Carolina prepares for another challenge

By Eddie Landreth

For the second consecutive week North Carolina will play a team that crushed it a year ago.
The Tar Heels (2-2) defeated Utah 31-17 this past Saturday, avenging a 46-16 loss to the Utes in 2004. Now UNC hits the road, traveling to Louisville to play the Cardinals (3-1) in a game scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m.

A year ago the Cardinals came to Chapel Hill and beat Carolina 34-0.

"That team took us apart last year," Carolina coach John Bunting said.

Said UNC wide receiver Jesse Holley: "We were embarrassed by them. We had a doughnut at home. That's horse(manure)."

Painful as it may have been, Carolina will use the memory of that loss as fuel to get ready this week, offensive guard Kyle Ralph said.
"Anytime you lose like that it burns," Ralph said. "It burns you up until you can fix it."
Fixing it will not be easy, however. The Cardinals lost some players to the National Football League, but they return plenty of talented people as well. Three of the five interior offensive linemen are seniors. A fourth is a junior.

Two of the three starting wide receivers are seniors. Three of the four starters on the defensive line are seniors, while the fourth is a junior. It's a similar story across the board.
The Cardinals' offense is explosive, and the defense is geared toward attacking and creating chaos in an opponents' backfield.

Speed is a key ingredient in accomplishing these goals, and Bunting said that Louisville has the kind of team speed to rival what the Tar Heels will see throughout their ACC schedule.
"Their offensive line is one of the best we'll play," Bunting said. "They run multiple personnel groups, and it doesn't seem to make a difference. They throw it out there and you have to defend it.

"We'll have to play very, very well to stay in the game with them. Their defense is extremely active, as they were last year. They are very disruptive. They take some risks. They blitz frequently. They have two towering outside linebackers that just create havoc coming off the edges. So we'll be playing against a team that is very, very capable of blowing anybody out."
The biggest worry for the Tar Heels is the Cardinals shut them out last season when offense was the strength of that UNC team. This season offense has been a weak point for Carolina.
Nonetheless, there is good news, and it has nothing to do with car insurance. Tailback Ronnie McGill is scheduled to return after missing the first four games with a torn chest muscle. His presence could make a difference for a running game that has been non-existent in all but one game this year.

"Ronnie brings a lot excitement back to the offense," Ralph said. "He's an emotional guy, and he's a powerful runner. It's really important to get him back. It gives us a boost in personnel. Ronnie was a leader coming into the season. We expect him to be a step-up guy to lead the running game in the backfield.

"You can just see it in his eyes when he got ready to come back to practice. He's ready to come back. He's ready to explode."

The offensive line could use an experienced runner to help it. Barrington Edwards and Cooter Arnold have plenty of talent but not a lot of experience.

Arnold will burst into the line but often misses the hole. Edwards will hesitate rather than explode. So getting a runner like McGill, who can find the hole and get through it in a hurry, is exactly what the Tar Heels need.

"His experience makes a huge difference," Ralph said of McGill. "He's been there before, and he's seen a lot of things. He's played against some phenomenal teams. He's played against the best defensive players and blocked the best defensive players. That experience factor, understanding the concepts of the offense and what we're trying to do is really going to help us out.

"We've got to put that hole there for him to hit. Ronnie, ever since he's been here as a freshman, has an uncanny ability to find the smallest seam and smallest hole and punch it right through there. Ronnie just seems to have this unexplainable ability to find that hole and hit it."
Just as important to UNC's cause, or perhaps more so, will be stopping Louisville running back Michael Bush, who is 6 foot 3, 250 pounds and has amazing speed to go with his size. He's coming off a 204-yard rushing day.

"He's an old-fashioned clavicle buster," Bunting said. "He's going to bust you up. He's big. He's not only tall, but he's thick, particularly on the lower end. He's straight-line fast. When he gets an opening, he's going to take it a distance. He will take it to the ranch. He can run away from people."

Eddy Landreth is a freelance writer who lives outside Pittsboro.