South Florida 37 UNC 20
You know what the most damaging thing about the loss to South Florida is? It is not simply losing to a team which UNC should have beaten. USF is a decent team from a major conference but the kind of game UNC should be in the business of winning. No, the most damaging aspect of this loss is when you consider that USF has been a I-A team as long as John Bunting has been at UNC and in the sixth season for both the Bulls walk into Kenan Stadium and slap the Tar Heels around on their way to a 17 point win. This is also a USF team who in 2005 when Louisville dismantled UNC 69-14 actually beat the Cardinals 45-14 and went to the same bowl UNC was at in 2004.
This is the single most condemning moment of the season and the past six years. It is a moment for which the most ardent supporters of Bunting can offer no defense. A football program with only nine years of football in it's history has been built to the point they come in and handily beat a UNC team which has 111 years of continuous football history and as well as resources which most likely outpace anything South Florida can offer.
This is unacceptable.
So, to all the Bunting supporters: Spare me the asinine ramblings about Bunting's loyalty to the University, his love for Tar Heel blue, the likelihood that he will never leave for a better job, the quality of the 2007 recruiting class, the argument UNC is a basketball school and any other whacked out pleas for patience and promises of hope you can produce. Saturday's loss should not be seen just another bad fall in a bad season. No, what happened Saturday should serve as an epiphany for all of those still unsure about the direction of the program. If South Florida can get to this point building from the ground up then you have to seriously question what the heck Bunting has been doing the past six years for not accomplishing the same with so much more at his disposal in almost every aspect. The proof is in the pudding. Rutgers, South Florida, and Wake Forest are a combined 18-3 with presumably less talent but one thing that UNC does not have and that is a good head coach.
So with all due respect to John Bunting, it is painfully obvious you cannot get the job done. Do your beloved school a favor and write the letter.