Extra Points: It Matters

November 19, 2017 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace

By: Lee Pace

By Lee Pace

Tuesday's football practice was in the books just after 6 p.m. in Kenan Stadium. Eighteen Tar Heels had just gathered for a quick social media photo in advance of Senior Day festivities to come on Saturday against Western Carolina. Several players lingered in the northeast corner of the playing field doing media interviews. Showers and dinner beckoned.

In one corner of the field, though, there was still work to do.

Senior cornerback M.J. Stewart was by himself, taking his defensive posture on the 20 yard-line against an imaginary receiver, stepping, turning, punching, backpedaling. Over and over, Stewart fired his hands into the cool air as he would against the opponent's alpha dog wideout.

"I can't tell you why, something just told me I needed to get some extra work in," Stewart explained. "As a DB, you can never be perfect. My press technique needed a little work, I suppose."

Told later of this little snippet of Carolina's 2-8 existence in 2017, of having a senior who could have bolted for the NFL last spring but came back to help hold down the fort, defensive coordinator John Papuchis nodded in understanding.

"M.J. has big dreams," Papuchis said. "Those dreams stretch further than the next two weeks. He keeps the big picture in mind. He utilizes every minute to get better. This year has not been how you'd draw up your senior year. But nothing has changed in terms of his demeanor, character, work ethic, leadership. Nothing. Sometimes seniors have a tendency to check out late in their career, but he's done the opposite. M.J. put his foot on the gas."

Stewart, his fellow seniors and the rest of the Tar Heels put pedal to the metal Saturday against an outmanned Catamount squad in floating to a 65-10 win. Carolina scored on five straight offensive possessions after spotting WCU of the Southern Conference an early 7-0 lead, added a scoop-and-score by linebacker Jonathan Smith and hardly broke a sweat in continuing to build some late-season momentum going into its season finale Saturday at N.C. State.

"A lot of things were working," said QB Nathan Elliott. "The line did a great job blocking for the run game and holding up in protections, the receivers were getting open, that makes my job a lot easier. Today felt really comfortable."

"We probably played a pretty complete game in all three phases," Coach Larry Fedora added. "I'm proud of our guys, especially the seniors. It hasn't been the season we wanted. Our seniors have done a tremendous job of keeping the locker room positive and keeping our guys playing hard no matter what the situation was."

And they did so with nearly 70 players, managers and support personnel from the 1977 Tar Heel team that posted an 8-3-1 mark and won the old seven-team ACC championship watching on occasion of a 40-year reunion. In their midst was the great Lawrence Taylor, a freshman that season and scout team fodder before exploding two years later with a level of speed, strength and aggression that would forever change the game of football.

"What-ifs, that's what I remember about that team," said Jim Donnan, the offensive coordinator for head coach Bill Dooley and later the head coach at Georgia. "We lost two games by three points and lost at the end to a good Nebraska team in the Liberty Bowl. That team could have gone undefeated. That was one of best teams I was ever a part of, on and off the field. There is nothing better than being on a team with guys you can count on."

That applies to this year's team as well, though the results have not been nearly as exemplary. What-if, indeed—what if William Sweet, Andre Smith, Carl Tucker, Tommy Hatton, Toe Groves, Thomas Jackson, Donnie Miles and Ayden Bonilla had been suited up for 10 games instead of wearing sweat pants and jerseys on the sideline Saturday, various parts of their bodies recovering from season-ending injuries? One player previously listed as "Out for the Year" was senior receiver Austin Proehl. But his collar bone broken during an unfortunate landing after a catch in the Duke game healed sooner than expected, allowing him to suit up, play and make three catches for 52 yards.

Proehl said he was adamant since having surgery that he would come back, despite the caution from the doctors.

"I wanted to show guys that it matters," said Proehl. "Regardless of our record, with all that's going on on the outside and what people are saying about us, that it matters. I wanted to show people that I'm not going to just hang it up because of our record. It's bigger than that. It's bigger than me."

Proehl and Stewart—the embodiment of this senior class and their resolve to keep the Tar Heel ship afloat amidst leaks throughout the 2017 season.

"He could easily have packed it up and said, 'I'm going to get ready for the NFL Draft and combine and I'm done with this,'" Elliott said. "I have a lot of respect for him coming back and helping the team. I really appreciate him."

"Austin's a crafty guy, I call him 'the technician,'" Stewart offered. "He runs a route exactly how it's supposed to be run. He'll stick it on a dime. It's really hard to cover him."

The bad news from Saturday was that Carolina played the entire second half without linebacker Cole Holcomb, who was in street clothes after leaving the game in the first half, and much of the second half without fellow linebacker Cayson Collins. Carolina had three available linebackers at game's end—Smith, Hunter Crafford and Dominique Ross.

But the good news for the Tar Heels with one game left is they have found a quarterback who leads the team, hasn't made a turnover in two weeks and makes good decisions staring down the fangs of a defense. Their offensive line has been intact since losing Sweet in the Old Dominion game in late September. Anthony Ratliff-Williams' star continues to ascend, the sophomore receiver adding a remarkable one-hand snare on Saturday to his burgeoning highlight tape. And tailbacks Jordon Brown and Michael Carter are healthy and getting better with patience, discipline and ball-security.

"All that adds up to a lot," noted Elliott. "I'm very confident going into the last game. This one over, we got the win, now I'm focused 100 percent on N.C. State."

"I tell those freshmen all the time, 'You're not freshmen anymore,'" Fedora said. "We're in the 11th week of the season, plus four weeks of training camp. So they're not freshmen anymore, they're experienced."

That leaves one more game for Proehl and Stewart—3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday in Raleigh. Stewart winced remembering last year's Senior Day in Kenan Stadium, when the Wolfpack edged the Tar Heels by a touchdown and ended the careers of guys like Naz Jones and Ryan Switzer on a sour note. Now the Tar Heels have the opportunity to return the favor to Wolfpack senior standouts like Jaylen Samuels and Bradley Chubb.

As they say, all games are created equal. But some are more equal than others.

Lee Pace is in his 28th year covering Tar Heel football through "Extra Points" and 14th as the sideline reporter for the Tar Heel Sports Network. His book, "Football in a Forest," is available in bookstores across North Carolina and online at www.johnnytshirt.com. Email him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @LeePaceTweet.