University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: All You Want
September 24, 2011 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
Sept. 24, 2011
Some days, you've just got to hand it to your opponent. You know Paul Johnson's team is going to run the triple-option. He knows that you know his team is going to run the triple-option. But they're going to do it anyway, and when they run it well, they're hard to stop.
The Tar Heels found that out on Saturday. The team watched film and practice against the scout team, but it's another thing entirely to see it on the line across from you. "It's nowhere near close with the scout team and the real thing," defensive tackle Tydreke Powell said. "Our scout team gave us a pretty good look. We ran it with our one offense and we've been working on this offense and it's nothing that we haven't seen, but they just came out to play."
Saturday, the Tar Heel offense just couldn't keep up. Carolina started with a promising 63-yard drive, with Giovani Bernard carrying the load offensively, but subsequent first half possessions ended thusly: Punt, punt, punt, punt, interception, end of half. Still, interim head coach Everett Withers was optimistic entering the break. "I came in the locker room, and I said, `Guys, I love where we are right now," he said. "`I think we've got a chance to go out here and find out who we are,' and we were able to get back in the game, tie it up and give ourselves a chance to win. That's all you want."
After holding the Yellow Jackets to a field goal to open the second half, the Tar Heel offense turned to Dwight Jones. On three straight plays, Bryn Renner hooked up with Jones for 58 yards. Renner faked a wide receiver screen and found Nelson Hurst for a score shortly thereafter. Georgia Tech chewed six minutes of clock and went 81 yards on 13 plays to push the lead to 28-14. As the fourth quarter opened, Renner found freshman tight end Eric Ebron from 20 yards out to pull within a score. After a defensive stand, Bernard went back to work and burst 55 yards for a score. Thomas Moore's extra point tied the score at 28.
But unfortunately, the Tar Heels had to give the ball back to the Jackets. Roddy Jones carried the ball 48 yards to the Tar Heel nine, and Tevin Washington scored his second rushing touchdown of the day. "I almost wanted to let them score so we could have two minutes left on the clock, so we can go down and score," Withers said. "But, it didn't work out that way. All we wanted was time to be able to go down and score at the end of the game."
There was still more drama, as the Tar Heels punted and then got the ball back with 1:35 to play. Unfortunately, a lack of timeouts (they'd used them when Georgia Tech had the ball) and inexperience meant a game-trying drive was not to be. Renner took two sacks, keeping the clock moving, and an illegal shift penalty ended the game. Ironically, it was a rule the Tar Heels helped inspire that cost them one last shot. With nine seconds to go, Ebron didn't get back to the line of scrimmage before Renner called for the snap to spike the ball. Last December 30, the Tar Heels were called for illegal participation as T.J. Yates snapped and spiked with one second to play. This season, the offensive penalty with less than ten seconds to go now requires a ten-second runoff, ending the game.
After the game, Withers was anything but discouraged. Though he'd just suffered the first loss of his head coaching career, the interim head man liked what he saw. "Obviously, disappointed with the loss, but I'm really proud of this football team for the way they came back and fought in the second half. I think we'll learn a lot about ourselves as we come back and watch tape tomorrow."
The players, on the other hand, were more somber. They'd been close. The loss was fresh. "We'll look at the film and see where we did some good things," Renner said. "Definitely, coming back from that deficit we had on the road is something we can take for the rest of the season, but we've just got to win the close ballgames."
From first glance, the Tar Heels know this: they've got a star running back in Bernard. He was dazzling, with 155 yards on 17 carries. Ebron is emerging as a target at tight end who can run like a wideout. Defensively, in addition to Powell, Quinton Coples and Kevin Reddick, the Tar Heels got contributions from Ebele Okakpu and Sylvester Williams.
There are eight more games to play, six of them in conference. Carolina will get back to work Sunday and look ahead to East Carolina. A loss at Georgia Tech is not a season-ender, but the Tar Heels need to learn from Saturday and move on. There will be other chances for Renner to lead a late-game drive. Saturday, he - and the Tar Heels - simply ran out of time. "I couldn't be prouder of this team," Wither said afterward. "I love this team. This is a heck of a football team. We've got a chance to be good." How good? That will depend on how they rebound from a tough loss on the road.
Turner Walston is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly. Turner's weekly Tar Heel football podcast, The Walkthrough, is available on iTunes.
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