The North Carolina Tarheels took it to the University of Miami 59-21 in a game that was played with an edge from the opening kickoff. Marquise Williams keeps racking up the touchdowns for North Carolina and North Carolina won their ninth game in a row and only need one more win to wrap up their first Coastal Division title and a trip to their first ACC Championship game.
The game was chippy from the beginning. Multiple personal fouls on both teams, Miami had over 100 yards in penalties, North Carolina had over 50, and that is going to happen with a game of this magnitude. The only thing I really did not like was the "inverted 'U'" symbol that Marquise Williams made after scoring a touchdown and Ryan Switzer did the same thing after returning a punt for a touchdown before halftime.
If anybody deserves treatment like that, it would be Miami. They have done that kind of thing for years and most sports are very cyclical. If you play a team every year, there is always that one year that other team will exact a little bit of payback. North Carolina has a history of playing Miami tough even when Miami was at the top of the college football world.
Miami was not a bad team coming into the game at 6-3 and still with a chance to win the Coastal Division. Miami needed a scapegoat after a 58-0 thrashing at the hands of Clemson about a month ago and Coach Al Golden was that scapegoat. They are still pretty much the same team they were a month ago and they will probably end up in a bowl game but that is not good enough for "the U."
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Always The Coach
There is a habit among coaches that probably goes back to the days of James Naismith and that is you cannot let your team feel to good about what they just accomplished. The North Carolina Tarheels beat the Temple Owls 91-67 in the opener for both teams and Coach Roy Williams was not exactly a happy man after the game.
Junior big man Kennedy Meeks had a career high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds and three blocks but Coach Williams said after the game that he was not ready to "anoint" Meeks because he was facing much smaller Temple players and indicated that Meeks should have had a pretty good game. He also said that Junior Isaiah Hicks "did not play worth a dang" after scoring only six points and four rebounds.
Senior Brice Johnson also had a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) but was involved in an incident towards the end of the game that resulted in Nate Britt getting ejected from the game. Johnson had a rebound dunk and he hung on the rim and a Temple player took exception to the fact that Johnson's legs were wrapped around his neck and shoved him to the ground. Nate Britt left the bench to prevent the altercation from escalating, resulting in Britt's automatic ejection.
As far as I know, hanging on the rim is still a technical foul and the only exception is a player can hang on the rim to avoid injury. Now players hang on the rim to rub it in the other team's face and call a few technical foul's and the problem might go away.
Britt played a great game, 15 points and three for four from the three point line) and Roy Williams did credit Britt with being a catalyst off the bench. Coach Williams did punish the whole team by making them dress up for the trip back to Chapel Hill thanks to Britt's lack of better judgement.
Junior big man Kennedy Meeks had a career high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds and three blocks but Coach Williams said after the game that he was not ready to "anoint" Meeks because he was facing much smaller Temple players and indicated that Meeks should have had a pretty good game. He also said that Junior Isaiah Hicks "did not play worth a dang" after scoring only six points and four rebounds.
Senior Brice Johnson also had a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) but was involved in an incident towards the end of the game that resulted in Nate Britt getting ejected from the game. Johnson had a rebound dunk and he hung on the rim and a Temple player took exception to the fact that Johnson's legs were wrapped around his neck and shoved him to the ground. Nate Britt left the bench to prevent the altercation from escalating, resulting in Britt's automatic ejection.
As far as I know, hanging on the rim is still a technical foul and the only exception is a player can hang on the rim to avoid injury. Now players hang on the rim to rub it in the other team's face and call a few technical foul's and the problem might go away.
Britt played a great game, 15 points and three for four from the three point line) and Roy Williams did credit Britt with being a catalyst off the bench. Coach Williams did punish the whole team by making them dress up for the trip back to Chapel Hill thanks to Britt's lack of better judgement.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Isaiah Hicks
Usually there is at least one name that generates buzz coming out of North Carolina's fall practices for being much improved or they put in some serious work over the summer and it shows in their game. This year it is junior big man Isaiah Hicks. I have been expecting big things from Hicks since he set foot in the Dean Dome as a freshman but the transition from high school to college is a bigger leap for some players than it is for others. Hicks caught my attention when he had 34 points and 30 rebounds in the state high school championship game as a senior in high school. I don't care who you are playing against, those are some eye popping numbers.
