Late Night With Roy Version 2013

UNC's problems with the NCAA continue to collect more players. Late Night With Roy is supposed to be a celebration of Tarheel basketball and a preview of what is to come this season. It allows the team to show off its Freshmen players and show the improvement that the upperclassmen have made during the off season. P.J. Hairston's problems with everybody are well documented but evidently those problems are contagious. It has now managed to collect Senior Leslie McDonald and Sophomore J.P. Tokoto, wing players that UNC cannot afford to do without for any length of time. UNC is once again waiting on the NCAA to hand down decisions that I am sure will be a lot tougher than the ones that were handed down to Johnny Manziel of Texas A & M and the University of Miami. "Johnny Football" was suspended for the first half of the first game of the season and Miami got a slap on the wrist for years of "lack of institutional control" and yet UNC is still paying for their football sins from three years ago. Penn State has already asked for, and received, a reduction in their penalties from their football mess. The NCAA can claim their is no bias in any of their decisions but I am hard pressed to believe that. P.J. Hairston was allowed to participate in Late Night With Roy and in the Blue-White Scrimmage that was played later on in the evening, looked like the 'Heels only perimeter option, hitting four three's and scoring 20 points. Freshman big man Kennedy Meeks from Charlotte, and I do mean big at 6'9" and 284 pounds, had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Maybe he will be the Center that steps up this year and takes charge of the position.

A Complete Game

The Tarheels played the most complete game they have played all season in their 34-10 win over the Boston College Eagles yesterday. The Defense played an impressive game with the exception of the 56 yard TD run by Andre Williams in the First Quarter. Take away that run and Boston College only averaged about 4 yards a carry. They held BC QB Chase Rettig to 57 yards passing on 10 completions and applied constant pressure on him all day long, tallying 4 sacks, 2 by Senior Defensive End Kareem Martin. Freshman Mikey Bart, getting his first career start, got his first career sack on a Fourth Down in the Fourth Quarter. The Offense used a true two Quarterback System for the first time with Bryn Renner and Marquise Williams sharing the playing time. Marquise Williams provides a change of pace as he is more of a threat to run as he led the team in rushing yards with 55 on 7 carries and a TD. He also threw a 17 yard TD pass to Johnathan "Bug" Howard. Howard had 2 TD catches in the game. Bryn Renner went 18 for 21 for 227 yards and 2 TD's and he passed 8,000 yards for his career. The UNC run game was still anemic with 110 total yards and only about 2.5 yards per carry. 7 Tarheels ran the ball, including Tight End Eric Ebron. None of the Tarheels four Running Backs- AJ Blue, Romar Morris, Khris Francis, or TJ Logan- have really stepped up to take charge and become the "go to" back. Wide Receiver Ryan Switzer caught his first career TD pass from Bryn Renner, a 13 yard catch in the First Quarter. Eric Ebron only had 4 catches for 68 yards but he was impressive with his blocking and his running after the catch. The 'Heels have the slimmest of chances at a bowl game but they have to win out in order to do so. Yesterday was a good start.

Playing For Pride

At 1-5, UNC's football season is in dire straits. If they win out, they could make a bowl game. Their play has been much improved against better competition in Virginia Tech and Miami but they cannot seem to make those one or two big plays they need to put them over the top. I believe the loss to East Carolina did more psychological damage than anything. Senior Defensive End Kareem Martin had his best game of the year with 4 tackles for loss and 1 sack. Once again, Tarheel defensive backs led the team in tackles and that means that the opposing runners are making it to the second and third levels before they are getting stopped. That was evident the entire second half against Miami. The Miami also saw the debut of Tarheel Freshman T.J. Logan as the starter at Running Back. He had 16 carries for 61 yards but he displayed some of the elusiveness that made him such a highly sought after recruit and he hung in there against blitzing linebackers and tried picking up blocks to allow Bryn Renner time to throw.

So Close Yet So Far

The Tarheels gave their best effort of the year in the 27-23 loss to the Miami Hurricanes last night. Deep down I knew that when Bryn Renner threw that interception at the UNC 10 yard line that killed at least a Field Goal attempt and then the 'Heels were forced to punt down to the 10 yard line, that Miami was going to drive the field and score the TD that would win the game. The Tarheel defense played a solid game and came up with 4 interceptions, 2 by Freshman Dominique Green, but in the second half, Miami virtually gave up on the passing game and ran up the middle the entire second half. That was what the Hurricanes did on the last drive of the game. UNC was powerless to stop it. The Tarheels missed out on several scoring opportunities, had too many breakdowns on Special Teams, and had penalties at the worse possible times. A blocked Field Goal by Miami gave them 7 cheap points. I have never heard of a college team getting down to their third string snapper as the Tarheels have due to injuries. According to Larry Fedora, that led to the blocked field goal. Bryn Renner had his best game of the season- 28 for 36, 297 yards, a TD, but he will be most remembered for the ill advised pass that was picked off by Miami. Marquise Williams got in for a couple of series and his first pass attempt was picked off in the end zone by Miami in the first half. I had to question the timing of Williams being inserted into the lineup at that point and time. Renner was leading a solid drive into Miami territory and I am guessing that Williams was inserted into the lineup to catch Miami off guard by throwing the ball rather than running the ball. Williams later atoned for his mistake by throwing a 71 yard TD pass to Tight End Eric Ebron (mostly yards after the catch by Ebron). There were a reported 37 professional scouts and 5 General managers at that game and they got to see Ebron have the greatest game by a Tight End in Tarheel football history. Ebron had 8 catches for 199 yards and the 1 TD and he made acrobatic catches, he blocked, and he did it all. I would be willing to bet that he will be going pro after this season.

