Extra Points: A Tasty Hors D'oeuvre

September 7, 2009 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Sept. 7, 2009

by Lee Pace

There are still 11 games to play, many votes to count, numbers to crunch and sentences to diagram. But in the sweet incubator of a rollicking Kenan Stadium Saturday evening, the scent of a solid football team wafted through the warm breeze. And it's a team that might be built around the most venerable of all recipes--stout defense, punishing ground game and robust special teams.

Granted, the 40-6 triumph Saturday was achieved over a Football Championship Subdivision opponent in The Citadel. But given that three of the Tar Heels' most recent games against what were formerly known as Division 1-AA teams were wins by 11 over William & Mary in 2004, by three over Furman in 2006 and by eight over McNeese State a year ago, a 34-point lambasting is nothing to kick to the curb.

The Tar Heels in their third season under Butch Davis are clearly talented, deep, smart, well-coached and in excellent physical condition. The passing game was certainly suspect, with quarterback T.J. Yates misfiring on one interception and his receivers dropping a handful of easily catchable balls. But whether that was a one-off glitch--Davis believes it was, given first-game jitters for some neophyte Tar Heels--or a looming shortcoming, Carolina might still be hard to beat given its promise on defense.

"It was a good start, but by no stretch of the imagination as good as we will play as the season goes along," Davis said.

"Overall, the performance was pretty good," senior defensive end E.J. Wilson added. "I was impressed by the young guys and some of the veterans who fine-tuned their skills. The atmosphere was great. It was crazy with all these fans coming in here under these lights."

A crowd pegged at 58,500 got its first look at the new fifth floor of the Kenan Football Center and watched under a recently installed lighting system that generates 50 percent more brilliance than the previous structure. Fans roared heartily as the Tar Heel defenders hammered the Bulldogs to a paltry gain of 2.6 yards a snap, and they remained in their seats through halftime to well up in the goose bumps of One Shining Moment and a salute the 2009 Tar Heel basketball NCAA champions.

Indeed, it was a commendable hors d'oeuvres for the autumn of 2009 and prompted former Tar Heel guard Jeb Terry, now in business school in Chapel Hill after an NFL career, to remark along the sidelines that he was envious of the current program and all of the buzz in Kenan Stadium. "I can only remember it like this for the Texas game," said Terry, referring to coach Mack Brown's return in 2002.

The Tar Heel offense enters the season with stern challenges at wide receiver and offensive line given an assortment of graduation, attrition and injury issues, but coordinator John Shoop and the offensive staff have been resolute and upbeat in cobbling new textures and flavors into the playbook.

Exactly three-quarters of Carolina's pass completions the last two years have been to wide receivers, and Shoop says that ratio has to change this year to involve the running backs, tight ends and H-backs more. "I have a dream were we have the tailback making eight or 10 receptions in a game," says Shoop, adding that one year when he was coordinator at Oakland, tailback LaMont Jordan led the NFL in yards-after-catch. Though tailback Shaun Draughn had only two catches Saturday night, it was apparent Yates was looking for him often. Tight end Zack Pianalto snagged one throw for 25 and was Yates' target on another.

"Defenses are going to have to cover more than the receivers this year," Draughn says. "They're going to have to worry about the backs and tight ends or they'll pay the price."

Shoop is fond of taking a player with a certain set of skills and crafting a package of plays around him with the message: "This is what you do. Do it well, and we'll come find you." One of this year's projects will be receiver Johnny White, a jack-of-all-trades in his three years at Carolina. White used his speed to get open downfield in the first quarter but dropped the pass, but Shoop came back to him in the second quarter for an 18-yard TD.

Freshman A.J. Blue brings an athletic sheaf to bear reminiscent in appearance and style to that of Leon Johnson, the last great Tar Heel tailback who plied his considerable trade in the mid-1990s. Blue is officially a tailback but he's moonlighting as a quarterback and as the centerpiece of the hot new offensive flavor du jour known as the Wildcat formation. That's where an offense takes its best athlete, puts him in a position similar to the old single-wing tailback and tells him to make something happen. The Heels can use Blue in that manner, but they're also having him take snaps directly from center and have a myriad of appendages available. Blue was unveiled against The Citadel (along with 10 more freshmen) and carried the ball four times for 22 yards after taking direct snaps at quarterback.

