College football's bowls season won't provide exactly what North Carolina wants, but no one in the program will admit to being disappointed at what will be available.
The Tar Heels will play in Charlotte's Meineke Car Care Bowl at Bank of America Stadium for the second consecutive season on Dec. 26, in a game against Pittsburgh of the Big East Conference.
All the sights and bowl festivities will be familiar, but defensive tackle Marvin Austin said that playing again in the home of the Carolina Panthers beats the alternative the Tar Heels could have had.
"I wouldn't say we're disappointed," Austin said. "There were some games that were close that we could have won and put us in better standing, but all in all I'm glad we're playing in a bowl game and not going home on Christmas.
"I remember my freshman year when I had to go home on Christmas and watch all the bowl games. Now I still get a chance to go out and perform."
Quarterback T.J. Yates said he sees no lack of motivation despite the short bus trip to Mecklenburg County.
North Carolina is still stinging from a 28-27 loss to N.C. State in the final game of the regular season, which Coach Butch Davis, Yates and at least three other players said can only be cured by winning once more this season.
Yates said he wasn't concerned about the location of the playing field.
"After that State loss, everybody was kind of angry," Yates said. "I think that's a good thing going into this bowl game. Everybody's hungry. We want to go out there and kind of kick some butt, a little bit."
The loss to the Wolfpack ended a four-game winning streak and gave the Tar Heels an 8-4 record in the regular season for the second consecutive season. Until then a different bowl, maybe higher in the picking order and more prestigious, appeared obtainable.
Florida State, which finished 6-6, got a berth in the Gator Bowl, a game considered higher than Charlotte's in the selection process. Gator Bowl officials worked to have Coach Bobby Bowden of FSU in his last game before retiring against his former employer, West Virginia.
Davis said he had no complaints about not being considered by the Gator Bowl and missing out on a trip to Florida for a Jan. 1 game.
"Certainly it is the Gator Bowl's prerogative," Davis said. "According to their contract, they had the ability to pick and choose whoever they wanted to pick."
Davis wouldn't criticize the Gator Bowl's choice, given Bowden's popularity in Florida and the Jacksonville area.
"I do understand that," he said.
North Carolina can have 15 practices, under NCAA rules, to prepare for the bowl. Davis said that no more than 10 will be held, the first of which was yesterday.
North Carolina will likely practice five more times on campus by Dec. 18 and four times after arriving in Charlotte on Dec. 21. The practices in Chapel Hill will not be conducted on consecutive days because of first-semester final exams.
Junior tailback Shaun Draughn, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, practiced at least on a limited basis yesterday, but hasn't played since Nov. 7. Davis said that as of yesterday Draughn, the starter until he was injured, wouldn't play.
Ryan Houston, another junior tailback, said he and some players were initially shocked that North Carolina was selected for the Charlotte bowl again, but they reacted in such fashion because they hadn't heard the game mentioned frequently as a possibility.
Houston said he was eager to play near his home, being a resident of the Charlotte suburb of Matthews, and in front of what he is confident will be a home crowd.
He also said he is looking forward to another ride in a NAS-CAR stock car at Lowe's Motor Speedway after doing so last year in a ride that hit 170 mph.
"After the first practice we had today, I feel everybody is ready," Houston said. "It was like we're going to a BCS bowl. We were laughing and we were playing around, but we were going after it.
"The intensity is there. The tempo is there. We're playing a great Pittsburgh team. Competition-wise, I'm glad we're going to that bowl."
bcole@wsjournal.com.
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