University of North Carolina Athletics
One Thing to Watch: Virginia Tech
October 2, 2014 | Football
Note: This story originally appeared in this week's issue of CAROLINA, the official publication of Carolina athletics. Download the free mobile app for iOS or Android devices or visit the web viewer for more great content.
By Turner Walston
Carolina faces a tough task in its first intra-divisional matchup of the season when Frank Beamer and the Virginia Tech Hokies come to Kenan Stadium. The Hokies are 3-2 and coming off a 35-17 win over Western Michigan last week in Lane Stadium. That victory broke a two-game losing streak, as the Hokies fell to East Carolina and Georgia Tech after their upset win at Ohio State.
Though Virginia Tech boasts a veteran and well-respected coaching staff, the featured players in the Hokie offense will look very different. Junior quarterback Michael Brewer, a Texas Tech graduate who is pursuing a master's degree, takes over under center for the departed Logan Thomas. Brewer beat out Brenden Motley –who mysteriously received a Preseason ACC Player of the Year vote– for the job in fall camp. Through five games, Brewer's 245 passing yards per game place him fourth in the conference.
We could (and perhaps should) write about the Tar Heel secondary against the opponent's passing game every week until the Carolina defensive backs improve their play, but today we're going to look at the battle in the run game.
The Hokie running game has undergone a makeover as well. Through five games, the Hokies have had three different players –all freshmen– lead the team in rushing yards: Tailbacks Marshawn Williams and Shai McKenzie (now out for the season) twice each and wideout Deon Newsome once. Williams is atop the depth chart at running back and is averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Saturday at Clemson, Carolina was able to bottle up the Tigers on the ground and hold them to 92 yards rushing and just 2.1 yards per attempt. “We knew as a group that we needed to improve from the previous game,” defensive tackle Ethan Farmer said. “We did what we were supposed to do. We held them to 92 yards rushing, so we did what we were supposed to do.” What they were supposed to do was maintain gap integrity, not allowing runners to find holes in the Tar Heel front. It has to be said that Clemson was taking advantage of Tar Heel miscues in the secondary (allowing Deshaun Watson to throw for 435 yards and six scores) and thus the Tigers didn't necessarily need to be as successful on the ground. Meanwhile, Brewer hasn't shown quite the same accuracy as Watson early in his Hokie career. He's throwing at a 61 percent clip and has 10 interceptions against 9 touchdowns. If the Tar Heels can limit the Hokies on the ground, they can give themselves a chance to force turnovers through the air.
“We proved Saturday what we could be and I think we're going to do a lot better this Saturday,” Farmer said.