Hicks may not even start at the beginning of this season. He is primed and ready for his breakout season and he could be on the floor at the same time as Kennedy Meeks, Brice Johnson, Justin Jackson, Isaiah Hicks, and Marcus Paige on the floor at the same time. Size and athleticism. We wouldn't need to shoot three's but Paige could if he had to.
Hicks may not even start at the beginning of this season. He is primed and ready for his breakout season and he could be on the floor at the same time as Kennedy Meeks, Brice Johnson, Justin Jackson, Isaiah Hicks, and Marcus Paige on the floor at the same time. Size and athleticism. We wouldn't need to shoot three's but Paige could if he had to.
Is It Almost Time For Tarheels Basketball?
With the North Carolina Tarheels football team on a roll with eight straight wins, the beginning of the Tarheels basketball season started with not much fanfare or noise at all, even with the Tarheels basketball team ranked #1 in most preseason polls. The fans in Tarheel land have not been this excited about football since the Mack Brown era ended in 1997. If the Tarheels football teams wins out, which is a distinct possibility, they could enter the college football "postseason" at 11-1 with a chance to make some serious noise on the national scene.
The word out of the Tarheel basketball camp is "potential." At the beginning of any season, potential is a good word. At the end of the season, it is usually used in past tense and is the worst word in sports. Senior point guard and team leader marsus Paige has already broken his hand and will be out for the first month of the season. "Potential" fills out the rest of the roster.
For the first time in several seasons, North Carolina's roster will not be dominated by freshmen. There will be a good mix of upper classmen and the freshman class is only two strong and will more than likely not see much playing time.
The word out of the Tarheel basketball camp is "potential." At the beginning of any season, potential is a good word. At the end of the season, it is usually used in past tense and is the worst word in sports. Senior point guard and team leader marsus Paige has already broken his hand and will be out for the first month of the season. "Potential" fills out the rest of the roster.
For the first time in several seasons, North Carolina's roster will not be dominated by freshmen. There will be a good mix of upper classmen and the freshman class is only two strong and will more than likely not see much playing time.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Marquise Williams
I am one of those Tarheel fans that pour through the recruiting lists every signing day to see what kind of potential they have with North Carolina and to see how they might fit in. Quarterback Marquise Williams was on the "letter of intent list in 2011. I was living in Charlotte at that time and had heard of Marquise Williams at Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte and knew that he had put up some pretty gaudy numbers in high school. Most quarterbacks put up impressive numbers in high school so you really can't go by that.
I did notice that he ran the same type of system that new head coach Larry Fedora wanted to run but Williams was already behind Bryn Renner and Braden Hanson so I was thinking that Williams may see some playing time when he was a Junior or a Senior. Williams red-shirted one year and Hanson ended up transferring to North Dakota so it came down to Renner and Williams for playing time in Renner's Junior and Senior seasons. Williams had some academic and some injury issues and it always seemed like he was missing spring practice and the valuable reps that came with it for some reason or another.
Renner was the more natural passer of the two and Williams was the better runner so they put in special option packages for Williams in his red shirt Freshman year but by the middle of Renner's Senior season, he was losing about half of his reps to Williams and then Renner got hurt against North Carolina State. That game was when the changing of the guard at Quarterback occurred and it became Williams team.
The Tarheels appeared in a bowl game behind the leadership of Williams in 2013 but the 2014 became a completely different story. As a fan, I could tell from the outset that the 'Heels were not playing as a team and that all became public after their bowl game against Rutgers. Williams posted some solid numbers but the Tarheels staggered to a 6-7 record including a mauling by Rutgers that made most of the Tarheel fan base question whether Larry Fedora should still be the head coach.
An offseason meeting, Williams once again misses spring practice, and a three pick day by Williams against South Carolina, and the beginning of this season had the same feeling as last season's did to it.
That was when the Tarheel coaching staff went to work. The Tarheels turned more of the offensive load over to sophomore running back Elijah Hood, the running game features less of Williams, and backup QB Mitch Trubisky has not been rotating in for at least one series in every game. Coach Fedora has not been afraid to show Williams "tough love" as he did against Delaware when he benched him for the entire second half due to poor play.
