Games like this always make me nervous. Its a game North Carolina should win, but against a motivated, fired up team on the road, alot of bad things can happen. The Tarheels went from an opponent in Georgia Tech that featured the triple option and rushed for over 300 yards to going against pass happy East Carolina that threw the ball 58 times and had over 400 yards passing.
On offense, the Tarheels achieved an almost Monk-like balance with 230 yards passing and 226 yards rushing with four of their five touchdowns coming thru the air. The Tarheels did not turn the ball over while forcing 4 East Carolina turnovers, all of those coming in the first half.
Several plays stood out. Dwight Jones two acrobatic touchdown catches, the athleticism that Defensive Tackle Sylvester Williams displayed on his interception at the end of the first half, and the pinpoint accuracy of Bryn Renner on his long TD pass to Eric Highsmith as well as the fourth down completion to Tight End Nelson Hurst that helped put the game away.
The gameplan that the Tarheels put together was a bit conservative but they utilized their strength and that was their massive offensive line. They outweighed East Carolina's defensive line by an average of almost 50 pounds a man and they continually blasted holes open for Gio Bernard, especially in the first half. They also did not allow Bryn Renner to be sacked. Offensive lineman Travis Bond also had his first career reception on a batted pass. He lost 7 yards on the play but at least he had the athletic ability to catch the ball.
The 'Heels improve to 4-1 on the season and only need two more wins to become bowl eligible in Interim Head Coach Everett Withers first season as coach. That is, if the NCAA allows them to go to a bowl game.
Showing posts with label Nelson Hurst. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nelson Hurst. Show all posts
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Versus Georgia Tech- The Offense
The offense came alive in the second half after a forgettable first half against Georgia Tech. It seemed that Offensive Coordinator John Shoop was more concerned about holding the ball and playing keep away from Georgia Tech in the first half than he was running his offense. He did not put QB Bryn Renner in a position to be successful. Third-and-Long is a difficult position to put any QB in on just about every series.
So far this season North Carolina seems to perform at a higher level when they are using the pass to set up the run. After the first game, the teams they have played seemed determined to make Bryn Renner beat them. As was the case against Georgia Tech, interceptions have been his problem this season.
Gio Bernard seems to get better and better with every game and his play has relegated Senior Ryan Houston into being a non-factor. Gio had a scintillating 55-yard run for a TD against Georgia Tech and is well on his way to being a 1,000 yard rusher, averaging over 100 yards a game now.
The Tarheel receiving corps has been almost all Dwight Jones with a little bit of Erik Highsmith thrown in. The rest of the receivers have been non-existent. Jones had 8 more catches against Georgia Tech, Freshman Sean Tapley got his first career start and had one catch for 18 yards, and Jheranie Boyd had one catch for 4 yards. The Tight Ends had more drops than they had catches although Nelson Hurst did have his first career TD reception.
So far this season North Carolina seems to perform at a higher level when they are using the pass to set up the run. After the first game, the teams they have played seemed determined to make Bryn Renner beat them. As was the case against Georgia Tech, interceptions have been his problem this season.
Gio Bernard seems to get better and better with every game and his play has relegated Senior Ryan Houston into being a non-factor. Gio had a scintillating 55-yard run for a TD against Georgia Tech and is well on his way to being a 1,000 yard rusher, averaging over 100 yards a game now.
The Tarheel receiving corps has been almost all Dwight Jones with a little bit of Erik Highsmith thrown in. The rest of the receivers have been non-existent. Jones had 8 more catches against Georgia Tech, Freshman Sean Tapley got his first career start and had one catch for 18 yards, and Jheranie Boyd had one catch for 4 yards. The Tight Ends had more drops than they had catches although Nelson Hurst did have his first career TD reception.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Versus Rutgers- The Offense
The offense struggled a little bit against Rutgers. The offensive line really didn't create many holes for the Tarheel running backs. They only had two long runs, one each by Gio Bernard and Ryan Houston. Out of leading rusher Gio Bernard's 81 yards, 66 of those came on two runs. 33 yards out of Ryan Houston's came on one run.
Completion wise, QB Bryn Renner had another good game but he threw three picks, he threw two up for grabs and he tried strong-arming one into Erik Highsmith where it was defleccted and intercepted. He seems to be having a hard time finding the safety playing centerfield. He has thrown picks to the centerfielder in each game this season.
