University of North Carolina Athletics
Maryland Game Guide
November 2, 2007 | Football
Nov. 2, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
Every Thursday, check TarHeelBlue.com for the latest edition of the Game Guide, which provides all the information you need to get ready for gameday.
The Basics
Carolina (2-6, 1-3) returns to the friendly confines of Kenan Stadium, where it is 2-2, to face Maryland (4-4, 1-3) on Homecoming weekend with both teams coming off of losses. Carolina lost to Wake Forest on the road last weekend 37-10 and is looking to rebound from a disappointing game. Maryland lost to Clemson at home last weekend, 30-17. This will be the fifth consecutive sellout in Kenan Stadium. Carolina leads the all-time series 35-31-1 and 19-15-1 in Chapel Hill. This will be the second consecutive meeting between the two teams played in Chapel Hill. Maryland has won the last four games of the series and five of the last seven.
Game Time: Maryland at North Carolina, ESPNU, 3:45 PM
Carolina's game notes can be here.
Last Time: Carolina came into the game at Kenan Stadium on November 12, 2005 at 4-4 and desperately needing a win to stay in bowl contention, but Maryland was 5-4 and needed the win as well. The Terrapins rallied from ten points down with nine minutes left to force overtime and eventually win, 33-30. Carolina took a 20-17 lead late in the third quarter after Matt Baker found Mike Mason for a 19-yard touchdown. Then Kareen Taylor returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown to give the Tar Heels a 27-17 lead with 9:07 left in the game. Sam Hollenbach passed for a 67-yard touchdown and the Maryland defense forced a Carolina punt. Then Hollenbach found a receiver for an 80-yard touchdown to take a 37-27 lead. The Maryland kicker, who had made just one of three field goals in the game, missed the extra point that would have given Maryland a four-point lead. Connor Barth hit three out of four field goals, including a 24-yarder to tie the game at the end of regulation, but he missed a 38-yarder in overtime that would have forced a second overtime.
Matt Baker completed 25-of-40 passes for 335 yards and one touchdown. Ronnie McGill led Carolina in rushing with 65 yards and a touchdown. Jesse Holley had six catches for 115 yards and Jawarski Pollock had six catches for 74 yards. Four Tar Heels had 11 tackles (including Trimane Goddard) and Durell Mapp added 10 tackles of his own. Lance Ball led the Terrapins with 161 rushing yards and a touchdown. Sam Hollenbach completed 19-of-31 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns. Three different Terrapins caught touchdown passes, including tight end Vernon Davis who led the Terrapins in receiving with seven catches for 139 yards.
Gameday Weather: Check the local weather forecast before heading for the game.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 2:30 PM. The radio broadcast is also available on XM Channel 191 at 3:45 PM. Since it's a home game, the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast can be heard on XM.
TV Coverage: The game will be shown on ESPNU.
Game week TV/radio coverage: The Butch Davis Radio Show will be broadcast live from the Top of the Hill restaurant on Franklin Street every Thursday at 7:00. Inside the Huddle with Butch Davis airs Saturday morning at 9 a.m. on FOX Sports, 10 a.m. on MASN and 11 a.m. on WTVD in the Triangle. The Tar Heel Rewind show featuring highlights of the previous week's games will air Tuesday's at 7 p.m. and Thursday's at 8 p.m. in the Triangle and Fayetteville.
Storylines
Moving the ball and sustaining drives: T.J. Yates has 12 interceptions on the season, but he had been able to bounce back reasonably well from the first ten. It was that 11th interception on the opening play of the game against Wake Forest where you could finally sense that he had trouble shaking it off. "I think I just set the tone for the whole game. Everything went downhill from there. It was a bad decision on my part and I can't make mistakes like that," Yates said after the game. "We were good and pumped up coming into the game and throwing a pick like that the first play of the game just absolutely kills our momentum. It just kind of set the tone for the whole game because we just went downhill from there pretty much."
