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On the Road Again: With bowl bid in hand, Tar Heels will take on high-flying Eagles

AP Photo

Coach Butch Davis treats a road game like a business trip.

By Bill Cole

JOURNAL REPORTER

Published: November 21, 2009

North Carolina is assured of a winning record and a bowl game, but Coach Butch Davis doesn't want his team to feel satisfied.

"This season's not over with," he said. "We want to finish well."

The Tar Heels have two games left, at Boston College today (noon, ESPN2 Ch. 32) and at N.C. State next Saturday.

Davis is confident that UNC (7-3, 3-3 ACC) is playing as well as it has all season but he has warned his team that finishing on the road will require an exceptional effort.

"We've tried to set the stage with all of our road games," Davis said. "We want a routine. Our kids understand that it's a business trip. We laughingly say, ‘We're not going to Disneyland. We're not going shopping.' We're going there for one purpose, and that's to play the best that we possibly can play."

UNC is 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, and will play at Boston College for the first time since the 1984 season.

Boston College (7-3, 4-2) is having what Davis considers one of the ACC's top seasons, given that it has a first-season head coach in Frank Spaziani, a longtime defensive coordinator at BC, and a first-season offensive coordinator in Gary Tranquill, who held the same job at UNC under Coach John Bunting (2001-05).

UNC has played three road games this season, winning at Connecticut in early September and at Virginia Tech in late October and losing at Georgia Tech in late September.

Cornerback Kendric Burney enjoys playing on the road and would welcome a loud chorus of boos when he takes the field.

"I absolutely love it," Burney said. "We love playing at home, but there's nothing like going where everybody hates you.

"You block out everything. It's just you and your teammates on the field, and there ain't nothing (the home fans) can do about it. You're there to play. It's definitely fun, especially when you hear the silence, and you see everyone leave around the third or fourth quarter."

Boston College has one of the ACC's top backs in sophomore Montel Harris, who is averaging 108.1 yards a game, or 14 yards more than North Carolina is allowing.

Boston College started to win consistently after Spaziani made Dave Shinskie the fulltime quarterback. Shinskie, 25, had an outstanding high-school football career, but he chose to sign a professional baseball contract and spent six years in the minor leagues.

Shinskie has passed for 1,503 yards and 12 touchdowns, with nine interceptions, and has completed 53.4 percent to give the Eagles a steady presence under center.

Tight end Zack Pianalto said he had no doubts that UNC could recover after losing its first three ACC games. The win at Virginia Tech, in front of one of the ACC's loudest crowds, boosted confidence that UNC can win anywhere.

"I kind of think this team relishes chances to go on the road," Pianalto said. "I think our team looks forward to going on the road with our backs up against the wall.

"We've still got a lot to prove. If we can go on the road and do well as an offense, we can do well as an offense anywhere."

bcole@wsjournal.com.