University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Scratch And Claw
October 7, 2013 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace
by Lee Pace, GoHeels.com
BLACKSBURG, VA. — Marquise Williams grew up a Tar Heel fan, vaguely remembering as a tyke that cousin Robert Williams played cornerback at Carolina in the mid-1990s, and always thought he'd look good in Carolina blue. He pledged to the Tar Heels in the summer of 2010 before his senior year at Mallard Creek High in Charlotte and held firm for three months amidst the ominous clouds gathering over the Carolina football program. Williams flirted seriously in the home stretch with Virginia Tech, but in the end renewed his vows to the Tar Heels, talked of the strong bond already established with "my boys" like fellow recruiting targets Eric Ebron and T.J. Thorpe, and enrolled in Chapel Hill in January 2011.
"Schools came to my high school almost every week, saying, 'Why you want to go to a school that's going on probation?'" Williams said early in his Chapel Hill matriculation. "It got under my skin. The school is the best academic school you'll ever see. That hurt me. You can't tell me where my heart wants to go. I wanted to come here all along."
Since then, Williams has patiently bided his time behind Bryn Renner, ridden out with his teammates a one-year probation meted out by the NCAA, overcome a one-semester hiatus due to academic concerns and now, on his 21st birthday, found himself starting on the road against the very school that proved such a distraction during the final hours of his recruiting three years earlier. Renner, the starter for two-plus seasons, was gimpy with a sprained left ankle suffered in the East Carolina game and rendered immobile, thus giving Williams his first significant playing opportunity save the occasional spot assignment for designated quarterback runs.
"It's a blessing," Williams said. "I wish I could have done more, I wish we could have come out with the 'W.' But we'll be all right. Everyone has to deal with adversity. I've had mine. I hit a bump in the road. I'm glad to be back. I'm excited because I love these guys and I love the University of North Carolina."
Virginia Tech claimed a 27-17 win over the Tar Heels but it was not without encouraging signs on all fronts. Williams threw for 277 yards against a stout Hokie secondary that was yielding only 138 yards a game through four outings. The defense was gashed for two huge plays but beyond that in the second and third quarters had five three-and-out series and ended another with a furious 18-yard sack of Tech QB Logan Thomas. Tommy Hibbard averaged 46 yards on six punts and one was a textbook perfect kick inside the 10 that Tim Scott one-hopped and downed at the two yard-line.
Alas, the Heels gave back a Ryan Switzer punt return for a touchdown on a blocking in the back penalty, handed Tech the ball inside the 20 when Switzer fumbled a punt, committed a total of 11 penalties for 79 yards and threw two interceptions.
"We played hard, we fought, scratched and clawed, our guys did the things the coaches asked them to do," Tar Heel coach Larry Fedora said. "We still made too many mistakes to win the football game. But we made those mistakes playing hard, so that's one step."
Carolina has a week off before meeting Miami in Kenan Stadium on "Zero Dark Thursday" on Oct. 17, giving Fedora and offensive coordinator Blake Anderson time to sort through the Renner-Williams question and hopefully get offensive linemen Russell Bodine and Jon Heck back to full speed. Heck left the game in the first half, not to return, and Bodine played through a painful ankle sprain during the second half. Williams' debut at quarterback wasn't Saturday's only newcomer story of note, with highly touted freshman running back T.J. Logan playing for the first time after being sidelined the first month with a preseason knee injury.
Anderson said the quarterback deliberations will first be a factor of how soon Renner can return to full strength. He said that Renner has done nothing to lose his job and he'll assess the situation over the off-week of practice depending on what the training and medical staff says about Renner.
"At the very least, we'll have an opportunity to integrate Quise more into the offense now that he's had a chance to play an entire game and feel more comfortable," Anderson said.
Williams provides the Tar Heels more of a running threat than they have with Renner and against Tech he gained 64 yards on 16 carries, before accounting for two sacks. The option, zone read and various iterations of reverses and end-arounds are more in play with Williams at quarterback, and defensive coordinators have to account for a running quarterback in different ways than they do with a quarterback whose focal job is to distribute the ball.
