University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
September 7, 2014 | Football
1. What an incredible atmosphere at Kenan Stadium for college football. Everyone involved deserves major credit-television for finally providing a plum 8 p.m. kickoff time, the marketing department for getting the word out about the stripe out, and a sellout Tar Heel crowd for following the stripe out plan perfectly. The stadium was so covered in stripes it looked like shirts had been given out to every fan; they hadn't, which means fans did an incredible job.
"The crowd was unbelievable," Larry Fedora told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "Throughout the entire game everybody in the Tar Pit was on their feet. It was an incredible atmosphere tonight."
Oh, and if you're going to have that type of atmosphere, you need to have an unforgettable game that's not decided until over 59 minutes have been played. The 31-27 win is a victory that will make lukewarm fans want to commit to making Carolina football a more regular part of their lives, and that's the kind of victory a program needs as it builds to something bigger. From the colors to the vibrant atmosphere to the game itself, it was impossible to have a bad time at Kenan on Saturday night.
2. Carolina's offensive tempo posed occasional problems for the Aztecs. It started in the second quarter, when the Tar Heels hurried to the line on fourth and seven and had San Diego State defenders running into each other before the ball was snapped on the conversion. The same thing happened in the fourth quarter, when Carolina zipped down the field for a 28-27 lead. Under Larry Fedora, the Tar Heels have multiple different paces for the hurry-up. It's not realistic to play at warp speed all the time, but tossing it in on occasion can be very effective against a defense not accustomed to playing at that speed. Most opponents simply aren't prepared to simulate that tempo in practice.
"Our guys are in great shape," Fedora said. "Once our offensive line calmed down and got in a better rhythm, I think our tempo wore them down a little."
3. If you're going to allow over 500 yards of offense and allow the opposition to take ten more offensive snaps, you'd better control the turnover battle. That's what the Tar Heels did. All three turnovers picked off by the Carolina defense--including Brian Walker's 102-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first half--played a significant role in the outcome. "We put all this emphasis on creating takeaways," Fedora said. "And our defense did it again. That's nine in two weeks."
The defense essentially played just well enough to keep the Tar Heels in the game until the offense cranked into gear; San Diego State led 21-7 at the 9:13 mark of the third quarter, but then watched Marquise Williams (second half numbers: 12-of-15, 204 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, plus 44 rushing yards on nine attempts) and the offense go on a 24-6 blitz to end the game.
"The energy wasn't there in the first half," Williams said on the THSN. "We came out with great energy in the second half."
4. Keep in mind that San Diego State had two timeouts remaining with under 30 seconds left when the visitors had first and goal at the UNC 4-yard line. On a day when the Aztecs churned out 168 yards on the ground, throwing it into the end zone on the first play might have done Carolina a favor.
