North Carolina Vs. Old Dominion Preview

The North Carolina Tarheels go into their third game of the season looking for their first win of the year against an undefeated Old Dominion Monarchs team. The Tarheels enter the game as a 10 1/2 point favorite.

Games like this make me nervous because the Tarheels are primed for an upset. This is the Tarheels first road game and some in the media have described this game as Old Dominion's "Super Bowl". It's an ACC opponent and the last time the two teams played in 2013, the Tarheels broke just about every offensive record in the book in an 80-20 victory. That game was played to long ago for revenge to be a factor and this game would not be an upset on the scale of Appalachian State-Michigan, but it would be a huge program win for Old Dominion.

The Tarheels come into the game unsettled on offense with no clear cut starting quarterback so I would expect Brandon Harris and Chaz Surratt to split snaps again, the Tarheels have not really established a running game and all but abandoned the run in the second half last week against Louisville and need to get freshman Michael Carter some more carries. The Tarheels have also been slow to develop a vertical passing game. Some of the young wide receivers-Dazz Newsome, Roscoe Johnson, Anthony Ratliff-Williams, Juval Mollette-for North Carolina. The Tarheels are also banged up on the offensive line and depth has already become an issue three games into the season. The Old Dominion defense leads the nation in sacks and already has 21 tackles for loss in their first two games.

Old Dominion has lost some of their top playmakers on offense so this is an opportunity for the Tarheels defense to get things right. Old Dominion features a balanced offense with a fairly even run/pass ratio but Old Dominion will be without one of their top wide receivers Jonathan Duhart and running back Ray Lawry has been hobbled by a hamstring injury.

The phrase "defensive struggle" and the North Carolina Tarheels have never been associated with each other but this may be a rare game in which the defenses will take over and control the outcome of the game. Turnovers will be a factor and whichever team plays mistake free football will win. The Tarheels need to use offensive tempo to keep the Old Dominion pass rushers at bay and I believe North Carolina will pull it out 24-17 to get their first win of the year.

The Victory Bell Comes Home

UNC recaptured the Victory Bell from Duke last night with a 45-20 win and it was a great sight to see. The way ESPN did their pregame show, it was like they expected Duke to win. They interviewed Coach David Cutcliffe before the game, showed some coach or visiting crackhead from Duke giving a "motivational" speech in the Duke locker room before the game (I think the speech had to do with the benefits of smoking crack before the game), and all UNC got was a spot of Ryan Switzer's dance moves (and contrary to ESPN's commentary, I thought the moves were solid).

The end result was I hope the Duke coach is getting treatment, UNC's D played their best game of the year, The Victory Bell belongs to the Tarheels, and I am sure Ryan Switzer danced the night away after having over 100 receiving yards in the game. ESPN is left to ponder what exactly what is unbiased coverage of a sporting event.

Touchdown Jesus

#6 Notre Dame needed Touchdown Jesus and some very iffy Fourth Quarter officiating to hold off a game North carolina Tarheels team 50-43. A "Roughing the Snapper" penalty on a 4th and 18 and two pass interference penalties on Notre Dame's final drive sealed North Carolinba's fate. How many times has a "Roughing the Snapper" penalty ever been called in college football?

Notre Dame is a good football team and I am pretty sure they would have won the game, but the officiating in college football is horrible. A non-interference and interference calls helped decide a great TCU-Baylor game eventually won by Baylor 61-58.

Turnovers And Penalties

The first play of the game was a North Carolina turnover and the game got really sloppy after that. I lost track of how many turnovers and penalties they had but it all amounts to a loss in what I believed was a very winnable game.

First of all, I owe an apology to North Carolina's defense in this game. It was their best game of the season. 21 of Virginia Tech's points came off of UNC turnovers and the offense turned the ball over twice inside their own 20 yard line. The defense was on the field for over 41 minutes. The defense has to be put in a situation to be successful.