"Quise is very elusive, he's fast and deceptively strong," Tar Heel linebacker Darius Lipford said. "A couple of Virginia Tech guys saw that in the first half. I saw him lower his shoulder on a defensive tackle and knock him off his feet."
"Quise brings a change, he brings confusion to the defense," added tight end Eric Ebron, who snared a nifty fade pass for a second-quarter touchdown. "He brings things other people can't match up against."
That touchdown to Ebron completed one of the Tar Heels' most impressive offensive drives of the season—a 10-play, 75-yard assault that included passes of 10 yards to Bug Howard, 40 yards to Quinshad Davis and 16 yards to Thorpe. That got Carolina going offensively after its first three possessions netted only one first down.
"That was a great series of balance and tempo and moving the ball around to different people," Anderson said. "That's what we want to be, getting all the pieces of the puzzle moving in the right direction. In hindsight, I was probably too conservative early with Quise. I just wanted to let him get comfortable. I was concerned about the atmosphere and how he would handle things, not having been in that situation before. But I thought he handled it well, and I opened it up later as the game went on. I probably should have done that a little sooner."
Ebron's touchdown cut Tech's lead to 14-7 and then the defense posted a three-and-out stop that included an overthrown Logan pass on first down, excellent pursuit by Jeff Schoettmer into the flat on second down and a jarring pass break-up by Scott on third down. Over the next two quarters, the Tar Heels gang-tackled, swarmed to the ball and kept receivers in their sight—catch, tackle, move on to the next play. From 9:09 in the second quarter to 6:26 in the fourth quarter, Virginia Tech gained 65 yards on 28 snaps. Of course, the Hokies added 83 yards on a 29th snap when a Tar Heel defender had his eyes in the wrong spot at the snap of the ball and got beat deep, setting up a Virginia Tech touchdown.
The defensive effort overall more resembled the first half at Georgia Tech rather than the entire game last week against East Carolina. That 603-yard explosion by the Pirate offense left the Tar Heel defensive staff and players reeling like they had been a year earlier following the Georgia Tech game. A players-only meeting last Sunday served as a reboot of sorts to the defensive season.
"We addressed a lot of issues, we talked about not being afraid, about playing aggressively," said Lipford, a junior bandit whose role is expanding week by week this fall. "We let everyone say what was on their minds. You can't drop your head, you have to go one play at a time and not let one bad play effect you on the next one. You can never panic out there. We came out with energy and played really hard in practice this week. It was good to see it take effect in the game."
The Hokies gained only 48 net yards rushing, this against a team cranking out 140 yards a game through five games. Their offense has a bit more flare and sophistication in the passing game and a more aggressive mindset than earlier years, witness first-year offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler's decision to throw deep backed up at the two yard-line in the second quarter. But if the Tar Heel defense can meld its games against South Carolina and Virginia Tech—sans a half dozen dagger shots—and its first half in Atlanta, it could grow into something respectable as the season evolves.
"Our front guys were really intense and aggressive, the backers' fits were good," defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said. "We worked really hard in the running game. We played hard, I was glad to see that. If we don't play absolutely fanatical every week, there's a huge drop-off. Our guys could have folded the tent after last week. But they didn't. They showed some pride. That's a word that I don't usually use too much because I think it's a word used too much in today's society. But we did bring that up, it's a lot about pride. I thought we responded."
It will be a busy 11 days before the lights and cameras of ESPN are stationed around Kenan Stadium and an unbeaten Miami squad comes to town. As much angst as Virginia Tech has caused the Tar Heels since entering the ACC in 2004 (Tech holds a dominating 8-2 advantage), the Heels have held up well against Miami, winning five and losing four.
Which quarterback? How to cut out the penalties? Can the defense build on its day in Blacksburg? Can Carolina finally get Ryan Switzer a touchdown that will stick? The opportunity is colossal if the Tar Heels can stage a "best of" show on Zero Dark Thursday.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (leepace7@gmail.com) is now in his 24th year writing "Extra Points" and 10th reporting from the sidelines for the Tar Heel Sports Network. His unique look at Tar Heel football will appear weekly throughout the fall.
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