University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Good Things In Threes
September 19, 2011 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace
Sept. 19, 2011
by Lee Pace
Smart quarterback with good arm? Check.
Hundred-yard tailback with big-play potential? Check.
Seasoned offensive line playing with cohesion, power and nimble feet? Got that.
Punter with strong leg and chance to change field position and a place-kicker with accuracy and ability to connect from midfield? Indeed.
Defense stocked with good players, a few of them the kind NFL scouts are jockeying for position to land in next spring's draft? No question.
Enough depth to blend handyman veterans and hungry rookies and stock the special teams with devil-may-care warriors? Absolutely.
Yes sir, it's nice to have Rod Elkins, Amos Lawrence, Ron Wooten, Steve Streater, Jeff Hayes, William Fuller and Darrell Nicholson on your team, the better to pound Virginia and keep alive a string of 13 wins in 14 years as Carolina did back in the early 1980s. Oh, for the good old days when playing the speed-challenged Cavaliers was a stroll through Polk Place for the Tar Heels.
Carolina coach Everett Withers noted the historical significance of the 116th rendition of the South's oldest football rivalry of Carolina and Virginia last week by noting, "We study history so we don't repeat it, but we try to make our own."
The Tar Heels are writing their new history in 2011 with a 3-0 start and a 28-17 win Saturday on a cool, misty, soggy day in Kenan Stadium. Carolina has showed its hand: A roster loaded with many of the same kinds of pieces that formed the foundation of those squads from three decades ago that won an ACC title and collected four straight bowl victories from 1979-82. Mix debutantes Bryn Renner, Giovani Bernard, Kareem Martin and Thomas Hibbard with the old guard of Jonathan Cooper, Quinton Coples, Kevin Reddick and Casey Barth, among many others, and the result is a solid team by any standard.
Last year's 44-10 pummeling of the Wahoos in Charlottesville ended that insane 14-game road losing streak in the Virginia series, and Saturday's win marked the first back-to-back triumph in the series since 1981-82. Small steps indeed as a university fractured by a late-July firing of its head coach and an ongoing search for a new athletic director at least finds some stability for three hours on Saturday afternoons.
"It's good to be 1-0 in the ACC," Withers said. "That's the bottom line. We can go back to practice and get better. It's good to get an ACC win and hopefully that carries momentum down the road for us."
Withers as an interim head coach and Virginia's Mike London as a second-year man in relief of Al Groh are both looking for some ballast in their programs in the ever-evolving world of college athletics, a landscape rocked over the weekend with the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC. Those moves are unlikely to quicken the pulse of the Southern football aficionado. Asked his opinion early Saturday evening of the news that Syracuse and Pitt had applied for admission to the ACC, Withers merely shrugged and said, "I'm just trying to get to 4-0."
Doing that would require a win on national TV this Saturday in Atlanta against unbeaten Georgia Tech (ESPN, noon), a team that requires schematic crash courses during game week on both sides of the ball preparing for Tech's option on offense and 3-4 on defense.
"This is when we'll find out a lot more about ourselves, where we really stand," linebacker Kevin Reddick said. "It's time for a road game. We have a lot of work to do against the run. We made too many mistakes today on gap responsibilities, we had too many breakdowns."
Virginia gained 468 yards but got inside the Tar Heel 20 yard-line only once. The Cavaliers gashed the Tar Heel defense--which entered the game No. 3 nationally in rushing defense with 30 yards a game allowed--for 120 first-quarter yards, but the Tar Heels found their bearings in the second quarter, squirted to a 14-3 halftime lead and added a quick score after the second half kick-off to take command at 21-3.
"Sometimes the first quarter is just a period of getting used to what they're doing, feeling them out and deciding what's going to work best for our defense," said safety Matt Merletti, who intercepted two second-half throws from Virginia QB Michael Rocco. "I think that's what happened today. I thought we played great after the first quarter."
Each of the Tar Heels' three phases of offense, defense and kicking game have shown promise and precision as well as issues for concern as the season kicks into high gear.
On offense, Renner continues to hit more than 80 percent of his passes--a blend of an accurate arm, good protection and outstanding focus and hands by Tar Heel receivers. Touchdown catches by Jheranie Boyd and Dwight Jones in the left corner of the Cavalier end zone were marvelous exhibitions of timing and throwing and a receiver working his eyes, hands and feet in concert to conquer both a defensive back and the boundary stripe. Bernard had another big play with a 40-yard scamper when he cut across the grain, and his 102 yards were the Tar Heels' first 100-yard rushing performance in five years. In all, eight Tar Heels ran the ball, three threw it and four caught it. Carolina had six runs for 12 yards or more and five passes for 18 or more, fitting coordinator John Shoop's definition of "explosive plays."
"We have so many great players on offense," said tailback A.J. Blue, who bludgeoned a weary Virginia defensive front for 40 fourth-quarter rushing yards. "We have so many different formations, so many different personnel groups and so many combinations. With all the people we have, the coaches have played it well. We all have to wait our turn, just keep grinding. That's what I've done--keep grinding until it's my turn."
After a Rutgers game in which he threw three interceptions, Renner is learning to harness his eagerness to make a big play every snap. He talked all spring and preseason about the need for him to simply distribute the ball to the team's array of play-makers, but sometimes a young quarterback in the heat of battle for the first few games will think he needs to make a play when discretion is called for.
The message to Renner this week: "You don't have to make every throw," Withers said. "Reserve the right to punt. It's okay to punt. You're athletic, so use your legs. Today you saw him step up and make some throws downfield, step up at other times and run the ball. To me, that shows growth over three weeks."
The defense picked up three turnovers after missing a handful of interception and recovery opportunities in the first two games and was stout as Virginia neared the red zone Saturday. The Tar Heels held on fourth down at their 36 yard-line midway through the second quarter as they were taking control of the game, linebacker Ebele Okakpu's pressure forcing a bad throw from Cavalier QB David Watford. Reddick and Zach Brown are loads, and Charles Brown now has two games back on his resume after a 14-game suspension. Withers, though, was livid after a Virginia score was set up by a 41-yard gain on a screen pass in the third quarter, and three Virginia tailbacks combined for 170 yards rushing.
"I think there are a couple of things we can tighten up," Withers said. "I think we're in the right spot, but I think we can be more aggressive and go attack the ball. If we'll work on the little things, we'll get better."
Withers' admonition to Renner that it's "okay to punt" has taken on new meaning with Hibbard, a walk-on from Charlotte's Butler High, averaging 41.4 yards through three games with excellent hang time. Sophomore C.J. Feagles had the inside line to the punting job this year, but it was evident from early August there would be quite the battle. Perhaps the best punter was actually one who is no longer around--Dillon Maples of Pinecrest High, who wowed everyone with his punting and kick-offs but left after 10 days to take $2.5 million to go pitch for the Chicago Cubs' organization. Hibbard showed the best combination of distance, height and placement through camp and thus won the job, his only quirk being a botched snap in the first game.
"He's got a gun for a leg and is still very raw," special teams coordinator Allen Mogridge says. "He's got a lot of upside. Tommy's a good athlete. I'm glad we found him and glad he's here."
Indeed, the lineup is proving formidable whether it's Bernard in 2011 or Bryant in 1981. And if Everett Withers wants more history, he can study this: Carolina won eight of nine over Georgia Tech in the 1980s.
Check each Monday during the fall for Lee Pace's ( leepace7@gmail.com ) view of Tar Heel football and listen to the Tar Heel Sports Network as he reports from the sidelines.