Beating Miami

Beating the University of Miami is part of UNC's more recent football history. The last time they beat a Top Ten team was when they beat the University of Miami in Chapel Hill. Some would call this a "trap" game for Al Golden's team. Al Golden's team is moving up the rankings and has an oustanding chance of moving on to the ACC title game and Larry Fedora's team is desperate for a win. It's also being played in front of a national TV audience. North Carolina has to find a running game and be able to stay out of third and long. It doesn't matter if it is A.J. Blue, Romar Morris, Khris Francis, or newcomer T.J. Logan. The offensive line has to open some holes and the running backs has to take advantage of the slimmest of openings. UNC also needs their Wide Receivers to make some plays. There have been far too many drops this season. They need to step up, UNC has labeled this "Zero Dark Thursday". It will get alot brighter if a few key players can step up and make some plays. The defense cannot give up the big play. They give up tons of yards on the ground and that makes them susceptible to the play action pass. Miami has a strong running game and a good QB. UNC can, and needs to, pull off this upset.

The Debut Of Marquise Williams

Redshirt Sophomore made his debut as a starting Quarterback against Virginia Tech on October 5th and he couldn't have picked a better team to debut against. The Hokies have a hard charging defense and Williams provides an element to the Tarheel offense that Renner doesn't- the ability to run. Williams own number was called quite often and he lead the Tarheels in rushing against the Hokies with 56 yards. His ability to pass wwas the "x factor" and he handled himself very well in that regard going 23 for 35 for 277 yards and 2 TD's although he also threw 2 interceptions. One of the interceptions was on 4th and 1, play action pass, that it seemed like the Hokies were waiting for it as they had Tight End Jack Tabb double covered. He probably shouldn't have thrown the ball but he was double covered. Marquise Williams played Fedora's style of offense in high school in Charlotte and with a new coach coming in, I believed that Willaims would really push Renner for the starting job last season. When I read that Williams was not enrolled in the Spring Semester at UNC for "undisclosed reasons", I believed he would probably transfer to an FBS school where he could start immediately. Transferring was never mentioned in any of the Tarheel media sites or blogs but if playing time is usually an issue, transferring is the first alternative ala Cam Newton from Florida and he eventually found his way to Auburn. Williams has put in the work last spring (on his own I might add), put in the work this fall, regained his backup job, and now deserves a chance at more snaps during the course of a game.

The Backbreaker

The North Carolina Tarheels 27-17 loss to Virginia Tech yesterday really didn't come as a surprise to me yesterday but it is how they are losing. It seems like it is the same reasons every week. Big plays, penalties, and their run defense. Yesterday's backbreaker came when the Tarheels had Virginia Tech backed up to their own two yard line when Tarheel Punter Tommy Hibbard pinned them deep with a perfect punt. On the first play Virginia Tech QB Logan Thomas hit Wide Receiver Willie Byrn for an 83 yard completion down to the UNC 15 yard line. He also hit Wide Receiver D.J. Knowles for a 45 yard TD for the Hokies first score. Tarheel Punt returner had a rough game as well. He muffed a punt inside the Tarheels 15 yard line giving the Hokies easy access to the end zone a few plays after that but more importantly, he had an 80 + yard TD called back because of a penalty. That is the second time this season that has happened to Switzer. This time it was an 81 yard punt return. It would have made the score 21-14 and would have made the game very interesting. Tarheel Tight End/Linebacker Jack Tabb got ejected for throwing a punch at a Hokies player and I would have to question why he was the only one ejected. You cannot really see what happened on the replay the TV cameras showed. Tabb knocked the Hokies players helmet off in the process of making the block (that was not what he was penalized for) but somehow Jack Tabb ended up on the ground with his helmet off before he ever got up and threw the punch. One of the Hokies players also tried going right thru the Ref to get to Tabb and he kept bumping and pushing the Ref. In the NFL that would have gotten him booted and fined.

A Freshman To The Rescue?

It was reported in the Wilmington Star News today that wunderkind North Carolina Tarheels Freshman T.J. Logan may get his first carries of the season this Saturday against Virginia Tech. Coach Larry Fedora is noncommital about his players as is his custom, but he did say Logan was getting close to seeing the playing field. He has been recovering from an unspecified knee injury suffered during fall camp. After missing the first 4 games, I believed that Logan would probably be redshirted and saved for next season but the Tarheel running game needs help now. Virginia Tech's defense has allowed 10 points or fewer in 3 of their 5 games. The Hokies have always been blitz happy and the 'Heels are going to need something resembling a running game to keep the blitz at bay. The Tarheels are barely averaging 100 yards a game. Now is Logan's time to run.