I did not understand the offensive game plan at all. The "Four Horseman" backfield of North Carolina's only had 9 carries for 15 yards. Quarterback Marquise Williams had 19 carries for 94 yards. He was their offense whether it was by choice or by design I do not know.

Previewing Virginia Tech

The Virginia Tech-North Carolina game may go a long way in deciding which team goes to a bowl game. Both teams come into the game at 2-2 and this is probably the weakest Virginia Tech team that Head Coach Frank Beamer has had in quite a while. They have one common opponent in East Carolina and they both lost to East Carolina but in very different fashions. Virginia Tech got way behind before taking the lead in the 4th quarter only to lose in the last couple of minutes. All Tarheel fans remember how the 'Heels fared against East Carolina.

The Virginia Tech Hokies have been hit hard by the injury bug. They are down to three Defensive Tackles and against the 'Heels fast paced offense, that could be problematic especially late in the game. The Hokies also lost one of their feature Running Backs to an ACL injury in their last game.

Virginia Tech has also been chucking the ball up in record numbers for a Frank Beamer team. Quarterback Michael Brewer has an ACC high 10 interceptions and when the Tarheel defense is not giving up yards by the mile, they are adept at creating turnovers. It is feast or famine with the 'Heels defensive backs and it should be interesting to see if Beamer is willing to go deep. It may all hinge on the Tarheels ability to put pressure on Brewer. The 'Heels rank last in defense and Virginia Tech is in the bottom third of the league in offense. Who wins the battle of the worst?

The Tarheels offense needs to go to work. East Carolina was very successful throwing deep early against Virginia Tech and North Carolina should utilize its size at Wide Receiver in Bug Howard and Quinshad Davis to their advantage and see what happens. The success of their season may rest on it.

The Positives

Going into the Clemson game I had serious doubts about the Tarheels ability to stay competitive with Clemson in Death Valley. The Tarheels not only stayed competitive but were an end zone interception and an onside kick away from making it a very interesting last two minutes at Clemson.

On offense, the Tarheels put up 35 points against what most consider a very good Clemson defense and a young and injury riddled offensive line only gave up 3 sacks and gained almost 500 yards of total offense. Quarterback Marquise Williams throw for 345 yards and 4 touchdowns and Tarheel Quarterbacks completed passes to 13 different receivers. Freshman Elijah Hood may have emerged from the logjam at Running Back as the go to guy with 13 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown.

On defense, the 'Heels defensive backs got beat deep repeatedly and gave up 6 touchdown passes. The 'Heels defensive line did get 3 sacks and record 7 tackles for loss and intercept a pass. The Tarheel defense did hold Clemson to 92 yards rushing and 2.1 yards per attempt.

Previewing Clemson

The Clemson game is going to be tough. The Tarheels offense will be facing a Clemson defensive front that can put pressure on the QB, has plenty of experience, and knows how to blitz. A young and inexperienced offensive line got thinner and younger when two Tarheel starting offensive linemen went down last week and are unavailable for this game. This is a game for Wide Receivers Quinshad Davis and Bug Howard to use their size to their advantage and make plays. The Tarheels defense also face a daunting task. I think Clemson has finally settled on a QB than can beat you with his legs and his arm and I look for Clemson to put up a few points. Death Valley has never really been kind to the Tarheels anyway and if the 'Heels can keep it close into the 4th Quarter, anything can happen.

Insanity

Albert Einstein defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." The North Carolina Tarheels defensive game plan against East Carolina was the definition of insanity. They gave up an even more insane 70 points and it could have been worse. I have said it before but it is time to scrap the 4-2-5 defense and go back to the drawing board. I don't know if the coaching staff does not have the athletes to make this system work but I have always been of the opinion that your system has to fit the players on hand. Their blitzes Saturday were all slow and telegraphed, their zone coverages were very loose and wide open, but they did play some solid man-to-man defense down the field. M.J. Stewart, Donnie Miles, and Brian Walker all made plays on the ball when they had the chance. The Tarheels travel to pass happy and athlete-rich Clemson this coming Saturday and they may need to line their players up one-on-one and see what happens.

