A Tale Of Two Halves

Two different North Carolina Tarheel football teams showed up to play the Louisville Cardinals yesterday. Their was the Tarheels team from the first half that couldn't do anything right- penalties, interceptions, fumbles, centering the ball over the QB's head, bouncing it to the QB, lobbing it to the QB, and more missed tackles and missed assignments than I would care to count. The 'Heels didn't move the ball on offense until the end of the first half and the defense didn't stop Louisville at all. Louisville scored on every posession in the first half. The Tarheels did not have a clue on offense or defense. They lost the first half 36-7. The second half a team that wanted to compete came out of the locker room. On the Cardinals first drive of the second half Linebacker Tommy Heffernan stopped the Louisville running back on fourth down and that was a play they needed to make. The Tarheels drove down the field and scored after that and you could see them gaining confidence. They stopped the run, they put pressure on the Cardinals QB Teddy Bridgewater, and the offense looked crisp and sharp. In the second half they got it. Several players showed up in the second half and the 'Heels even found a few players. Tommy Heffernan had 12 tackles including a sack and that crucial fourth down stop, Romar Morris had 149 yards receiving out of the backfield including two TD receptions, and QB Bryn Renner tied a school record with 5 TD passes, 2 of those to TE Eric Ebron, and set a career high with 363 yards. They won the second half 27-3. The totals equal a loss but there are some positives to take out of this game.