Fast forward a couple of months, Williams has been named to the Davey O'Brien watch list, UNC has won eight in a row, and is in line for it's first Coastal Division title and it's first appearance in the ACC Championship game. This is due in large part to the maturity of Marquise Williams. He had a record setting game against Duke (494 passing yards and did not even play the fourth quarter) but the three best throws he made the entire game were the three passes that he threw out of bounds because the play was not there.
I did notice that he ran the same type of system that new head coach Larry Fedora wanted to run but Williams was already behind Bryn Renner and Braden Hanson so I was thinking that Williams may see some playing time when he was a Junior or a Senior. Williams red-shirted one year and Hanson ended up transferring to North Dakota so it came down to Renner and Williams for playing time in Renner's Junior and Senior seasons. Williams had some academic and some injury issues and it always seemed like he was missing spring practice and the valuable reps that came with it for some reason or another.
Renner was the more natural passer of the two and Williams was the better runner so they put in special option packages for Williams in his red shirt Freshman year but by the middle of Renner's Senior season, he was losing about half of his reps to Williams and then Renner got hurt against North Carolina State. That game was when the changing of the guard at Quarterback occurred and it became Williams team.
The Tarheels appeared in a bowl game behind the leadership of Williams in 2013 but the 2014 became a completely different story. As a fan, I could tell from the outset that the 'Heels were not playing as a team and that all became public after their bowl game against Rutgers. Williams posted some solid numbers but the Tarheels staggered to a 6-7 record including a mauling by Rutgers that made most of the Tarheel fan base question whether Larry Fedora should still be the head coach.
An offseason meeting, Williams once again misses spring practice, and a three pick day by Williams against South Carolina, and the beginning of this season had the same feeling as last season's did to it.
That was when the Tarheel coaching staff went to work. The Tarheels turned more of the offensive load over to sophomore running back Elijah Hood, the running game features less of Williams, and backup QB Mitch Trubisky has not been rotating in for at least one series in every game. Coach Fedora has not been afraid to show Williams "tough love" as he did against Delaware when he benched him for the entire second half due to poor play.
Fast forward a couple of months, Williams has been named to the Davey O'Brien watch list, UNC has won eight in a row, and is in line for it's first Coastal Division title and it's first appearance in the ACC Championship game. This is due in large part to the maturity of Marquise Williams. He had a record setting game against Duke (494 passing yards and did not even play the fourth quarter) but the three best throws he made the entire game were the three passes that he threw out of bounds because the play was not there.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
A Statement Win
If the North Carolina Tarheels were looking to make a statement against Duke and their fourth ranked defense, they had accomplished that goal by the end of the first quarter when they held a 21-3 lead. The Tarheels showed from the very first play that they were going to do whatever they had to do to win the game and conservative play calling was not an option.
When the Tarheels ran a flea flicker from their own 11 yard line on their first play from scrimmage, that told me they were all in. When running back Elijah Hood took the handoff from quarterback Marquise Williams, and pitched it back to Williams, there was no pressure from the Duke defense at all. Wide receiver Ryan Switzer hid among the Duke linebackers until the fake was sold and then Switzer was streaking down the field all by himself where Williams hit him with a perfect pass for an 89 yard touchdown and North Carolina's offense was just getting started.
Williams had thrown for 404 yards and three touchdown's by halftime, had ran one in, and UNC held a 38-10 lead. The Tarheels scored two touchdowns with under two minutes to go on long passes from Williams to wide receiver's Bug Howard and Mack Hollins and North Carolina's receivers continually got behind Duke's defensive backs and ended up with nine plays of over twenty yards.
Could it really have been that simple? Duke's safeties play near the line of scrimmage and they were willing to let Williams try to beat them through the air. North Carolina took advantage of their aggressiveness and just through over the top to their wide receivers. Giving up two long touchdown passes with under two minutes to go in the first half really surprised me. Duke did not appear to have anyone in deep coverage in either one of these plays as Hollins and Howard just streaked right by them untouched.
