University of North Carolina Athletics
Storylines: Quarterback Decision-Making
August 17, 2010 | Football
Aug. 17, 2010
This is the fourth article in a series from Tar Heel Monthly focusing on ten on-field storylines to watch during football training camp.
There were times after wins last season when, looking at T.J. Yates's expression, one could have thought that the team had lost. Carolina won 31-13 at Boston College in November, but Yates was extremely unhappy with his own 23-34, three-interception performance. "Any other defensive performance, we would have lost, just based on how bad the offense played, and myself in particular," Yates said when asked about the game this summer. "Other than those three really bad plays, I played a decent game, but it's just the fact that just three plays, three mental mistakes, can absolutely sway a game so much. At that point in the season it was starting to get to me. because the offense wasn't really doing well that far into the season, so it was kind of just taking its toll."
Yates's 14 interceptions in 2009 nearly matched his 15 touchdowns, and he knows that for this team to go to the heights it aspires to, the decision-making from the quarterback position must be improved upon. The struggles at offensive line in 2009 have been well-documented, and certainly having to replace three eventual NFL receivers that departed the program after the 2008 season affected the quarterback's confidence in the passing game. But ultimately the direction of the offense is in the hands of the man under center.
The process of improving decision-making happens both in the film room and on the practice field. Coach John Shoop has hours of film to show his quarterbacks: here's how you ran this play, here's how it should be done, and here's how Rich Gannon (or Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Troy Aikman) ran this play. For the pressures of late-game situations, the team practices two-minute offense at virtually every practice. On Saturday, the Tar Heels scrimmaged for the first time this fall, and Yates said that those opportunities offer the best chance for improvement. "We do a lot of seven on seven, and two minutes, but the ones that are really relevant and help you the most are the full-team, 11 on 11. I've got the defensive line going, rushing crazy every single time. Just being able to look at that and just worry about your reads and all the different things our team does, it's a really good thing to go 11 on 11."
Butch Davis was impressed with the play of both Yates and redshirt freshman Bryn Renner, who split time with the first team on Saturday. "They were both over 75 percent completion," Davis said. The encouraging thing was is we did not have one single turnover on offense. We didn't throw any interceptions, we had no fumbles. They were both very, very effective. I thought that they did a nice job."
It is a good sign when an offense that turned the ball over 27 times in 2009 doesn't lose one to a defense that themselves committed 29.
Renner, Yates's competition at quarterback, said he is feeling more comfortable with the offense day by day. "I take every rep as a game, so I think every rep is like a game rep for me," he said. "The more reps I get, the better I'm getting."
The redshirt freshman said he has had to tighten the reins on his own game. Though he impressed with his play in the spring game, Renner did throw a pair of interceptions in April. Renner said he has thrown the ball as far as 74 yards flat-footed, but that sometimes the more prudent thing to do is opt for a shorter gain. "When I came in last year, I was trying to just gun the ball everywhere, but it's kind of smart just to take a check-down here and there."
With expectations high on the defensive side of the ball, both quarterbacks have taken it upon themselves to raise their level of play and bring the offense with them. Renner compares himself to a basketball player in regard to making the wisest choice for the team. "If he's got an open three, he wants to shoot it, but if he can drive, he can do that as well."
"I've become a perfectionist. I'm never going to really be satisfied with how I play," Yates said. "Of course I'm going to be happy that the team won, but unless I just play absolutely lights-out, I'm not going to go into an interview postgame and just be super super excited, because I'll still look at the film the next day. There's little mistakes that you can just correct just from doing drills, there's something you can always do to make yourself better, and that's kind of how Coach Shoop has groomed me over the past few years. I can definitely learn from every situation."
Turner Walston is managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly magazine.
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