Turner's Take: Deep Cuts
September 28, 2014 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
By Turner Walston
The deep ball killed the Tar Heels on Saturday in Death Valley. It killed the Tar Heels on Clemson's second play from scrimmage, a 74-yard Deshaun Watson pass to Germone Hopper right over the top of the Carolian secondary. It killed the Tar Heels on Clemson's second touchdown, a 50-yard strike perfectly placed into Hopper's arms (amid good coverage). It killed the Tar Heels just when they were within striking distance in the second half, when Watson hit Artavis Scott for 33 yards to open the fourth quarter.
Let's talk about Deshaun Watson for a second: the freshman Tigers quarterback simply put on a virtuoso performance on Saturday. His six passing touchdowns were a Clemson record, and tied Doug Flutie's record set in 1984 for the most against the Tar Heels. It has to be said that this was against the same Tar Heel team that allowed Shane Carden to throw for 438 yards, but Watson was on point when he had time to throw, and even when he was pressured he found the hands of his receivers much more often than not. Last week, Watson nearly led the Tigers to an upset on the road at Florida State. Saturday he had a star-making performance.
Carolina's secondary –thought to be a strength coming into this season– has been under scrutiny after a couple of less-than-stellar performances. Safety Tim Scott is one of the team's few seniors, and sophomores Dominquie Green, Brian Walker and Des Lawrence all earned quality playing time a year ago. But there have been some growing pains for the group (except for perhaps Walker, who was seldom tested on Saturday). Miscommunication and missed assignments have hurt the Tar Heels in their two losses. On Hopper's early score, the Tar Heels thought Clemson had an ineligible receiver, and confusion at the line of scrimmage led to two Tigers streaking downfield. “They they could have throwm it to either one of them,” Larry Fedora said after the game. “They could have pitched it back and forth to each other.”
But it's not just the defensive backfield that is to blame for the Tar Heels giving up big plays. The defensive line is not getting the push it needs up front, not pressuring the quarterback nearly enough. The linebackers aren't completing plays, and given enough time, a quarterback is going to find an open receiver. “It may look like the secondary to y'all,” linebacker Jeff Schoettmer said, “But it's the line not getting enough rush and the linebackers not covering as well, too, so it's the the whole defense's fault.”
Those deep plays cut the Tar Heels deep, and that would be plenty to try to overcome to win a football game. But the wounds that sting Carolina the most may be self-inflicted. On Saturday, the Tar Heels committed a whopping 15 penalties, one off the school record, for 130 yards. That's the equivalent of 13 first downs of field position handed to an opponent. And they come in multiple varieties: late hits out of bounds, pass interference, clipping, block in the back, holding, false starts, not setting the offense for the required one second ... “Atrocious,” Fedora said of the flags on the field. “I don't know what to tell you.”
Still, despite the loss, despite the wounds, self-inflicted and otherwise, the Tar Heels will find plenty to learn from Saturday night. This team was down 20-0 midway through the second quarter, and yet fought back to get within a touchdown just after halftime. The defense found some success making the Tigers one-dimensional by shutting down the run (though that one dimension, Watson's arm, would have been enough to beat a lot of teams on Saturday). The offense, short-handed up front by the absence of Jon Heck and Landon Turner, started to found a rhythm in the second half. It wasn't enough to trade scores with the Tigers in the third and fourth quarters, but it was a sign that the team could move the ball against one of the nation's best defensive lines.
“Put this game behind us, but not all the way,” is what Mack Hollins said the team would need to do moving forward. “Still think about the mistakes that you made and what things you can do better.” If the Tar Heels can cut down on those penalties, particularly the 'frustration penalties' such as personal fouls, they'll give themselves a chance. If the team can take some momentum from Saturday into next week's contest with Virginia Tech, they'll get closer to the results they're seeking.
After getting blown out in Greenville, the Tar Heels could have bowed their heads early in Clemson. Instead, they answered the bell and kept punching. “We've got a lot of fighters and that's one thing I love about this team,” quarterback Marquise Williams said. “We're going to continue to fight, fight, fight.” Williams, for one, kept fighting. Watson's big day rightly will grab the headlines, but Williams quietly had one of the best games of his career, going 24-38 for 345 yards and four scores.
Williams believes the Tar Heels are one element away from finding the winning combination. “We're missing that little key, but we're going to find that key sooner than later,” he said. And just what is that key? “That key is consistency on both sides of the ball, offense defense, special teams . . . getting that big play on special teams and stuff like that.”
The key of consistency in all three phases of the game isn't quite there yet, but there are flashes that it may be coming. Keep the deep cuts to a minimum and cut out the self-inflicted wounds, and it will be a lot closer.
Players Mentioned