Carolina has yet to have a turnover-free game, but it appeared to be making progress after a four-turnover game against South Florida, turning it over just three times combined against the vaunted defenses of Virginia Tech and Miami. The Tar Heel defense forced five turnovers of their own in those two games. However, in its last two games, Carolina has turned it over six times while forcing just two turnovers. Wake Forest forced three Carolina turnovers while Carolina was not able to force any of its own for the first time since Week 3 against Virginia. Carolina simply has to take better care of the football in order to have a chance to win.
Carolina's offense has not played particularly badly the last few games - it actually out-gained Wake Forest, 313-269 - but it has struggled to get momentum at times on long drives. Against Wake Forest, Carolina had a few drives stymied quite a bit early on by sacks and penalties, or both. Carolina had a season-high six offensive penalties out of nine total, and five of those were false starts brought on my some Wake Forest defensive maneuvering pre-snap that the line knew would likely happen. But those false starts proved costly - three of the five were on third down. One was on third and two and another was on third and seven, making two third-down-and-manageable situations much less so. Perhaps the most damaging offensive penalty was an ineligible receiver downfield penalty that wiped out a 37-yard pass play to the Wake Forest 4-yard line in the fourth quarter.
"The illegal procedures and some of the things that happened offensively that just took us totally out of rhythm. It cost us negative plays, it cost us some sacks, it cost us just from the standpoint of illegal procedure on first and 10, now it's first and 15. Or you make a run and a couple of times, we made some four or five-yard runs that would have brought up second and medium and now all of a sudden, not only do you lose the yardage for the penalty, but you lose the play itself," Davis said.
Carolina's opening play from scrimmage put the team behind 7-0 to start out. Carolina has gotten off to some slow starts offensively this season, only to find its rhythm when down by an almost insurmountable margin late in games when it is too late. Carolina was down 21-3 when it was finally able to start moving the ball reliably against South Carolina late in the third quarter. Carolina was down 23-3 before it scored its first touchdown early in the fourth quarter against Wake Forest. Carolina has had just three touchdowns in its last two games, and all three touchdowns have come in the fourth quarter on drives that began with two minutes or less remaining in the third. Against Wake Forest, Carolina had five drives of 20 yards or more - four were in the second half and three were in the fourth quarter.
"We've played catch-up a lot and that's what hurt us in the long run. It's like we're on our heels the whole game, trying to fight to come back in it. With the play-calling that we have, we have a game plan and we kind of get outside our game plan when we keep having three-and-outs," Hakeem Nicks said.
Maryland has allowed ACC opponents to convert on 45.9% of their third-down tries (12th in the league); Carolina has converted 35.2% of its third-down tries against ACC opponents (7th). Maryland has allowed 95 first downs (11th) and Carolina has gained 74 in ACC games (8th). In ACC games only, Maryland's defense has managed just four sacks and ranks last in the league. Carolina ranks eighth in league games only in sacks allowed with 14. Despite not turning it over much this season overall, Maryland's turnover margin in ACC play is even at six forced, six gained. Carolina is 11th, gaining five but losing nine in conference games. Maryland is also last in red zone defense in ACC games, allowing opponents to convert 13-of-14 tries (six touchdowns, seven field goals). Carolina's offense is second against league opponents in the red zone, scoring on 9-of-10 trips (five touchdowns, four field goals) - but only Virginia Tech and Duke have been to the red zone as few or fewer trips as Carolina in league play.
Carolina may be able to get the running game going against a Maryland defense that is certainly tough but has had a rough ACC schedule, allowing 198.2 rushing yards in conference games (4.4 yards per carry) and six rushing touchdowns, which ranks last in the league. Carolina is averaging almost ten yards more on the ground in league play (111) than in all games (101) and ranks ninth in league games only. Maryland's defense has allowed its ACC opponents to have a pass efficiency rating of 133.1 and a completion percentage of 66.4% (11th in the league). Carolina's passing efficiency in league games ranks 1st with a rating of 142.1 and a 68.9% completion percentage.