What has been lost in the shuffle of North Carolina's 66-31 win and 704 yards of total offense is the fact that Duke had 543 yards of offense of their own. The Tarheels defense did have three takeaways (two interceptions and a fumble recovery) but that is the most yards a Gene Chizik defense had given up all year long. I don't know if the lopsided score had anything to do with it but the announcer had no problems making up excuses for Duke's poor performance, basing it on the ending of last week's Miami-Duke game.
When the Tarheels ran a flea flicker from their own 11 yard line on their first play from scrimmage, that told me they were all in. When running back Elijah Hood took the handoff from quarterback Marquise Williams, and pitched it back to Williams, there was no pressure from the Duke defense at all. Wide receiver Ryan Switzer hid among the Duke linebackers until the fake was sold and then Switzer was streaking down the field all by himself where Williams hit him with a perfect pass for an 89 yard touchdown and North Carolina's offense was just getting started.
Williams had thrown for 404 yards and three touchdown's by halftime, had ran one in, and UNC held a 38-10 lead. The Tarheels scored two touchdowns with under two minutes to go on long passes from Williams to wide receiver's Bug Howard and Mack Hollins and North Carolina's receivers continually got behind Duke's defensive backs and ended up with nine plays of over twenty yards.
Could it really have been that simple? Duke's safeties play near the line of scrimmage and they were willing to let Williams try to beat them through the air. North Carolina took advantage of their aggressiveness and just through over the top to their wide receivers. Giving up two long touchdown passes with under two minutes to go in the first half really surprised me. Duke did not appear to have anyone in deep coverage in either one of these plays as Hollins and Howard just streaked right by them untouched.
What has been lost in the shuffle of North Carolina's 66-31 win and 704 yards of total offense is the fact that Duke had 543 yards of offense of their own. The Tarheels defense did have three takeaways (two interceptions and a fumble recovery) but that is the most yards a Gene Chizik defense had given up all year long. I don't know if the lopsided score had anything to do with it but the announcer had no problems making up excuses for Duke's poor performance, basing it on the ending of last week's Miami-Duke game.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
A Meaningful Game
This is the first "meaningful" football game that Duke and North Carolina have played since about 1939. By meaningful, I mean this game has Coastal Division title possibilities on the line and a spot in the ACC Championship game. Duke-North Carolina will always have the Victory Bell and it is Duke-North Carolina no matter what the sport but if it was not for Duke's loss to Miami last week that came right out of the Twilight Zone, they would both be nationally ranked.
Duke Coach David Cutcliffe has really turned Duke's program around and has made them relevant again and it looks like North Carolina Coach is finally starting to see some relevance in his fourth season. Fedora needed to get by that "we made it to a bowl game" hump and start playing for something more meaningful and this is it.
The Duke-North Carolina game shapes up to be classic football. UNC's offense versus Duke's nationally ranked defense. Most experts believe defense wins championships. North Carolina has played two opponents- Illinois and Wake Forest that have had nationally ranked defenses. The results were 48-14 and 50-14, both North Carolina blowouts.
Duke is a little more battle tested than Illinois or Wake Forest and they very well could be playing on a wet field. Duke's offense is very similar to North Carolina's and North Carolina's defense utilizes a "bend but don't break" philosophy. North Carolina's defensive stat line is never going to blow you out of the water with a lot of sacks, three-and-outs, or tackles for losses but they play solid fundamental football.
Duke Coach David Cutcliffe has really turned Duke's program around and has made them relevant again and it looks like North Carolina Coach is finally starting to see some relevance in his fourth season. Fedora needed to get by that "we made it to a bowl game" hump and start playing for something more meaningful and this is it.
The Duke-North Carolina game shapes up to be classic football. UNC's offense versus Duke's nationally ranked defense. Most experts believe defense wins championships. North Carolina has played two opponents- Illinois and Wake Forest that have had nationally ranked defenses. The results were 48-14 and 50-14, both North Carolina blowouts.
Duke is a little more battle tested than Illinois or Wake Forest and they very well could be playing on a wet field. Duke's offense is very similar to North Carolina's and North Carolina's defense utilizes a "bend but don't break" philosophy. North Carolina's defensive stat line is never going to blow you out of the water with a lot of sacks, three-and-outs, or tackles for losses but they play solid fundamental football.
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