The North Carolina Tarheels football team came into the 2016 season with high expectations. The Tarheels were coming off an 11-3 season in which they made the ACC Championship game and had most of their starters coming back along the offensive line, highly touted quarterback Mitch Trubisky finally taking over the reigns of the high powered Tarheel offense, and almost all of the wide receivers and running backs were returning.
Thursday night's 28-27 loss to Duke virtually took them out of the running to return to the ACC Championship game. Losing to Duke stinks anyway but to lose this game really hurt. The Tarheels will go to a bowl game this season but it will not be the one they wanted. The bottom line is that I would rather suffer from the disappointment of not meeting high expectations than to not have those expectations at all. Larry Fedora has the Tarheels headed in the right direction, they are poised to be a factor on the national stage, so I will take the Toilet Bowl with the trophy being the Golden Plunger or something, and I will look forward to the high expectations for next season.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Surfing The Green Wave
The North Carolina Tarheels beat the Tulane Green Wave last night in their first basketball game of the season last night 95-75 and it was your typical first game. Justin Jackson and Joel Berry II had career highs in points, 27 and 23 points respectively, and Kennedy Meeks had a career high in rebounds with 15.
Ten Players for the North Carolina Tarheels got at least ten minutes of playing time. Three of those players were freshmen- Tony Bradley, Brandon Robinson, and Seventh Woods. Tony Bradley got the most playing time of the with 17 minutes and he scored in double figures with 10 points but he also picked up four fouls in those minutes.
Head Coach Roy Williams place an emphasis on assists to made field goals and North Carolina was much better in the first half (14-17) than they were the second half (9-17) and 23-34 for the game. I do not know what Roy Williams considers an acceptable percentage but I don not think it is 67.7%. The Tarheels were also -1 in turnovers.
Ten Players for the North Carolina Tarheels got at least ten minutes of playing time. Three of those players were freshmen- Tony Bradley, Brandon Robinson, and Seventh Woods. Tony Bradley got the most playing time of the with 17 minutes and he scored in double figures with 10 points but he also picked up four fouls in those minutes.
Head Coach Roy Williams place an emphasis on assists to made field goals and North Carolina was much better in the first half (14-17) than they were the second half (9-17) and 23-34 for the game. I do not know what Roy Williams considers an acceptable percentage but I don not think it is 67.7%. The Tarheels were also -1 in turnovers.
Monday, November 7, 2016
Ready To Lead
The North Carolina Tarheels got the 2016-17 basketball season started the other night with an exhibition game against UNC-Pembroke. I think I liked it better when they were Pembroke State. Joel Berry II looks like he is primed and ready to lead this team. A case could be made for Berry II as the team MVP down the stretch last season as he was the team's most consistent outside threat and stepped up in the big games.
With Theo Pinson out injured again until late December, someone needs to step up and take his 15-20 minutes a game. Sophomore Luke Maye brings a different skill set to the table but he made his case for more minutes with his play against UNC-Pembroke. Maye reminds me of a Pete Chilcutt type of player. He is not a great athlete but he is fundamentally sound in all areas of the game.
With Theo Pinson out injured again until late December, someone needs to step up and take his 15-20 minutes a game. Sophomore Luke Maye brings a different skill set to the table but he made his case for more minutes with his play against UNC-Pembroke. Maye reminds me of a Pete Chilcutt type of player. He is not a great athlete but he is fundamentally sound in all areas of the game.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Wreckin' Georgia Tech
As a Tarheels fan, the Georgia Tech game is a point of concern for me every season. Georgia Tech's triple option offense eats up yards and time off the clock and their defense is usually blitz heavy. Combine those two factors with the Tarheels perpetual two minute offense and the potential for the Tarheels defense to spend the majority of the game on the field is very good.
The Tarheels received the ball to start the game and true to form scored their first touchdown within two minutes. A quick dose of a healthy Elijah Hood and it was 7-0. The Tarheels added a field goal and then the Georgia Tech offense struck. Georgia Tech's offense makes you susceptible to the play action pass and the Tarheels defense got burned for 83 yards. An ill advised attempt at a strip by defensive back M.J. Stewart and Georgia Tech was back in the game. North Carolina scored a little over two minutes later when Elijah Hood broke a 36 yard touchdown run up the middle on fourth and one. The two teams traded field goals and touchdowns after that and the Tarheels took a 27-17 lead into halftime.
Georgia Tech opened up the second half with a drive that netted them a field goal and it was all North Carolina after that. The Tarheels scored 21 straight points and won going away 48-20. The Tarheels defense recovered two fumbles in the second half, Georgia Tech QB Justin Thomas left the game due to an injury, and the Tarheels put the game away with a balanced offense.
The Tarheels received the ball to start the game and true to form scored their first touchdown within two minutes. A quick dose of a healthy Elijah Hood and it was 7-0. The Tarheels added a field goal and then the Georgia Tech offense struck. Georgia Tech's offense makes you susceptible to the play action pass and the Tarheels defense got burned for 83 yards. An ill advised attempt at a strip by defensive back M.J. Stewart and Georgia Tech was back in the game. North Carolina scored a little over two minutes later when Elijah Hood broke a 36 yard touchdown run up the middle on fourth and one. The two teams traded field goals and touchdowns after that and the Tarheels took a 27-17 lead into halftime.
Georgia Tech opened up the second half with a drive that netted them a field goal and it was all North Carolina after that. The Tarheels scored 21 straight points and won going away 48-20. The Tarheels defense recovered two fumbles in the second half, Georgia Tech QB Justin Thomas left the game due to an injury, and the Tarheels put the game away with a balanced offense.
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