Kickoffs and punts: Carolina outgained Wake Forest last weekend in Winston-Salem, 313-269. But Wake Forest had 181 yards on two kickoff returns and one turnover on a botched punt return by Carolina that led to 17 Wake Forest points. Coach Davis emphasizes special teams quite a bit and with Carolina's team being as young as it is, it can hardly afford to make even one serious special teams error in either returns or coverage, much less three.
The big plays were all momentum killers - Carolina had just mounted a 13-play, 6:26 drive in the first quarter to cut the score to 10-3. Then Kevin Marion took the kickoff for a touchdown. Then in the third quarter, the Carolina defense sacked Riley Skinner on third down to push them back into Wake Forest territory and force a punt when the score was still just 17-3. Richie Rich fumbled the punt that was recovered at Carolina's 22-yard line, and Wake converted it into a field goal. Carolina scored its first touchdown of the game with 14 minutes left to cut the score to 23-10, and Kevin Marion provided the back-breaker with an 83-yard return that set up a Josh Adams touchdown run one play later.
"I think that special teams is an enormous tempo-setter. It sends a message about how your team is going to play, how physical you're going to be, and the energy level. From one standpoint as we learned last week, it's the quickest way to lose ballgames - more than offense and more than defense. If you want to go into a shell offensively, you can hand the ball off three times in a row and then punt and you don't even turn the ball over. But special teams, you can lose games with blocked punts - you can win games with blocked punts - big punt returns and kickoff returns, they're all big plays," Davis said.
Like many of Carolina's problems this season, the issue is a lack of both experience and depth. Due to injuries, freshman linebackers that are now starting also have to pull double-duty on special teams. Brooks Foster has been hobbled a few games this season, but when he has been in the game as a gunner on the punt team, he has been fantastic. The problem is that he's fantastic on offense, too.
"Traditionally, they (freshmen or redshirt freshmen) would be the core guts along with maybe some sophomores, that would be the core of your special teams. Those guys are starting for us on offense and defense. So we're asking guys to pull double-duty at times and guys are getting taxed," Davis said. "Guys like Brooks Foster, they all chip in from time to time and it's hard for Brooks to run 65 straight plays on offense and all day long in and out of the huddle and then have to go out there and cover five punts and cover a couple of kickoffs. It's not like it's a 5-yard play; it's a 65-yard sprint to the other end of the field. That's where certainly depth is killing us this year."
Connor Barth has had trouble finding the end zone for a touchback at times and has struggled with kickoff distance, but inside of Kenan Stadium, Barth is averaging 66.0 yards per kickoff (to about the opposing team's 4-yard line) on 21 kickoffs and has three touchbacks. The kickoff coverage unit is allowing 18.7 yards per return on 17 returns. Outside of Kenan Stadium, on 15 kickoffs Barth has averaged 58.2 yards per kickoff and has just one touchback. His kick cover unit has allowed 35.8 yards per return on 13 returns. Despite a net yardage per kickoff of just 1.1 yards because of the Wake Forest returns, Barth himself averaged 68.3 yards per kickoff on three kicks, a season high.
"We would love for him to kick them all into the end zone. That's one of the things that I said was going to put an awful lot of pressure on coverage units because of backing the kickoff up to the 30-yard line and the number of kickers that don't have the ability to kick it into the end zone," Davis said. "The wind plays a factor in it sometimes, but when there is no wind, you're still asking a kid to kick the ball 73-75 yards. If you can't kick it into the end zone, then it is absolutely critical that you get some kind of hang time. The other side of it is that your coverage unit has got to run 60-70 yards and if the ball is only in the air 3.6, 3.7, 3.8 seconds, it's going to come back at you a lot faster than it went down the field."
Penalties have been another major issue for the Carolina special teams. The special teams have racked up 17 penalties out of 55 total team penalties this season. In Carolina's first three ACC games, the special teams had just four penalties and one was a delay of game when the Tar Heels were trying to run the clock down before punting against Miami. But against Wake Forest, Carolina had three special teams penalties (all holding that put the offense ten yards back) and the unit has seven penalties in the last two games.
