The Tar Heels hit the road for the first
time this season with a trip to Georgia Tech.
In July, we asked a player from each ACC
school about the toughest place to play in the
ACC. Here’s Part One:
Kris Burd,
Virginia wide receiver
“I would say the toughest place I’ve
played in so far would be when I went to
Clemson. That’s loud, but I hear Florida
State this year is going to be pretty crazy.
I haven’t played there before so I couldn’t
tell you by experience but I’ve heard it’s a
tough place to play in.”
George Bryan,
NC State tight end
“I guess to communicate, to know the
plays and hear your quarterback, it would
probably be Clemson. Clemson’s really a
loud place. Obviously Carolina’s a pretty
tough place to play because of the rivalry
between us, but I would say Clemson.”
Kenny Tate ,
Maryland linebacker
“I would say Death Valley, Clemson,
just because it was one of my first real
road games my freshman year. They say
it’s Death Valley, I mean I didn’t know
how crazy it could really be until I got
there. It’s pretty loud in here. I’m standing
next to somebody, we’re screaming and we
can’t hear each other, so it was definitely a
good experience. On the field, I don’t hear
a thing, but definitely one of the loudest
places. I would say winning on the road in
a tough environment as a young athlete,
being a freshman or a redshirt freshman
definitely builds your confidence up, and
it will definitely help you in the long run
and in big games. Everybody has their
own tradition at their own university,
and that’s one thing I love about college
football that you would respect things
like Testudo, Howard’s Rock, Clemson
coming down the hill, everybody else
doing their thing, Florida State with the
spear…That’s their trademark, and that’s
something that they take pride in at their
school. We take pride in Testudo and you
just respect that factor, and then you come
out and have a good game.”
Eddie Whitley ,
Virginia Tech rover
“Either Miami or Florida State. I
think Miami last year, because they had
the Combat jerseys so everybody was
at the game, and it was like a sold-out
crowd. It was great. That was a pretty
good game. Carolina is also a good crowd,
because I’m a home-state guy and a lot
of the students know me and a couple of
players know me so that’s kind of a tough
place to play too because I know a lot of
distractions will be coming in right before
the game.”
Kyle Wilber ,
Wake Forest linebacker
“Right now it’s been Florida State.
I haven’t been to Death Valley, and
I haven’t been up to Boston College
because I broke my leg the year that I
was supposed to go, but so far it’s been
Florida State. The environment’s crazy,
the fans are crazy, you’re getting yelled at
in every direction but it’s fun. It’s a fun
environment.”
Roddy Jones ,
Georgia Tech , A-Back
“Probably Virginia Tech. It’s a place
that I haven’t won in. We lost last year by
a touchdown, we lost three years ago by
three points, so it’s a great environment.
It’s an exciting place to play. Being there
on Thursday night, it’s my second-favorite
Thursday night place to play.” ■
