First Impressions: North Carolina Vs. South Carolina

My first impression of the Tarheels first football game of the season is that it could have been worse than it was. It was the same old story that we saw from the defense the last five games of last year. The only thing missing was the offense that could almost score at will. The final score was only 27-10 but the 'Heels defense was gashed for 228 yards rushing (75 of that on one crushing play after the 'Heels had pulled to within 20-10) to the tune of 6 yards a carry. The offensive line did not fare much better as the 'Heels only had 99 yards rushing and 194 yards passing but only 4.5 yards per attempt. South Carolina had 12 tackles for loss compared to 3 for North Carolina. The 'Heels offense longest play was only 24 yards, a pass completion to Wide Receiver Quinshad Davis at the beginning of the second half. Other than that, the offense did not try to throw the ball down the field. Wide Receivers T.J. Thorpe and Sean Tapley only had 5 receptions for 10 yards. South Carolina is the #6 ranked team in the college football and I was hoping that North Carolina would show the improvement necessary to make themselves a factor on the national scene and in the ACC but they have some work to do. My defensive MVP of the game is Bandit Norkeithus Otis. He had 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and the only sack North Carolina registered. He seemed to be around the football the entire game. My offensive MVP would be Tackle James Hurst. He handle all everything South Carolina Defensive End Jadevon Clowney and held down his end of the line with a physical presence that the rest of the Offensive Line needs to learn from.

James Hurst Versus Jadevon Clowney

It was really North Carolina vs. South Carolina but the media likes to highlight the indvidual battles that are existent within the game. The battle between James Hurst vs. Jadevon Clowney never really materialized. I watched the game but from the highlights I saw, James Hurst won that battle hands down. It almost looked like Clowney wanted no part of James Hurst and almost seemed to put forth very little effort when it came lining up against Hurst. There were a couple of times where Hurst seemed to man handle Clowney. He only had three tackles for the game in spite of all of the hype and he had no tackles for loss. Clowney has the potential to be a great player but he was not a great player during this game and the way the rest of South Carolina's offensive and defensive lines handles their opposite lines from North Carolina, he didn't need to be. The media wanted to make a big deal out of Clowney's bad game some even going so far as to say that this game on national TV cost Clowney the Heisman trophy but it is a team sport and South Carolina won the game rather easily. Clowney will garner a lot of votes for the Heisman but with the video game like numbers being put up by offensive players in college football, I believe Clowney winning the Heisman was a stretch.