The punt unit has been showing improvement, however, led by standout punter Terrence Brown. In the last four games, Brown has averaged 45.1 yards per punt. Carolina's cover unit ranks third in the league, allowing 37.5 net yards per punt. In ACC games alone, Carolina's punt cover unit ranks fourth in the league (38.0 net yards per punt, 5.6 yards per return) and Terrence Brown's 44.6 yards per punt is tied for second in the league. But Carolina is allowing 4.9 yards per return on the season (2nd-worst in the league) and 5.6 yards per return in ACC games (also second-worst in the league).
Maryland ranks third in the ACC and fourth in the country in kickoff coverage, allowing just 17.43 yards per return. Carolina is sixth in kickoff returns with 20.4 yards per return. Maryland ranks 12th in kickoff returns and 114th in the country at 17.82 yards per return. Carolina's kickoff cover unit has obviously also slipped to 12th in the conference, netting just 37.2 yards per kickoff despite averaging 61.1 yards per kick, which ranks seventh in the league. Barth's five touchbacks also rank seventh. Overall, Maryland's punt cover unit ranks seventh in the league with 36.6 yards per punt. In ACC games alone, Maryland ranks third in net punting with 38.5 net yards per punt. Carolina's punt return unit is eighth overall with 8.9 yards per return and tenth in ACC games only with 7.4 yards per return on just seven returns.
Carolina's defense maintaining their solid play: Offensive coordinator's exciting play-calling has certainly earned him a lot of attention, and with good reason. But Chuck Pagano's defense has quietly become Carolina's most improved - and most reliable - unit over the last few weeks. Despite at times being put in tough spots by the offense or the special teams, the defense has performed very well considering the way that injuries and a suspension have decimated its secondary. Carolina allowed just 269 yards last weekend, the least allowed since Week 1 against James Madison (250). Of the 37 points technically allowed by the defense, 14 were on non-offensive touchdowns (a kick return and an interception return) and 13 were on drives that began at Carolina's 30-yard line or closer. The defense forced a field goal after Yates' interception on the first play of the game and though it followed that up with allowing a long touchdown drive, the rest of the game it forced five punts, a turnover on downs and one field goal (on drives started in Wake Forest territory).
Of Carolina's 55 penalties this season, just 17 have come from the defense (compared to 17 on special teams and 21 on the offense). However, the defense has had some costly penalties at times this season, including a holding call against Miami that nullified an interception and an offsides penalty on 3rd and 3 that set up one of South Carolina's three first-half touchdowns. But the defense had just two penalties in that game and it had its first penalty-free game against Wake Forest.
The defense has played very well and has yet to show any outward signs of frustration that the other units on the team aren't doing their part quite as much. They're not playing the blame game with the offense - in fact, if anything, they're blaming themselves. "It's frustrating, but we're still one team. When they suffer, we suffer, too. We just have to go out there and do the best we can," E.J. Wilson said. "We cover for their mistakes, but sometimes when you have that many turnovers and you can't force any, the game comes out bad. Yeah, the offense turned the ball over a lot but we didn't cause any turnovers. So it falls back on our shoulders also." In ACC games only, Carolina's defense has gained five turnovers (all interceptions) but the offense has lost nine.
Maryland's offensive line has been absolutely decimated by injuries and played Clemson without three of its starters, including its star guard Andrew Crummey, a preseason All-American. This season, three teams have held Maryland to under 100 yards rushing - West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Clemson. Maryland scored two rushing touchdowns against Clemson but managed 97 yards on 32 carries. The Terrapins have scored at least one rushing touchdown in every game this season. Maryland is tied for eighth in sacks allowed in ACC games (14) and Carolina's defense is third in ACC-game sacks (15). Maryland is averaging 301.8 yards of total offense in league games (10th) while Carolina's defense is fourth in ACC contests (317.8 yards per game allowed).