"A.J. is a very strong, physical athlete and he's very fast," Yates says. "What he can do when he has the ball is pretty special."

"A.J. can do some fun things with the football," Shoop adds. "I'm excited to see what we might do as the season progresses. He's going to be pretty hard to prepare for."

All of this on offense as the Tar Heels rode the improved precision and confidence of Draughn to a 261-yard rushing effort, the best total in Davis's 26 games as the Carolina coach and the highest ground total for Carolina since the 2004 season. Draughn had 118 yards rushing on 20 carries and has now eclipsed a hundred yards for the fourth time.

There were newcomers as well in the kicking game--Da'Norris Searcy as a punt returner, Casey Barth as a kick-off specialist and Grant Schallock as the punter. Searcy, who volunteered last spring for a shot at returning kicks, popped a 77-yarder for a touchdown. Barth spent considerable off-season hours working on his lower body strength and flexibility in the weight room and yoga class. He generated good depth and hang time on his kick-offs, the effort augmented by a coverage unit that is fast and fiery. And Schallock made the difficult transition from a three-step to a two-step punter over the summer and tendered a 41-yard average on three punts with good operation time.

That brings us to the defense, which is comprised mostly of familiar faces. But there are just more of them and they have a year's added maturity. End Robert Quinn made mincemeat of the Bulldog blocking front. The linebackers played with speed and abandon. Searcy at strong safety could make the memory Trimane Goddard fade into the history books. There were few apparent coverage busts, and the Tar Heels held the Bulldogs to an average 1.5 yards a snap rushing the ball--well under their stated goal of a parsimonious allowance of 1.8 yards a snap (established after seeing from the 2008 NCAA statistics that the total would likely lead the nation in rushing defense).

"We felt like our defense was going to play extremely well," Davis said. "I like our speed, our ability to put pressure on the quarterback, our ability to minimize runs after the catch and to minimize big plays. We did a great job creating turnovers and handling some sudden-change situations."

The visitors from Charleston were suitably impressed:

"Their front four and linebackers are as good as anybody in the country," coach Kevin Higgins said. "That group is as good as Florida, the national champs last year. I don't think there's any question about that."

Quarterback Bart Blanchard was pressured all night, particularly from his backside by Quinn. He was sacked twice but hit several more times as he released the ball, and twice he was seen imploring referee Jack Childress to drop a flag but to no avail. Standout receiver Andre Roberts, who had 153 receiving yards against Clemson last year and 66 against Florida, could manage only 30 against the Tar Heels' suffocating pursuit.

"In the fourth quarter, Andre and I were just saying, `This is the most fundamentally sound team we've ever seen,'" Blanchard said. "A lot of the things that we do, that we do all the time and find a way to make work, North Carolina was not falling for anything."

Case in point was the last play of the first half, when The Citadel was inside the Tar Heel five, courtesy an interception, and ran a misdirection play. Blanchard rolled to his right while Bulldog tight end Alex Sellars blocked on the left and then released into the left corner of the end zone. Blanchard threw across the field, but his receiver was well covered by Kendric Burney and Deunta Williams. Burney tipped the ball and Williams collected it from the air with his feet coming down just in-bounds.

"That was a phenomenal job," Davis said. "You talk about evidence of the growth and maturity of our defense. There were guys screaming on the sideline and screaming on the field, `Here it comes, here it comes.' We diagnosed that play almost before it happened."

That dollop of communication and savvy is every bit as impressive and exciting as the improved physical machinery Davis is operating this year. The big-bang boys of yesteryear's receiving corps may be gone, but there are plenty of noise-makers around Tar Heel football, each just waiting for an audition.

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.