University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: The Ghosts of Games Past
November 30, 2013 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
The story of the first half of Carolina's 2013 football season was missed opportunities. Miss a tackle here, give up a big play there, commit a penalty over here . . . and that's the ball game. The Tar Heels weren't getting blown out every weekend; three of those five losses were by ten points or fewer. On one side of the ball, missed assignments were glaring on tape. On the other, a youthful offensive line was struggling to protect its quarterback and create a consistent running game. Special teams was nothing special. The result was a 1-5 start.
Carolina reversed those trends over the last five weeks, winning five in a row to climb back to bowl eligibility. But on Saturday, they reverted to old habits and let a share of the division title slip away.
First of all, credit the Duke Blue Devils on their Coastal Division championship. Duke didn't get to 10-2 on the season because they were lucky. The Blue Devils are good; perhaps the best team Carolina played since September. Still, the Tar Heels had their chances.
Tar Heel quarterback Marquise Williams “didn't have it today,” Larry Fedora said. The redshirt sophomore was terrific with his feet, but his arm betrayed him at times. Williams missed on his first six throws of the second half, including an interception on the second play of the third quarter. After a Duke touchdown, Carolina had 1st and 10 at the Duke 37, but Williams had four straight incompletions. One of those - a home run attempt to T.J. Logan - should have been caught, but the others were too high and long for receivers.
Penalties bit the Tar Heels as well. Two personal fouls cost the Tar Heels dearly. Travis Hughes pushed Jamison Crowder into the goal post well after Crowder had secured a touchdown catch in the first quarter. The resulting 15 yards on the kickoff - and a holding penalty on the return - meant Carolina started at their own seven on the next drive. Russell Bodine then committed an unsportsmanlike conduct foul - pushing down a Duke defender after Khris Francis was stopped at the Duke 9 - that turned 3rd and 2 inside the Duke 10 into 3rd and 17 at the 24. Carolina eventually got a Thomas Moore field goal to retake the lead, but a one-point margin meant the Blue Devils only needed a field goal themselves to win it. Tar Heel players said they hadn't heard a whistle on the Francis rush, but regardless, the runner was clearly stopped and the play over.
Defensively, the Tar Heels could not get off the field. The Blue Devils converted 8 of 15 third downs. At one point that number was 7 of 11. Senior Tre Boston had two would-be interceptions fall to the ground, including one after the Tar Heels took the lead in the fourth quarter. Crowder and his fellow receivers found the holes i the Tar Heel defense, Anthony Boone got great protection from his offensive line and time to throw.
On special teams, Carolina got a great day from punter Tommy Hibbard, who averaged better than 46 yards on four punts. Three were downed at or inside the 10, and two of those at or inside the three. In the second quarter, Hibbard bounced a punt out of bounds at the Duke 2. The Blue Devils then drove 93 yards to start 1st and goal at their own 7. Eventually, Duke settled for a field goal, but the Tar Heel defense wasted a tremendous play by their punter.
Carolina also has to be better on kick return. Duke kicked off six times on Saturday, and on three of those kickoffs, the Tar Heels were flagged for holding or an illegal block. That kind of sloppiness puts the offense in a hole even before they take the field.
So the Tar Heels have now lost consecutive games to Duke for the first time in 24 years. There are lessons to be learned from Saturday and put into practice for the bowl game that awaits. Still, after Saturday's game, the Tar Heel players and coaches have to be left thinking what might have been.
