University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Feels So Close
October 5, 2013 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
Three plays. That's all it took to change the game in Carolina's 27-17 loss at Virginia Tech on Saturday. Those three plays showed how close the Tar Heels came to beating a good football team in Blacksburg, and how agonizing it is that they aren't there yet.
Play one:
Trailing 21-7, the Tar Heel defense forced a three-and-out from the Hokies on their first possession on the second half. Virginia Tech's A.J. Hughes punted off of the 25 and Tar Heel freshman received the ball at about the 20. Switzer made one man miss, broke a tackle and then burst down the sideline, supposedly for his first career touchdown. But no. Malik Simmons was called for an illegal block in the back on Virginia Tech's Eddie D'Antuono, and the ball came all the way back to the Tar Heel 32. Not only did the penalty take the points off the board; it was a 62-yard swing in field position. For the third straight week, Carolina had a touchdown called back due to penalty.
Play two:
Down 21-10 and with 4th and 1 at the Hokie 33 early in the fourth quarter, Carolina needed to extend a drive and get the ball in the end zone. The Tar Heels tried to snap it and go, but Frank Beamer called timeout. Afterward, Carolina faked the hand-off to A.J. Blue and then looked toward Jack Tabb. Quarterback Marquise Williams just missed on the pass attempt and the ball was snatched out of the air by Virginia Tech's Kyle Fuller. “It was a play-action pass. One read, you don't have too much to do,” Williams said. Though the end result was like a punt (Virginia Tech started at their own 10), it short-circuited a promising drive. “I had myself down, because I felt like I shouldn't have made the throw, should have just run out and kept it and tried to get the first down,” Williams said.
Play three:
On the ensuing drive, a sack of Logan Thomas by Carolina's Kareem Martin and Norkeithus Otis eventually forced a Hokie punt. Back to receive, Switzer called for a fair catch. He went down to his knees and couldn't hold on to the football. Virginia Tech's Chase Williams pounced and set his team up with the ball on the Carolina 17. The Hokies made it 27-10 minutes later.
If any one of those three plays goes the other way, it's a different ballgame. Let Jabari Price tell it. “You look back on this game and you say, 'Dang man, if I would have done this, it's a different ballgame, or if I'd have done this, it's a different ballgame,'” he said. “It's the little things.”
It is the little things, and it's the big things, too. Big plays. In the second quarter, Virginia Tech drove 98 yards in no time, largely thanks to an 83-yard pass play.
Carolina is 1-4 entering the bye week ahead of Thursday night against Miami, but has shown flashes of being much, much better. Williams, called upon for his first collegiate start on his 21st birthday, was capable and added a different dimension at quarterback. Freshman T.J. Logan showed potentially, averaging five yards per carry in his first action of the season. And Carolina has young talent at receiver that is emerging. “I'm encouraged, to be honest with you,” Logan said. “I feel like we're this close. We've just got a couple of mess ups, a couple of penalties, false starts and stuff that can be fixed by simply just paying attention.”
The Tar Heels will use the next 12 days to hopefully fix those issues. The precedent is there. A week after getting gashed by East Carolina, the Tar Heel defense was dramatically improved, holding Virginia Tech to just 48 yards on the ground. Clean up some of the silly mistakes and Carolina will give themselves a much better chance to win.
It's because of those little things, the things that are apparent and seem easy to fix, that the Tar Heels are encouraged about the next seven games. “I feel great where we are, even though it doesn't look as good on paper,” Darius Lipford said. “I know that we have the talent to be successful for the rest of the season. We just need to get a win to get us on the right foot.”
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