Redemption Versus East Carolina

First of all, I think redemption is a lousy motivating factor going into a football game. If you have to use what happened last year to get up for a football game, then you may be in trouble. I watched the East Carolina-Virginia Tech game and in the First Quarter, all ECU QB Shane Carden did was throw jump balls to his Wide Receivers 50 yards down the field. This is the same QB that lit up the North Carolina defense last year. This year's UNC DB's do not have the experience that last year's DB's did. This year's UNC Defensive Line only has one returning veteran and that is Ethan Farmer. LB Norkeithus Otis making his return will aid the Tarheel defense. The 'Heels defense has had two weeks to prepare for this as well as having the benefit of being able to watch the game last week. UNC's offense has not exactly set the College Football world on fire either. The Tarheel offense was shutout against San Diego State in the first half of their game. They have a young offensive line going up against the Swamp Monster and a blitzing ECU defense. I think UNC also needs to settle on one or two Running Backs to carry the load. This three or four Running Back system is not allowing the Backs to develop any kind of rhythm with their Offensive Line. My top two are T.J. Logan and Elijah Hood. I think the Tarheels need to roll QB Marquise Williams out and get him out of the pocket and on the edge and let him make some plays.

Two And Oh

I was talking about the San Diego State-North Carolina game with my roommate this morning and he made the comment "At least they won..." When is a win a loss? If the first two games has taught this Tarheel fan anything it's that the Tarheels defense has some major weaknesses. San Diego State kept running up the middle last night to the tune of 168 yards rushing for the game. San Diego State had 509 yards total offense although the 'Heels came away with three interceptions. The 'Heels did not mount much pressure on the QB and only have one sack in two games but have came away with 9 turnovers. I have never been a big fan of the 4-2-5 defense. It might be time for Coach Fedora to try some thing more conventional like a 4-3, especially against running teams. The 'Heels are are not getting any pressure up the middle and the 4-2-5 is not creating the mayhem it is designed to. The 'Heels defense has given up 56 points in two games and they have East carolina, Clemson, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech as their next 4 opponents. As a lifelong Tarheel fan, I am celebrating the fact that the 'Heels are 2-0. I also realize the team has a lot of work cut out for them.

First Impressions- Georgia Tech

It was a tale of two halves today for the North Carolina Tarheels versus the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Offensively in the first half, the North Carolina Tarheels Offensive Game Plan lacked imagination and was very predictable. The 'Heels only passed on obvious passing downs and Bryn Renner was only 4 for 9 for 36 yards and they only had 93 yards of total offense at halftime and Gio Bernard had 68 of those on the ground and 18 on receptions.

The Tarheels had to play catch up the entire second half and finally pulled even at 28-28 but the defense could not stop the Georgia Tech ground game. They still had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter and you can't ask for much more than that.

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.

Auburn, Cam Newton, and the NCAA

With everything that is going on with Cam Newton and Auburn, I have grown to admire the administration at the University of North Carolina more and more everyday. As soon as reports started surfacing about any improprieties that went on with Tarheel football players, they were immediately pulled from the team until their names could be cleared or some other determination could be made. That probably cost the team some wins but the administration made the right decision in taking what actions they did.
By stark contrast, the coaching staff and the administration at Auburn went straight to denial mode. There is no doubt in my mind that Cam Newton is the best college football player out there and is probably deserving of the Heisman Trophy. There seems to be no doubt in anyone's mind that his father took a ton of money for his son's services, and whether Cam Newton knew about it or not (which I really find hard to believe), his father was still a representative of his family. Auburn decided to take no action and leave him on the playing field and they have kept racking up wins and stayed near the top of the rankings. If the NCAA finds him guilty of any wrongdoing, I think they should throw the book at Auburn. They should make them vacate all of the wins and issue any other sanctions they deem necessary because the administration at Auburn chose to ignore the smoke following their star player around.

