Coach John Bunting has been tinkering with his young, inexperienced front seven all season, searching for the right combination of personnel to keep opposing running games in check. After Georgia Tech became the Tar Heels' second consecutive opponent to gross more than 200 yards on the ground Saturday, Bunting realized that his search was far from over.
So this week, Bunting will try to fight inexperience with, well, inexperience.
"Sometimes when you go into the season, some players are no longer in competitive situations," Bunting said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "Some players see, 'Well, I'm not going to play as much,' so they might shut it down. So we're going to create a little competition."
The defensive line has been the biggest disappointment thus far, and that is where most of Bunting's lineup-shuffling has been focused. Through four games, 12 different linemen have registered at least one tackle.
Sophomore tackle Jonas Seawright will likely become the 13th lineman to get in the books Saturday at Arizona State. Bunting said Seawright will see considerably more playing time at defensive tackle at the expense of Carl Smalls and Donti Coats.
"Jonas Seawright is going to get on that field, and he's going to play," Bunting said. "We'll see how he's going to play; he's going to be given an opportunity. I believe in that, I've done that, I've been around that all my life. I was given opportunities, and I've given players opportunities at every level I've coached at, and I'll continue to do that."
Two players who made the most of their chances against the Yellow Jackets were tackle Kendall High and end Larry Jessup.
"Jessup played hard, and he will play again this week," Bunting said. "Larry Jessup got out there and took advantage of his opportunity and played hard."
High, a talented but raw true freshman, was forced into increased playing time by injuries to linemen Eric Davis and Issac Mooring.
Bunting is happy with High's progress and thinks the experience will help the team in the long run.
"We feel like he's getting better, he's giving great effort," Bunting said. "I think he's going to be a real good football player. Is he strong enough right now? How could he be? He's right out of high school. We are forced to play him there, and we'll be better next year because of the playing time he receives this year."
But just because Bunting has an eye on the future does not mean he's giving up on the present.
"I'm not playing for next year, I'm playing for this week," Bunting said. "But there's not many choices there."
Sun Devils to Pose Problems for UNC
After posting 65 points against Stanford last week, Arizona State has raised Bunting's eyebrows all the way up to the brim of his hat.
"This offense we're facing is the best we've seen," Bunting said. "That's including Texas, guys, believe it or not. It's better than Texas."
Bunting praised the Sun Devils' defense too, calling defensive end Terrell Suggs "outstanding, maybe even better than (Texas end) Cory Redding."
"They're probably overall the best team we'll play, that's what we think," Bunting said. "Certainly they play harder on defense than anybody we'll play, and they make a lot of big plays on offense."
The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.
