North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: A New World for Pack, Heels
10/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 8, 2004
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - When NC State and North Carolina became charter members of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953, they sat at the heart of a new league that pulled together institutions from four eastern seaboard states. Theirs was the centerpiece rivalry of a conference that would initially be fueled by its basketball success. Better than 50 years later, the Wolfpack and Tar Heels still have their rivalry, but the conference in which they reside doesn't even resemble the league they helped to construct during those modest beginnings.
By next year, the ACC's most northern point will be Boston. This season, the southern tip of Florida has already become fertile television market territory with the addition of Miami.
And though more ACC football games are shown on television than ever before, the NC State - North Carolina game won't be broadcast on commercial TV for the second straight year. As a result, the two athletic departments have been forced to initiate makeshift plans to get the games aired. Last year, officials at NC State worked feverishly on short notice to put together a broadcast that was eventually offered on a pay-per-view basis. As the home team this season, North Carolina faced the same dilemma once the ACC's television partners - ABC, ESPN and Jefferson Pilot/Raycom - picked other matchups over the 94th football meeting between the Pack and Heels.
Saturday's game, which begins shortly after 6:00 p.m., will be shown live in the area on Time Warner Cable's digital channel 213. A replay of the game will then be aired at midnight on WTVD, channel 11.
There is a little universe in this part of the country that connects Murphy to Manteo, Raleigh to Chapel Hill and Roxboro to Charlotte. Along those stretches of highways and two-lane roads, there exists thousands of people who consider a football Saturday featuring a contest between NC State and North Carolina to be one of the most important days of the year. But the TV networks that serve cities and markets outside North Carolina's little universe select games that they think will appeal to a broader viewing audience beyond just the one in the old North State.
It's a matter of perspective.
But if you live in North Carolina, grew up here or went to school at either NC State or UNC, you're no doubt miffed by the networks' decision to take their cameras and announcing teams elsewhere.
"This is one of the biggest rivalries in the history of college football," said NC State tight end and Tarboro native T.J. Williams.
There's the perspective of a kid who grew up in eastern North Carolina and it's an opinion shared by many in the little universe.
"You have a chance to be a part of that atmosphere of one of the biggest rivalries in the world," Williams went on to say.
It's an atmosphere that he dreamed of being a part of when he was growing up. It's an atmosphere that both head coaches - Chuck Amato of NC State and John Bunting of North Carolina - have experienced has both players and coaches.
"It's certainly one of the great rivalries in the state and one of the great rivalries in the ACC," said Bunting, a former UNC linebacker. "It's a game I've always looked forward to playing and look forward to coaching. I'm honored to now be a participant as a coach. It's a game that everyone looks forward to for the entire year and I've been waiting a year to play it again; it's something that always sticks with you for the rest of your life if you're a Tar Heel or a Wolfpacker."
And nothing, not the current records, not the recent history of the series and not the absence of television coverage can change that. The Wolfpack has grabbed the upper hand in recent years, winning three of the last four meetings including two in a row in Chapel Hill. This season, the Pack is 3-1, while the Tar Heels are 2-3. But this is a rivalry right? And aren't the records in rivalries irrelevant?
"That's what rivalries are all about....there's no edge in these games," said Amato, whose head coaching record against UNC is 3-1. "I don't know if anybody has ever done a study of rival games and how often one team is supposed to win and the other team does and this and that. There's so much involved. These youngsters have played against each other in high school and college. They know each other and on that day everybody becomes an enemy. Everybody wants to beat the team on the other side of the field so they can have 365 days of bragging rights. It happens at some point all over America in those types of games."
More than bragging rights will be on the line this time around. A win would move NC State to 3-0 in league play, a mark that would assure sole possession of first place for at least one week (2-0 Miami is idle this weekend). The Tar Heels, meanwhile, are at a crossroads. Since posting a feel-good win over Georgia Tech back on September 18th, North Carolina has been outscored 72-16 in back-to-back losses to Louisville and Florida State.
NC State cornerback Dovonte Edwards, who was growing up in Chapel Hill when Mack Brown put together several strong teams in the not too distant past, has a tough time believing the North Carolina program has slipped as much as some believe.
"They have struggled in the past and that has been somewhat surprising to me because of the caliber of players they have over there," Edwards said. "I don't know anything about the coaching staff but the program as a whole is great from what I know from the past."
The past leaves memories and teaches lessons, but rarely do things stay the same. It truly is a new world for everyone, including NC State and North Carolina.