Maryland has a high-powered rushing attack that is averaging 149.9 yards per game on the ground on the season (fourth in the league). But in league games alone, it has averaged 128.8 yards per game (sixth in the league). Carolina's rushing defense against ACC teams is ninth, allowing 166.5 yards per game and six rushing touchdowns. Maryland's running game is averaging 3.2 yards per carry against ACC foes; Carolina's defense is allowing 3.7 yards per carry.
Maryland ranks fifth in the league and 40th in the country in turnover margin at +0.38 per game. With just 12 turnovers lost, the Terps rank fifth in the league and 21st in the country. After turning the ball over nine times in its first five games, it has turned it over just three times in the last three games. Carolina's defense has played very well so far this season, but with the offense having trouble holding onto the football, it may need to force a turnover or two to give Carolina its best chance to win.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: WCHL 1360 is the local affiliate.
Parking/construction update: For the latest information, click here.
Pregame activities: Tar Heel Town will open at 12:45 PM on Saturday. Besides, the usual activities, this year Chapel Hill Sportswear will be stationed in Tar Heel Town for the first time to sell all kinds of Carolina merchandise. The Old Well Walk will be at 1:30 PM and then the Marching Tar Heels will perform on the steps of Wilson Library at 2:45 PM before heading to the stadium. Then at 3:00 PM start making your way to Kenan Stadium and make sure you're in your seats early. For more information, see the new Fan Guide on TarHeelBlue.com.
Postgame activities: See the Fan Guide on TarHeelBlue.com for the latest information on postgame parking and activities.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
ESPNU coverage: The game will be shown on ESPNU.
Names To Know
E.J. Wilson: The sophomore defensive end plays opposite the dynamic senior Hilee Taylor, but he has quietly had a very good year. He ranks second on the team in tackles for loss with six and second in sacks with 3.5 He has 26 tackles total (16 solo), one pass defended, two quarterback hurries and two recovered fumbles. He has arguably his best game of his career against Wake Forest, notching a career-high eight tackles and adding one tackle for loss. He allowed a combined three yards on four solo tackles. On the four tackles he assisted on, the longest gain he allowed before hitting the offensive player was five yards on 2nd and 8. No Wake Forest player gained a first down on a Wilson tackle; four of his eight tackles were for no gain or a loss; three were for just one yard.
Wilson came to Carolina having played many offensive positions in high school, including quarterback, and weighed just 220 pounds. After redshirting his freshman year and converting to a tight end/fullback, he gained some more weight but then after a switch to defense his redshirt freshman season (last year), he has now gotten his weight up to 273. "I'm fine with my weight now. I came in here and I lifted hard, I ate the right things and my muscles just developed and it helped me gain the weight. I've been able to keep my quickness and everything, so I actually like the weight better," Wilson said.
Zack Pianalto: The true freshman h-back/tight end hybrid was a highly-regarded recruit coming out of high school, and last weekend he showed that he can be a major cog in the Tar Heel offensive attack. Pianalto had a career-high six catches for 55 yards last weekend against Wake Forest. On the season, he ranks fourth in receptions with 15 for 115 yards. Pianalto attributed the increased role last week to the way that Wake Forest defense was set up, but he proved that he can be a reliable checkdown target for T.J. Yates when all the other receivers are being tightly covered.
Though Pianalto is just a true freshman that played mostly wide receiver in high school and rarely had to block anyone, he enrolled in the springtime last year and that put him ahead of the game in the college transition. "It was the best decision I've ever made to come early and just get acclimated to college life and especially the speed of the game. I knew I had to come in and work on my strength and my blocking and that allowed me the time to do that," Pianalto said. "I feel like every week, my blocking is getting better. That's one of my main concerns coming in. Since I played wide receiver in high school, it was a big transition to the blocking, putting your hand down. Every week I feel like I'm getting better but I still have a long ways to go."
T.J. Yates: Yates looked visibly frustrated possibly for the first time all season long. He has been able to bounce back from poor throws or turnovers in the past, but against Wake Forest, he was sacked four times and was harassed all day long. Wake Forest's secondary plastered his wide receivers and more often than not, he was forced to find his checkdowns for fewer yardage, failing to convert two fourth downs late in the game because of that. "There are a lot of opportunities that we`ve missed - a couple of inches on a throw, a couple of feet on a throw, making better throws, better reads. Sometimes when you make a checkdown, there is a guy wide open down the field that you didn't see," Yates said.
