Plugging Pays Off: UNC's Sexton says he never lost hope he would get another chance

By: By Bill Cole | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: September 29, 2008

Cameron Sexton never stopped believing that he would get another shot at playing quarterback for North Carolina.

The moment came on Saturday, with UNC in dire straits against Miami at Dolphin Stadium.

Sexton seized the opportunity by leading a 28-24 comeback win in generating four touchdown drives and energized a career that seemed totally stalled. He threw two touchdown passes in the final nine minutes, with the winner coming with 46 seconds left.

"I am a different quarterback," Sexton said after leading UNC to its first ACC win of the season. "I really think unfortunately it came from the stuff of the last couple of years. I didn't play well. I thought I was ready to play and I wasn't.

"When you get beat down so much and play so poorly, sooner or later you're going to have to play better. There was nowhere for me to go but up. These coaches came in and taught me how to play football again. That's kind of where I am now."

Sexton had not played in 14 games dating back to UNC's 2007 season opener. He was No. 3 on the depth chart. He charted plays on a clipboard. He served as an extra set of eyes and ears for T.J. Yates, a younger player who won the starter's role in the 2007 season opener and held the job until breaking his left ankle in a 20-17 loss to Virginia Tech two Saturdays ago.

Another setback, an unintentional one, came against Miami. Coach Butch Davis and his offensive coordinator, John Shoop, decided that Mike Paulus, a redshirt freshman, was the better player to start. Sexton was on the sideline again when the offense took the field.

Sexton said that last season and this season's first three games were tough for him. He never complained. Fellow students and outside observers were sure that he would transfer to a program where he could play more, but Sexton always said that his only desire was to play for UNC and he was staying.

"I just kept plugging and kept plugging," he said. "I always dreamed that this was going to happen. I don't know if I've ever thrown a game-winning touchdown before or quite like that.

"I knew that it was going to come. I knew that it was going to happen and I believed in it."

UNC's plan was for Paulus to play the first two series and give way to Sexton for the next two. A decision on how to proceed would be made after the fourth offensive series by Davis. Paulus was jittery, losing the ball on one snap but recovering it, and UNC was down 14-0 when Sexton took the field.

His first play was an 18-yard completion to Zack Pianalto. His first drive ended in a rushing touchdown by Greg Little. No one knew it at the time but Paulus was done for the day.

"I got a lot of confidence on my first possession because I was seeing the field well," Sexton said. "The ball felt good in my hands.

"I think confidence comes for me personally in how well I'm throwing the ball. I felt good. Once I saw how well things went I said, ‘Man, this is going to be good.' We executed well."

Sexton completed 11 of 19 passes Saturday for 242 yards. He was not intercepted.

Brooks Foster, the receiver who caught a 14-yard pass for the game-deciding touchdown, was the third receiver on the play. Sexton said that two years ago he would not have had the ingenuity or the patience to work down to his third passing option.

"I'm older, I'm wiser, I've seen a lot more," Sexton said. "I just went out and executed. I knew the game plan perfectly."

Davis said that Sexton will likely start on Saturday against Connecticut at home but Paulus will play. Sexton hasn't started since Oct. 19, 2006.

The only matter on his mind late Saturday afternoon was his team's future, however, not his.

"Sitting here the words don't really come to me," he said. "I've been through a lot but I think through my faith and my struggles I've learned and grown stronger.

"The one thing through it all was I had a great support staff in my teammates. My teammates were behind me. They brought me out of this. I didn't do anything special; I just distributed the ball. It feels good right now."

■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.