University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Grand Theft
October 11, 2009 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace
Oct. 11, 2009
by Lee Pace
The message has been emblazoned on the Tar Heel defenders' psyches since the day during the summer when they were given their defensive playbooks. The cover features a collage of images of defenders handling the football--Quan Sturdivant on an interception, Marvin Austin on a fumble return, for example. The image was further given top-of-mind awareness when it was blown up, mounted and hung on a wall in the defensive meeting room.
"The Ball Is The Issue," reads the script in the center of the photos.
"All training camp, we've been stripping the ball every play," cornerback Kendric Burney said in early September. "If you didn't strip the ball when you had the chance, you got chewed out. We've emphasized pursuing the ball and laying your hat on it when you get there. Turnovers are a big thing. The team that wins the turnover margin wins about 80 percent of the time. That's big. That's important for us this year."
Unfortunately for the Tar Heels in 2009, the focus had been futile, the sewing had yet to reap a harvest in ball thievery. Carolina through five games was 106th nationally in turnover margin, having recovered only three fumbles and intercepted four passes. The only positive on the subject was the fact that the Tar Heels' running backs had yet to fumble the ball to the opposition. No wonder the Tar Heels have lost three straight to Virginia; the Cavaliers haven't committed a single turnover against the Tar Heels since 2006.
"I believe this about turnovers--they come when they come," defensive coordinator Everett Withers said last week. "And when they start, they usually come in bunches. Last year we got all those interceptions. This year, we've not been getting them."
Toward that end, before practice that afternoon Withers showed the defense a film compilation of plays from games and practices where the ball has been loose on the ground, catchable in the air, and the defense had failed to find it and secure it.
"That was a wake-up call," linebacker Bruce Carter said. "We have not been capitalizing when the ball's there. We had to turn that around. Last year we got those loose balls, we got those interceptions. This year, we weren't doing that."
Whether it was the continuing coaching and practice emphasis, diligent individual preparation that helped players find the right place at the right time, the fact the opponent was a Southern Conference foe which had lost to Elon, or some esoterically founded genesis from sunspots to biorhythms to plain dumb luck, the turnovers flowed in torrents Saturday when the Tar Heels met Georgia Southern.
Robert Quinn hit Eagles quarterback Lee Chapple in the first quarter to force a fumble and set up a quick Tar Heel score. Sturdivant stripped a runner in the second quarter and raced 49 yards to six points. Zach Brown snared an errant pass which the offense converted in a jiffy. Carter stole a screen pass from mid-air and raced 41 yards to the end zone. All that happened in the first half and led to a 42-7 intermission lead. Then Burney and Gene Robinson intercepted passes in the fourth quarter as Carolina salted away a 42-12 triumph.
"This game put a smile on everyone's face," Carter said. "We know we're better than what we've been playing lately. We just have to go out and do what we know we can do."
"The turnovers were the story of the game," Tar Heel coach Butch Davis added. "You guys have heard me say this for two and half years--the team that creates the most turnovers has the best chance to win."
The easy win over Georgia Southern certainly did not wash away the sour taste in the Tar Heels' mouths from their recent miseries induced by Georgia Tech and Virginia, but it served several purposes.
It was fun and the concept of the smile was reintroduced to the Tar Heel sideline. The game saw the offense use an up-tempo huddle and cadence approach to march smartly down the field for its inaugural first-possession touchdown of the season. It saw the return of left guard Jonathan Cooper to the lineup and gave him and left tackle Kyle Jolly two quarters of action together before resting their tender right ankles the second half. Though the defense had played well through five games (No. 8 ranking nationally in total defense), the game hopefully siphoned a needed flow of turnovers in the Tar Heels' direction. And the proceedings set a jovial tone going into an off-week with the Thursday night fray against Florida State looming on the horizon.
"Last year we had a bye week before we faced Georgia Tech at home, and that helped us tremendously," said tailback Ryan Houston, who rushed for 56 yards and scored three touchdowns. "I think it can help us this week as well."
"I think we can use the bye-week to our advantage," quarterback T.J. Yates added. "We need to get in the film room, try to get healed up, rest our bodies and our minds a little bit. Everybody is looking forward to the Thursday night game next week."
The best news of the night for the Tar Heels was the return of Cooper, the highly regarded freshman offensive lineman. Though he lacks a mental library of game experiences, his maturity, athleticism and drive could make him a key element of the blocking front the second half of the season. He's called "The Beast" by teammates for his immense physical skills, and offensive line coach Sam Pittman speaks in superlatives when addressing Cooper's potential.
Cooper was injured early the season opener against the Citadel when a defender fell on his right ankle. He was sidelined the next week at UConn and only expected to see emergency duty against East Carolina, but replacement Greg Elleby made repeated mental errors early in that game, forcing Cooper's insertion into the lineup. A Pirate defender fell on the same ankle in the second quarter as Cooper was blocking a linebacker, tweaking the ankle again and prolonging his rehabilitation.
"It's been very, very frustrating," Cooper says of the last six weeks. "You don't realize how important football is until you're not able to play it. You take it for granted. I've been telling all my friends I feel like a part of me has been missing since I wasn't able to play football."
Adding to the despair was having to watch as his teammates struggled to form a cohesive and productive group, not unsurprising giving the cutting-and-pasting the staff has been forced to do in the face of widespread injuries. Even now the coaches have been working Elleby, a spring convert from the defensive line, at left tackle in addition to guard in case Jolly's right ankle doesn't respond quickly to treatment. Tavares Brown, yet another defensive transplant, was set to take the lineup Saturday in the second half when center Cam Holland's shoe came off and his foot was momentarily jarred. Holland, of course, is playing this year for the first time as veteran starter Lowell Dyer has been out for five weeks with a shoulder injury and has not returned to practice.
"It felt good with the whole offensive unit just rolling," Cooper said. "All of us were getting the job done, and we scored on the first drive. That's what we really talked about, scoring on the first drive. We haven't done it all year and that was the main point tonight."
Now the question is how much can they further heal in 12 days and can tight ends Zack Pianalto and perhaps Ryan Taylor return to action? And how much can they build on what they started Saturday night?
"The only way that an offense can grow is you have to get the same group of guys out there week after week after week," Davis says, "so they can take whatever positive things happen into the next game, then the positive things from that game into the one after that. We are trying to grow some consistency, some depth, some effectiveness. We'll see if tonight helps."
It's quite simple when you break it down to the base components Cooper used: "Go to your gap, know your assignment, lock on to somebody and move them." Out of the mouth of a richly talented babe, words to build on as the Carolina carousel comes to a brief halt.
Lee Pace writes "Extra Points" twice weekly on Tarheelblue.com. He and the broadcast crew for the Tar Heel Sports Network answer reader email on the pre-game show, so send your questions to asktheheels@gmail.com.