Still, Yates has had a fantastic freshman year so far. He has passed for 1,907 yards this season, already the best in Carolina freshman quarterback history and the eighth-best in ACC freshman history. His 11 touchdowns are six away from Darian Durant's freshman record at Carolina of 17. But after throwing two interceptions and just one touchdown last week against Wake Forest and two passing touchdowns two five interceptions in the last two games. For the first time all season, Yates has more interceptions (12) than he has touchdowns (11). Still, Yates completed 26-of-33 passes for 236 yards, though the longest completion was just 19 yards (a season-low).
But both interceptions against Wake Forest hurt Carolina. Yates threw an interception on the first play of the game, and a young team going against a much older, experienced team cannot afford to start to play from behind so early. What he began to do better later in the game was find his checkdowns when the long ball wasn't available or just throw the ball away if pressure was coming too quickly.
"T.J. has got to figure out the better part of valor sometimes is just kind of cut your losses; throw the ball away. He made one great decision on a screen play where he just threw at the receiver's feet as opposed to taking a sack or trying to find somebody else and trying to manufacture and fabricate a play," Davis said. "When things are going bad, a lot of times what ends up happening is you hurt yourself worse by trying to find a way to keep a play alive. Sometimes the best passes you throw are incompletions. If a guy is not wide open or it's not on rhythm, it's not on time, throw it up in the bleachers."
In ACC games only, Yates is second in the league in passing efficiency and has completed 68.9% of his passes, the second-highest completion percentage behind Riley Skinner. He ranks second in total offense and passing average in ACC games behind only Matt Ryan, averaging 243.8 yards per game through the air and 231.8 yards of total offense. Yates has thrown just four interceptions against ACC teams; eight have come in non-conference games. However, just four of his 11 touchdowns have come against ACC teams.
Erin Henderson: The senior linebacker is a finalist for the Butkus Award and leads the ACC and ranks second in the country in tackles with 88 (12.6 per game) in just seven games. Henderson missed the Georgia Tech game on October 6th with a knee injury. He ranks seventh in the league in tackles for loss (8.5) and also has one interception, two passes defended, a forced fumble, and ranks third in the league in fumbles recovered with two.
Henderson has either led or co-led the Terps in tackles in all put the game that he missed. In Maryland's last two games, Henderson has 33 tackles - a career-high 18 against Virginia and 15 against Clemson. In ACC games alone, Henderson has an astounding 45 tackles in just three games, or 15.0 tackles per game.
Keon Lattimore/Lance Ball: Senior running backs Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball are the duo that leads the Terrapin rushing attack, which ranks fifth in the league with 149.9 yards per game. Last season, the duo was one of just five running back combos in the country to have over 700 rushing yards each. The two have combined this season for 1152 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns already. Lattimore has 167 rushing attempts for 680 yards (4.1 yards per carry) while Ball has 98 attempts for 472 yards (4.8 yards per carry). Lattimore is tied for second in the ACC and 51st in the country in rushing yards per game with 85; Ball ranks eighth in the ACC with 59 yards per game. Lattimore leads the league in rushing touchdowns, ranks second in touchdowns scored and sixth in overall scoring with ten touchdowns. Ball ranks right behind Lattimore in touchdowns scored with nine and ranks eighth in the league in overall scoring. Lattimore has at least 100 yards in four of Maryland's eight games this season. In ACC games alone, though, Ball leads Lattimore with a No. 7 ranking and a 66.8-yard average. Lattimore tanks ninth in the league in ACC games with 64.8 yards per game. Ball also leads the league in scoring in ACC games only with six touchdowns (9.0 points per game). Lattimore is tied for seventh with three touchdowns (4.5 points per game).
Despite a banged up offensive line, this running back tandem will severely test Carolina's front seven that has done a much better job of stopping the run this season.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
