Calling Them Out

As a Fifth Year Senior, Running Back A.J. Blue was annointed as the unofficial leader of the North Carolina Tarheels football team during fall camp. Blue has always preferred to lead by example but in an article that was in today's Wilmington Star News, Blue called his team out for their lackluster effort in yesterday's 55-31 loss to East Carolina. The word "complacency" was used quite liberally and he said the Tarheels as a team, lacked focus against East Carolina and he was going to start calling individuals out during practice. Blue has stepped up his game to include vocal leadership and someone needs to light a fire under the 'Heels or their season is going to slip away from them.

Speechless

North Carolina's 55-31 loss to East Carolina has left me speechless. They were dominated in every phase of the game. Once again, the Tarheel Defense got manhandled to the tune of over 600 yards. I have spoken out against the 4-2-5 defense and if this isn't proof that it needs to be scrapped after the season, I don't know what is. They gave up ground by the acre rather than by the yard. East Carolina ran 101 plays, had 267 yards rushing and 336 passing. The Tarheels only had 4 Quarterback hurries in 47 passing attempts by East Carolina QB Shane Carden. No sacks. None. One Interception by Tre Boston. The Offense only fared slightly better. Tarheel Running Back Romar Morris missed the game for an undisclosed reason, leaving the bulk of the carries to A.J. Blue. He had 20 carries for 68 yards but the holes were few and far between. The 'Heels only had 67 yards rushing as a team. QB Bryn Renner did throw for 366 yards and 3 TD's but over 200 yards and all 3 TD's came in the second half when East Carolina maintained at least a 17 point lead throughout the entire second half. North Carolina's young offensive line is having some serious growing pains. Some of North Carolina's young Wide Receivers did get in towards the end of the game and make some plays. Johnathan "Bug" Howard and Nic Platt both had TD catches. T.J. Thorpe had a solid game and Quinshad Davis had over 100 yards receiving and a 56 yard TD reception. The 'Heels have work to do to salvage this season.

The Saga Of P.J. Hairston

North Carolina basketball has usually been able to avoid the types of scandals that hit other big time programs because I believe that they make an effort to follow the NCAA's 5000 page rulebook to the last sub-article. This is a new day in college athletics. The players want their piece of the pie and they want it now. Former college players just won a settlement against EA Sports over the use of their likenesses in a college football game. Players from several colleges, including Vad Lee of Georgia Tech while they were playing UNC, wore an emblem in support of the players on their uniforms in last Saturday's football games. I have always held the belief that players do get paid with a college education. That is the reason they are supposedly in college- to get an education. At most colleges these days, a four year education is equal to well over a $100,000 and probably a whole lot more. That little factoid has been lost in the money grab by those who do not get paid in dollars and cents and by those that make the 5000 page rule book. P.J. Hairston decided to come back for another year of college basketball at UNC and almost all fans that would be the 'Heels saving grace this season. He is a legitimate scorer from anywhere on the court if he can harness his slightly undisciplined game. Hairston is alleged to have received a benefit of a rental car for several months and the NCAA is hot on the trail of that. Hairston was suspended by head coach Roy Williams for the summer and is finally being allowed to practice with the team starting today. They have not decided how many games he will be suspended for but I believe that the 'Heels should take a page out of Texas A & M's book. They suspendedreturning Heisman winner Quarterback Johnny Manziel for the first half of the first game. Another player from another school got suspended for one quarter. I may be biased but I believe the NCAA has come down rather harshly on UNC in the past two or three years. They have still not ruled on the University of Miami's violations that happened well over a year. They dropped the hammer on UNC almost immediately. UNC also had enough integrity (or feared the forfeiture of games due to the use of ineligible players) to sit these players out until the NCAA made their ruling. The NCAA is a big business and those that believe it is just a "ruling body" is kidding themselves.