Wide Right Part Whatever

UNC 37, Florida State 35. All I can say is what a game. Going in to the game, I have to admit that I was expecting the worst. Florida State was coming off a tough loss and the 'Heels barely squeaked by FCS William and Mary. It was homecoming at Florida State, they had never won there before, and the deck was stacked against them.
Offensive Coordinator John Shoop came out and did what I have wanted him to do all season long. Open it up, let TJ Yates throw the ball, and rack up some yards. Part of today's plan may have had to do with the fact that they were down to their fourth string running back, Hunter Furr, by the end of the game. He ended up leading the team in rushing (27 yards on 3 carries) but they were the most important rushing yards of the game as they were driving for Casey Barth's game winning field goal. It still took a "wide right" by Florida State to seal the deal but I'll take it. It is about time the football gods smiled on the 'Heels this season.
The real story of the game was TJ Yates and his school record 437 passing yards. Dwight Jones has become "the man" among ACC wide receivers. 8 Catches for 232 yards and a touchdown. Jhay Boyd and Eric Highsmith have all but disappeared for whatever reason. Redshirt Freshman Joshua Adams had some big time catches and his first collegiate touchdown.
The defense took on a "bend but don't break" philosophy and played shut down football in the second half. The only points they scored came off a 1 yard drive as a result of a botched snap to the punter.
What a Game!!

at least they won

The game against a very good FCS William and Mary team would fall into the category of "at least they won." I watched the game on my trusty Dell laptop on espn3.com and the first half was ugly to watch from both an offensive and defensive standpoint and the second half wasn't much better. They just didn't play with any emotion on either side of the ball so I don't know if they still had a Miami hangover or what. They will end up having to play the team managers and waterboys if they lose any more players. You could feel the absence of Zach Pianalto on T.J. Yates interception on the second series of the game as he and Ryan Taylor just were not on the same page. The Mike Paulus, the QB transfer from North Carolina to William and Mary, we saw in the first half was the player North Carolina recruited in 2006. The Mike Paulus we saw in the second half was the player that played at North Carolina. It helped the the 'Heels defensive line finally got a little bit of pressure on him to the tune of three sacks. It was just a plodding, boring game that I thought could have used some more passing and spreading the field a little bit more. Dwight Jones has started turning into the player that everyone thought he was going to be coming out of high school (8 catches for 104 yards) and Jhay Boyd from Gastonia has all but disappeared after his breakout game against LSU (1 catch for -1 yards)and T.J. Yates seems to have lost the confidence he had earlier in the season. Johnny White had another monster game (160+ yards) and it would be tough for me to imagine what the 'Heels record would be if he had gotten caught up in the NCAA mess in Chapel Hill.

Midseason report card

I have to give the Tarheels an "incomplete" for the midseason grades and I might as well give them an "incomplete" on the season as well. This grade is a direct result of the NCAA and academic mess that has become North Carolina Tarheel football in 2010. These problems are going to reach much farther than 2010. The 'Heels have been forced to play some freshmen, especially on defense, that more than likely would have been red-shirted this season. Players like Tre Boston, Jabari Price, Tim Jackson, and Kareem Martin could have used a year in the weight room but instead they are logging major minutes on the field. I must admit that coming into the season i believed that Quarterback T.J. Yates would have been supplanted by Redshirt Freshman Bryn Renner by the 3rd or 4th game. I have never been fond of Offensive Coordinator John Shoop's play calling, I think Yates holds on to the ball too long, and I don't understand half-ass play fakes on 3rd and 10, but throw in do everything back Johnny White and their offense has been better than expected. The suspensions have particularly hurt the defense but they have not played badly either. All of this basically adds up to a 4-3 record and makes you wonder "what might have been?" and I really hate that.