2012 Review- Defense

Coach Larry Fedora also brought a new defensive scheme with him, the 4-2-5, that was supposed to contain a "jail break" blitz philosophy. I was picturing a Pittsburgh Steelers type defensive scheme with a lot of sacks and wreaking total havoc on the other teams offense. It did not quite turn out that way. It became a situation where the coaching staff had to try to take the pieces they had and make them fit. Seniors Gene Robinson (Ram) and Dion Guy (Bandit) were put in positions that were new to the defense and had never played in that system before. The Tarheels defense was prone to allowing the big pass play and most of their games were high scoring affairs that never lacked for a dull moment. Depth, especially on the defensive line, was also problematic. They did not really have the depth to run the 4-2-5 system but they plowed ahead but allowed over 25 points a game but if you take out the two shutouts against Elon and Idaho, it rose to over 30 a game. Defensive Back Tre Boston led the team in tackles with 86 and tied for the team lead in interceptions with 4 but anytime you have a defensive back leasd the team in tackles you might have problems. Kevin Reddick was second on the team in tackles with 85 and led the team in sacks with 6 1/2 and had a solid senior season. Defensive Tackle Sylvester Williams was told he was too heavy by the new coaching staff and put in the work to lose 30 pounds before the season started. He had an All-American senior season and was second on the team in sacks with 6 and had 13 1/2 tackles for loss. Several underclassmen emerged with solid seasons. Junior LB Tommy Heffernan, Redshirt Freshmen Safety's Darien Rankin and Sam Smiley, and fellow first year Freshmen Shakeel Rashad, Justin Thomason, and Jessie Rogers all logged quality minutes this season. The off season will be key as Coach Fedora starts recruiting his own style players to fit this system.

Va Tech Fourth Quarter

A beautiful 24 yard completion to Tapley to open the fourth. Bernard is up over 230 yards now. I am officially begging the Tarheels to not play the prevent defense. The only thing it prevents you from doing is winning. Tommy Heffernan with the Tarheels first sack of the game albeit was only for a loss of one yard. Once again the 'Heels D gashed by the long pass. How do you let a Wide Receiver get behind you like that? Logan Thomas does have an arm on him. UNC 45, Va Tech 34. A 34 yard run by A.J. Blue. The 'Heels have to keep the pressure on. Give up the option with Bryn Renner at QB. I don't think that play has gained a yard the entire game. Virginia Tech does not respect Renner as a runner and it will not be effective. Another pass interference on the Hokies? That call saved this drive for the Tarheels. Another Barth field goal. UNC 48, Va Tech 34. The refs flat out refuse to call offensive holding on the Hokies. Period. End of statement. I cannot believe they did not review the Reddick fumble recovery. He had posession inbounds. The Sylvester Williams-Kevin Reddick sack of Logan Thomas on fourth down finished off the Virginia Tech Hokies. The refs were actually going to call holding on that play as Williams was tackled but literally crawled on his hands and knees to get to the QB. Gio Bernard did the rest. Final score UNC 48, Virginia Tech 34.

A Tale Of Two Halves

Two different North Carolina Tarheel football teams showed up to play the Louisville Cardinals yesterday. Their was the Tarheels team from the first half that couldn't do anything right- penalties, interceptions, fumbles, centering the ball over the QB's head, bouncing it to the QB, lobbing it to the QB, and more missed tackles and missed assignments than I would care to count. The 'Heels didn't move the ball on offense until the end of the first half and the defense didn't stop Louisville at all. Louisville scored on every posession in the first half. The Tarheels did not have a clue on offense or defense. They lost the first half 36-7. The second half a team that wanted to compete came out of the locker room. On the Cardinals first drive of the second half Linebacker Tommy Heffernan stopped the Louisville running back on fourth down and that was a play they needed to make. The Tarheels drove down the field and scored after that and you could see them gaining confidence. They stopped the run, they put pressure on the Cardinals QB Teddy Bridgewater, and the offense looked crisp and sharp. In the second half they got it. Several players showed up in the second half and the 'Heels even found a few players. Tommy Heffernan had 12 tackles including a sack and that crucial fourth down stop, Romar Morris had 149 yards receiving out of the backfield including two TD receptions, and QB Bryn Renner tied a school record with 5 TD passes, 2 of those to TE Eric Ebron, and set a career high with 363 yards. They won the second half 27-3. The totals equal a loss but there are some positives to take out of this game.

Versus Rutgers- The Defense

The Tarheels run stuffers played a great game. The Rutgers offense totaled only one rushing yard but their pass defense is another story. The 'Heels are young and inexperienced in the defensive backfield and it really shows at times. The 'Heels defense also took some stupid penalties and prolonged some Rutgers posessions. It is definitely a work in progress.

The Tarheels have some serious speed at Linebacker. They remind me of the Florida State teams from 10-15 years ago. Zach Brown and Kevin Reddick were really flying around and even Ebele Okakpu went sprinting into the backfield to bring down a running back for a loss. Darius Lipford is another one with speed that came on a blitz and batted a pass down. They all got in on the act.

There were a couple of occasions in this game where the Tarheels had a chance at interceptions but flat out did not catch the ball. Matt Merletti and MLB Tommy Heffernan come to mind. They need to start creating turnovers.

Growing Pains

Todays 24-22 win over Rutgers was about as ugly a win as you can possibly get. 5 Tarheel turnovers, 3 interceptions thrown by Bryn Renner and 2 fumbles by wide receivers after the catch. the 'Heels put at least 4 other balls on the ground, the last one of those occurred when they were just trying to kneel on the ball. Yes they still have alot of work to do.

The first series of the game the Tarheels looked like an offensive juggernaut when Renner hit Dwight Jones with a 66 yard TD pass. With the exception of three or four runs, their run game was anemic. They only had a single yard rushing after the First Quarter. However, every time Giovani Bernard touches the ball, you can't help but feel something exciting is going to happen. He got the start today over Ryan Houston. The 60 yard TD run of his was a thing of beauty.

The defense has helped sustain drives by their opponents in the first two games by taking bad penalties on a couple of third and longs. Granted Rutgers had a short field to work on several of their offensive series but the 'Heel defense helped them out on several occasions. They allowed Rutgers to convert several third-and-longs. They also should have had two interceptions, one by Matt Merletti and the other by Freshman MLB Tommy Heffernan, but the balls were dropped.

The Tarheels improved to 2-0 but the offense left alot of points out on the field and I guess you could say that the defense did too. Everette Withers, in the post game interview I saw, realizes that he was lucky to get out of there with a win and that the coaching staff has alot of correctable material to work with.