University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Football Notebook
October 6, 2005 | Football
Oct. 6, 2005
By Adam Lucas
There's an exceptionally simple way for the Carolina offense to get back on track: score more points.
That seems like an oversimplification, but the Tar Heel struggles in the red zone have been a theme over the past two weeks. They've taken 12 trips into the red zone --- defined as the area within the opposing 20-yard-line --- in the past two games. On five of those trips, almost half, they've come away with zero points. That's the same number of opportunities that have been turned into touchdowns, and two of those TD trips started inside the opposing 5-yard-line because of turnovers.
"When the field compacts you have to be precise," Matt Baker says. "If you're not precise you run out of room. We've gone inside when we should've gone outside and there's so little room for error. When one person is off it bunches up someone else."
It's also the area of the field where running game difficulties are magnified. If an offense doesn't have that one player who can reliably grind up three or four yards at a time, they have to start adding wrinkles, and wrinkles sometimes equal problems.
That's where the addition of Ronnie McGill may be very important this weekend. McGill is a powerful runner and tough between the tackles, exactly the formula for a successful red zone back.
"He's a big, punishing back who can get you those yards inside the red zone, and especially inside the 10," Baker says...
It's become a regular feature of John Bunting's postgame breakdowns for the media. He peruses the stat sheet, watches a little film, and then comes up with the same conclusion he reached the previous week: Larry Edwards is playing very good football. Twice this season Bunting has cited Edwards as playing the best game of his career, most recently against Utah. Much of the credit for the junior's breakout season goes to new linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen. "Midway through the spring, at some point Coach Thigpen broke through to Larry," Bunting says. "He made him see that if you stay in this game and be realistic about yourself and how you play, you're going to get better. There was a time when some people around here didn't think he'd be able to (break through to Edwards). It wasn't me. I told Larry that several times. I never gave up on him."...
Jacoby Watkins, who left the Utah game with an illness, went full-speed in practice on Wednesday, even picking off a pass against the scout team...Another breakout that's been a pleasure to watch is the blooming of Quinton Person, who Bunting recently called "one of our best football players." Person, a Greenville native, is a yes-sir, no-sir type who invariably ends every interview with, "Have a good night." After watching film of Louisville, Person says the Cardinals are the most diverse offense the Tar Heels have faced this year. "They run so many different formations and give you so many looks," he says. "We really have to be disciplined in our techniques." Those techniques will include staying low while trying to tackle 250-pound tailback Michael Bush and keeping contact with 6-foot-6 receiver Martin Urrutia, who averages over 25 yards per catch...By the way, don't get used to seeing Person in his new number-3 jersey. Connor Barth is contemplating a move to number-1 next season, and if that happens Person (who has already been through jerseys 39, 9, and now 3) wants to reclaim number-10, his high school number...
The buzz about Brandon Tate means it won't be long before teams start kicking away from him. Carolina spent some time in practice this week catching sky kicks in case Louisville -- a team that has already used that strategy on occasion this season -- breaks it out again on Saturday...Mike Mason is still working his way back from a nagging shoulder injury. It's unknown if he'll be able to play special teams on Saturday, a unit where he is one of the most valuable Tar Heels. His speed and quickness make him perfect for beating the double-teams sometimes applied to the punt coverage gunners. Trimane Goddard replaced Mason as a gunner against Utah and struggled with the double-teams...
Ben Lemming is likely to be out again for Saturday's contest, but don't expect any center/quarterback exchange problems between Steven Bell and Baker. The pair worked together frequently in past seasons, as Baker was the backup quarterback and Bell often filled the backup center job. Arthur Smith, a very cerebral player, now moves into the backup center role...McGill's return has gotten most of the media attention this week, but the offense is realistic about his likely impact. "We talked about it in practice Wednesday," Baker says. "Ronnie isn't going to win the game for the team. He'll probably mean an extra 40 rushing yards. Hopefully we'll play well enough that we won't need those 40 yards."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