First And Last Impressions Versus Georgia Tech

The 28-20 loss to Georgia Tech was tough to take. The defense played well enough but couldn't hold down a 20-7 lead but that was primarily because the offense could not sustain any drives in the second half and the defense eventually wore down. The defense has been the big focus but they have shown improvement over the first three games. Larry Fedora's high powered offense has not lived up to its potential and the running game has been a big problem. They have been trying to use the three running backs of Romar Morris, A.J. Blue, and True Freshman Khris Francis. I believe they need to settle on one and give him as many reps as possible so they can develop some consistency and get a feel for what the Offensive line is doing. Tight End Eric Ebron had a career game against Georgia Tech with over 100 yards receiving and a highlight reel one handed catch in the end zone. He has really stepped up his game and now the rest of the receiving corps needs to do the same. There have been far too many drops in the seasons first three games to develop any consistency in the passing game. One thing that has been missing from the passing game is the screen pass thrown to the running backs. This is was where they are really missing Gio Bernard. Romar Morris and A.J. Blue only have a combined total of 72 yards receiving on 10 catches in the first three games. Coach Larry Fedora and his staff have their work cut out for them on the offensive side of the ball. On the defensive side of the ball, the play has been much better but they are still giving up 25 points a game. Big plays and interior depth have been a problem. I am still not a big fan of the 4-2-5 but hybrid Linebackers Jeff Schoettmer, Norkeithus Otis, and Darius Lipford have developed a better feel for the system and are able to react to plays rather than think about what they are doing. Norkeithus Otis leads the team with 4 1/2 tacles for loss and 3 sacks and Darius Lipford after missing a full year and then some due to injury, is not far behind with 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. Jeff Schoettmer leads the team with 23 tackles.

Middle Tennessee State: The Good And The Bad

There were several good things that happened against Middle Tennessee State. One of the stats I was most impressed with was that 12 different receivers caught passes, including backup Quarterback Marquise Williams, who caught a 23 yard pass from Running Back A.J. Blue. They do have a lot of options at the Wide Receiver position. The 'Heels also had three running backs- Romar Morris, A.J. Blue, and true Freshman Khris Francis- that had ten carries in the game. The top rusher was Morris with 46 yards and none of the three broke any run longer than about 10 yards. Bryn Renner also had a strong game running the offense and as a fifth year Senior and in his second year in this offense, he has shown the ability to take charge of the many options in this offense. The defense came up with three turnovers in the Red Zone including Tre Boston's interception in the end zone. The play of Norkeithus Otis and Darius Lipford deserve special mention as well. I was also impressed with the play of true Freshman Dominic Green from the defensive backfield. The bad had to be the running game on both sides of the ball. The 'Heels only averaged a little over 3 yards a carry while giving up 5 yards a carry. The play of both lines left a lot of room for improvement. Luckily they have a week off before they take on ACC nemesis Georgia Tech.

The 4-2-5

Larry Fedora brought a high octane offense and a hybrid defense when he came with him from Southern Mississippi. The offense, in a season plus two games, has been everything as advertised, breaking 35 offensive records in his first season at North Carolina. The defense, not so much. After seeing the 4-2-5 for a season plus two games, I am not a big fan of the 4-2-5. I believe he needs to go to a more traditional 4-3 even with the pass happy offenses in college football these days. The 4-2-5 uses two hybrid linebacker positions called the "Ram" and the "Bandit", one being a hybrid linebacker/rush end position and the other being a hybrid linebacker/safety position. The front four is not getting much pressure on the opposing teams's QB without blitzing a lot, they are giving up a lot of yards on the ground, especially up the middle of the defense, and this defense is not turning defense into offense as Coach Fedora's teams did at Southern Mississippi. Granted, the majority of these players are not players that Coach Fedora and his staff recruited. I have always shared the belief that you tailor your gameplan to your players strengths and not try to force the square peg into the round hole. Norkeithus Otis and Darius Lipford have been playing lights out but when your linebackers and defensive backs are making the majority of the tackles, sacks, and tackles for losses, then it usually means those plays are happening 5 to 10 yards down the field or you are having to blitz a lot to make plays. Georgia Tech and their 68 points from last season are on the horizon and it will be interesting to see how much progress the Tarheels defense has made in a couple of weeks time.

First Impressions: North Carolina Vs. MTSU

It is hard for me to get excited about the North Carolina Tarheels 40-20 victory over Middle Tennessee State today. I thought their Offensive and Defensive lines got pushed around quite a bit by MTSU. MTSU has some talent on both sides of the ball and has been known to be an ACC killer before. Just ask Georgia Tech about last year's game. It if wasn't for three Red Zone turnovers by MTSU and a failed fourth and goal from the one yard line, it could have gotten very interesting at the end of the game. North Carolina did some good things and their offense and defense made some plays. Tre Boston's acrobatic end zone interception on MTSU's first drive of the game, Romar Morris' 26 yard Touchdown run for the 'Heels first score, Johnathan "Bug" Howard's leaping "Alley Oop" TD reception for their final score, and Norkeithus Otis and Darius Lipford being all over the field making tackles were several of the big plays that were made. Overall, the Offense had over 500 yards of total offense and the defense gave up over 400 yards. Head Coach Larry Fedora was worried about depth on both sides of the line going into the season and his worst fears are now being realized.