University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Ground Game Shows Promise In Texas Loss
September 14, 2002 | Football
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Sept. 14, 2002
By Adam Lucas
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And what's the storyline? The question marks on defense.
Dave Huxtable has some issues to solve during Carolina's upcoming open week with a defense that has trouble getting pressure on the quarterback and, because of that, too often puts its cornerbacks in do-or-die situations that don't seem to turn out well. North Texas piled up eight sacks against these same Longhorns; Carolina didn't get any in their 52-21 defeat.
But as grim as the news is on the defensive side of the ball, it's exactly that good on the other side of the ball in the trenches. Hal Hunter's troops turned in a winning effort Saturday night, piling up 173 yards on the ground against a Texas defense that yielded just 89 rushing yards per game last year. Jacque Lewis has effectively ended the running back competition by gaining 84 yards and refusing to be brought down by any initial tackler.
Lewis and the line put together several sod-ripping, demoralizing drives. The problem was that too few ended in points. Two drives were capped with interceptions in the end zone, and an early 11-play drive ended in a Dan Orner field goal that banged off the upright.
"Every opportunity you have in the red zone you have to score," right tackle Skip Seagraves said. "Even putting three points on the board slows down their offense a little bit."
There were multiple instances in the game that Carolina seemed to simply be imposing their will on the Longhorn defense. Off-tackle right, counter left, dump pass left, everything Gary Tranquill called went for positive yards when the offense got in a groove.
The Tar Heels pulled within ten points twice in the second half, and at the end of the third quarter, Mack Brown finally got to see what he had always wanted -- a rocking Kenan Stadium crowd. They didn't arrive early (for the most part), they didn't stay late (for the most part), but they did wear blue and yell loud, completing half of his once-ubiquitous slogan. There was more in-game electricity, especially in the second half, in this contest than there was in the more hyped Judgment Day showdown against Florida State in 1997. When Durant completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Sam Aiken on the first play of the fourth quarter, the second-largest crowd in Kenan history actually became a factor in the game.
"On a couple of instances, we said to ourselves that they were giving up," center Jason Brown said. "We saw a little bit of exhaustion in them."
In the end, however, Texas was simply too good. One first-half play might have been the best illustration: Darian Durant hit Jarwarski Pollock, one of the most elusive Tar Heels, with a pass. Pollock reversed his field and headed back across the field and appeared to have an alley for a brief second, only to be run down by a Longhorn linebacker, Derrick Johnson.
Carolina won't see many other defenses that run that well. Johnson and end Cory Redding, who was virtually neutralized by Seagraves, will make a pair of NFL teams very happy one day.
The Tar Heels now face two weeks to prepare for the conference opener, a game that could well foreshadow the rest of the season. Most of the talk during the open week will be about finding a way to defend Chan Gailey's offense and making more sure-handed tackles. Meanwhile, over in the corner, those guys on the line whose names you don't know are quietly developing into a notable unit.
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Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
