all that well.
Chuck Amato is a smart man and he knows that in his seventh season State is no longer a program on the rise, and as the head coach, he has to take the responsibility. It's his program. He put it together.
Since that great Gator Bowl season of 2002, State has gone just 23-24 and since Philip Rivers left after the 2003 season the record is 15-19 and a woeful 8-16 in the ACC. You can never blame a coach for setting his goals high and Amato set the bar very high. He got people excited and he got State's fans thinking big and that is what has made this fall hurt more.
Chuck Amato is a tough fighter who is supremely confident. Always has been. He's one of those leaders who can get others to believe. And he believes that he can take the Wolfpack out of the ashes of the fire that once burned so brightly and start that fire again. He believes that. There's a nucleus that comes back next year, and State could be a year away. Recruiting has been good. Chuck Amato believes they're close and the scores this year say they are. The former wrestling champion believes as strongly as ever that he can get this program off the mat. He still believes his high goals can be reached and he believes he's still the man to do it. He believes in his ability to lead his alma mater.
The big question now is, how many others do?