The wide receivers played solid games with the exception of the fact they put two balls on the ground. Dwight Jones, barring injury, may be the best wide receiver in the ACC. He posted another 100 + yard game and scored another TD. He is setting himself up to be a high draft pick in next years NFL draft. Freshman Tight End Eric Ebron had a nice 27 yard reception and Tight End Nelson Hurst also had his first reception on the season.
The positives that came out of this game are that the running game has a sense of excitement about it with Gio Bernard back there. His 60 yard TD run was a thing of beauty. Ryan Houston also had a nice 33 yard run that sealed the deal for the Tarheels towards the end of the game. He was also very alert in recovering the fumbled snap by Bryn Renner and may have saved the game in doing so.
Completion wise, QB Bryn Renner had another good game but he threw three picks, he threw two up for grabs and he tried strong-arming one into Erik Highsmith where it was defleccted and intercepted. He seems to be having a hard time finding the safety playing centerfield. He has thrown picks to the centerfielder in each game this season.
The wide receivers played solid games with the exception of the fact they put two balls on the ground. Dwight Jones, barring injury, may be the best wide receiver in the ACC. He posted another 100 + yard game and scored another TD. He is setting himself up to be a high draft pick in next years NFL draft. Freshman Tight End Eric Ebron had a nice 27 yard reception and Tight End Nelson Hurst also had his first reception on the season.
The positives that came out of this game are that the running game has a sense of excitement about it with Gio Bernard back there. His 60 yard TD run was a thing of beauty. Ryan Houston also had a nice 33 yard run that sealed the deal for the Tarheels towards the end of the game. He was also very alert in recovering the fumbled snap by Bryn Renner and may have saved the game in doing so.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A 7-5 Regular Season
The Tarheels held off Duke yesterday in the final game of the regular season to give them a final record of 7-5 and guaranteeing them a winning record for the third year in a row. I can't help but think it could have been so much more but that is all in the past.
The Tarheels racked up over 500 yards of offense yesterday but left too many points on the field. They had a good combination of rushing and passing, had several long drives but one ended with a field goal and another ended in a missed field goal, both were very short attempts.
The 'Heels got contributions from quite a few people that have not appeared too much in the boxscores this year. Tight Ends Nelson Hurst and Christian Wilson made contributions both blocking and receiving, reserve Linebacker Herman Davidson had a key second half sack, and Wide Receiver Jheranie Boyd made a guest appearance with a catch and two rushes for 41 yards although he did drop a sure touchdown pass. It might be because they haven't thrown to him in so long but that might be the reason why they haven't thrown to him.
The Tarheels stars played solid games as well. TJ Yates had another solid game with 264 yards and a touchdown to Wide Receiver Joshua Adams, Wide Receiver Dwight Jones had 11 catches for 121 yards and has become the "go to guy", senior Anthony Elzy had one of the best games of his career with 116 yards rushing and a touchdown.
The bowl destination has yet to be decided but I have heard speculation that it might be the Music City Bowl in Nashville against possibly Tennessee, Georgia, or Kentucky. Those would be good but very difficult matchups for the 'Heels especially Tennessee. Todd Bray, the Freshman QB has really been throwing the ball around with quite a bit of success. Any of those matchups would be popular in the South as well.
The Tarheels racked up over 500 yards of offense yesterday but left too many points on the field. They had a good combination of rushing and passing, had several long drives but one ended with a field goal and another ended in a missed field goal, both were very short attempts.
The 'Heels got contributions from quite a few people that have not appeared too much in the boxscores this year. Tight Ends Nelson Hurst and Christian Wilson made contributions both blocking and receiving, reserve Linebacker Herman Davidson had a key second half sack, and Wide Receiver Jheranie Boyd made a guest appearance with a catch and two rushes for 41 yards although he did drop a sure touchdown pass. It might be because they haven't thrown to him in so long but that might be the reason why they haven't thrown to him.
The Tarheels stars played solid games as well. TJ Yates had another solid game with 264 yards and a touchdown to Wide Receiver Joshua Adams, Wide Receiver Dwight Jones had 11 catches for 121 yards and has become the "go to guy", senior Anthony Elzy had one of the best games of his career with 116 yards rushing and a touchdown.
The bowl destination has yet to be decided but I have heard speculation that it might be the Music City Bowl in Nashville against possibly Tennessee, Georgia, or Kentucky. Those would be good but very difficult matchups for the 'Heels especially Tennessee. Todd Bray, the Freshman QB has really been throwing the ball around with quite a bit of success. Any of those matchups would be popular in the South as well.
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