Tar Heels excited for bowl game

If there are any extra tickets for the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 27 at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium Ryan Houston wants them.

A native of the Queen City Houston will play in front of a home crowd when North Carolina makes its return to the post-season against West Virginia" and the sophomore running back is faced with a lot of ticket requests.

""Already I need like 100 tickets" Houston said. I gotta talk to coach (Butch Davis) about that but I need a lot of tickets. I know Hakeem (Nicks) is going to need a lot" and a lot of people from Charlotte are going to need them.""

Houston isn't the only Tar Heel excited about UNC's first bowl appearance since 2004. Despite two late losses that hurt North Carolina's chances to play in a loftier bowl game"" Davis said that he is thrilled with the selection.

""We're excited to have a chance to go to a bowl game" Davis said during Monday's news conference. These kids are excited about playing. They wanted to go to a bowl game. And to be honest with you" I think going to Charlotte is a positive.""

Davis didn't hesitate to talk about the benefits the Tar Heel program receives with a bowl selection. As he has said in the past"" the extra practices will help the younger players continue to develop within the North Carolina system and they also allow the coaching staff to experiment with a few position changes.

Davis said there are pluses to staying close to home.

""It's going to help in in-state recruiting. The exposure that we're going to get a chance to have. I think that there's a lot of things that are very positive" he said.

When you play locally the one real advantage is a tremendous amount of the players' families will get a chance to be involved in this bowl experience as opposed to if we would have gotten selected or gotten chosen or been forced to have to go 3"000 miles away.""

But just as quick as Davis and the players were to talk about their excitement"" they were equally quick in praising their opponent - West Virginia.

""They were the preseason pick to win the Big East" and rightfully so Davis said. They've been in two BCS bowl games in the last three years which is a pretty good testament to the type of program they've got. So we got a huge challenge

The Mountaineers are lead by a dynamic back field combination in quarterback Pat White and running back Noel Devine. Within coach Bill Stewart's spread offense - designed by ex-head coach Rich Rodriguez - the two have put up gaudy stats.

White has 26 total touchdowns this year 18 through the air and eight on the ground. Devine only has three scores on the year" but last year's Fiesta Bowl showed he can score whenever he touches the ball.

""Tremendous speed" tremendous athletes NFL-type players" said sophomore safety Deunta Williams of the two players he'll defend Dec. 27. We play West Virginia in the football (video) game - NCAA - because they're so fast at quarterback.""

But given the game's date"" North Carolina will have plenty of time to prepare for West Virginia and get back in rhythm once practice resumes Saturday.

Williams said it's difficult to wait nearly one month from the regular season finale until the Car Care Bowl.

""You get anxious - I can't stand it" Williams said of the long gap between games. You see all this football being played" and it kind of feels like we're home for Christmas again. But it's exciting to know that you have a bowl game to play.""