Frank Dascenzo of the Durham Herald-Sun wrote a column yesterday on the uncertainty surrounding Carolina's football program, including  missing Darian Durant, the potential of Matt Baker, and the recent poor play of the defense.

It kills Bunting not to have a big-time defense in Chapel Hill. He earned a living as an Eagles linebacker and before that was a darn good one for UNC. But his defensive team had far too many mental breakdowns against Boston College in a 37-24 loss in Charlotte last December.

"To be a good defense, you cannot be making mental errors," Bunting said. "In 2001, we were No. 1 defensively in the ACC and No. 12 in the nation."

That was then. This is now, and the Heels are near the bottom in the nation in defense. They haven't held an opponent to single digits in 40 consecutive games and haven't registered a shutout since blasting Duke 38-0 in 1999.

He's right of course. There are questions. But the way I figure it, there are three ways to describe a football program in the preseason: certain of a bowl season, uncertainty, and certain to fail.

The Heels are in the middle. There are questions about offense and defense. The defense hasn't been great since 2001, and it would be nice to have some more experience returning. The offensive line will probably be better than last year (despite the loss of Jason Brown), but how good will the guy they're supposed to protect be? The backs and receivers are solid. If Ronnie is healthy and Barrington plays as advertised, there will be nothing to worry about in the backfield.

So the biggest questions really are at quarterback and in the secondary (I think the D-Line is showing some promise). Those questions will be answered September 10.

There are only two ways to go. I'm certain it won't take too long to find out which way our Heels will go.

Well I was going to let you know exactly who was where in preparation for this month's NBA Draft, but Adam Lucas beat me to it.
He gives a great update on who's been where, who's hurt, who's sick, and who's climbing up the charts.

Thanks Adam.

John Bunting gave his summer press conference yesterday. He confirmed that the schedule was rated as the toughest in the country, and gave some thoughts on life without Darian, Barrington Edwards, and spring football.

We had a great spring. Our players are doing a terrific job academically. We've had a good spring eligibility-wise, and we expect that to continue as we get into summer school.

Well those are two great things that won't win us game one. Of course academics are important, and eligibility is important. What about on the field?

Matt Baker and Chase Page and other players on both the offensive and defensive sides have really taken a major step forward in terms of leadership. This will be the largest number of seniors I've ever had on scholarship - 17. We had 14 my first year, 10 the following year, and then 13 the next two. We have 17 seniors on scholarship now and I'm real excited about their leadership.

That's good and expected. Chase Page has spent a whole year waiting to be the senior leader. Baker is going to the 'the guy,' so he needs to bring confidence to the huddle.

On Barrington Edwards:

I have never seen anything like what I saw last fall in terms of a player participating on the scout team. Everyday he was upbeat. Everyday was his game day, and that's the way that he took it. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays it was game day for him against our defense, and, frankly, at times he torched us.

This is great to hear. JB has been really touting Barrington and I hope he's not over-hyping him. He looked good in the spring game, but again, that was against our defense. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do against ACC foes. It is so important to have a good tandem of backs so we can always have fresh legs in the game.

An article from last week about the SOS.


And here's a good read on Matt Baker from the Winston-Salem Journal.

"It was more taking over the leadership role," Baker said. "I know the whole offense. Coach Tranquill is still around. Nothing has changed. It was more proving to the team that they can trust me and I can take over the quarterback position and lead them to some victories. I think I had a successful spring and accomplished that."

Hope so, Matt. There are a lot of skeptics in and out of Tar Heel nation. Me? I am as I am. Hopeful. Let's get after it.