University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Whew
September 8, 2014 | Football, Featured Writers
By Lee Pace, GoHeels.com
Larry Fedora termed it a "nightmare" and said he never wanted to see anything of San Diego State's riotous defense again – "At least not with a young offensive line." Vic Keonning heralded the athleticism and attitude of a corps of young defensive backs but said he was "bitterly disappointed" with the number of missed assignments and blown free-shots on blitzes.
Everyone talked about the energy. It was terrific amid the black-and-blue striped sections in Kenan Stadium and a near capacity crowd of 58,000 on a sticky Saturday night. "Awesome," said Fedora. "Electric," added tailback Elijah Hood. "Better than Miami a year ago, and we got the win this time," offered safety Tim Scott, whose diving interception in the end zone saved the game with under a minute to play.
But they lamented the apparent lack of emotional amps in the first half, when San Diego State controlled the ball for 19 minutes and led 14-7. "The crowd had a lot of energy and we weren't matching it," Scott said. Added quarterback Marquise Williams of a somber locker room at intermission: "I said let's smile and go have a great time out there."
And in the end the Tar Heels survived with a 31-27 victory predicated on three interceptions and the longest Carolina pass play in Kenan Stadium history. They ran their record to 2-0, sat back and let fly one mammoth sigh of relief. They now have a week off before traveling to East Carolina Sept. 20.
"I think it came down to heart," said Hood, who scored his first career touchdown on a two-yard fourth-quarter run.
"An amazing job persevering and maintaining a positive attitude throughout the game," Fedora noted.
That the name San Diego State carries no currency the ilk of Wisconsin or Oregon State in Southern football circles and that the betting public was so tilted in Carolina's favor that the Heels were listed as two-touchdown favorites belied the true challenge of facing Aztec coach Rocky Long's 3-3-5 defense.
This week for the Carolina offense was like playing Georgia Tech each year is for the defense – it's an odd look, you do it once a year, it's hard to replicate in practice and it always takes a good chunk of the game to find some ballast. And when junior right guard Landon Turner left the game with a knee injury in the first half, the Tar Heels were doing battle across the offensive front with, left to right, a sophomore, sophomore, sophomore, true freshman and sophomore – this against a defense that often stands everyone up and pressures with one or two players 82 percent of the time.
"Their scheme is unbelievable," Williams said. "You can't prepare for it in three days."
"I've known Rocky since he was at New Mexico State and I was at Texas Tech," offensive coordinator Seth Littrell said. "They gave us fits. They're very unorthodox. This is a week you've got to keep things simple."
Fedora noted that offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic told him before the game that this week was the most trying of his career in preparing a young and yet-to-coalesce unit for battle against an Aztec defense that brands itself with the word "chaos."
"It was a struggle with our offensive line trying to figure out what was happening with the defense," Fedora said of a first half that saw the Tar Heels control the ball only 11 minutes and fail to get inside the Aztec 31 yardline. "Once they calmed down a little and got a rhythm going, we moved the ball. One thing I'll tell you is our guys are in great shape, and with the tempo we're using, it wore them down a little bit."
Fedora paused and shook his head: "I'm just glad we don't have them on the schedule again."
That said and acknowledged, it was perhaps not a bad night, then, for Carolina to scrape together 6.2 yards a play on an inordinately low number of total snaps, 64. The powder keg was a 91-yard shot from Williams to Mack Hollins, a play-action fake and read by Williams on the play-side safety. If the safety helps the cornerback on Hollins, the split end to the right, the throw is to the slot receiver on a crossing route. But the corner had Hollins one-on-one and Hollins ran a basic "go" route. After under-throwing two open receivers on deep balls last week against Liberty, Williams wasn't about to play cute on this one.
"We worked hard this week just trying to give Quise the trust in the receiving corps," Hollins said. "If you throw that deep ball, we're going to get it. Trust us. We'll run and get it."
Williams stepped up and let loose at the three yardline, the ball traveled on a tight spiral 54 yards and Hollins snared it on a dead run at the Aztec 43, leaving the cornerback in the dust.
"Mack kept saying, 'Just throw the ball, I'll run under it and get it,'" Williams said. "I was upset with myself for underthrowing some balls last week. It was crazy, but I was saying, 'If he's double-covered, I'm still going to give it a shot.' I gave him a shot and he ran under the ball, and it was a perfect play."
Also perfect were three interceptions on defense, two by sophomore Brian Walker (one of them returned a hundred yards for a score). That the Tar Heels added three takeaways against San Diego State to the six gained against Liberty gives them a turnover edge of plus-two through two games, good enough for a tie for eighth best in the nation.
That's helping camouflage an assortment of problems that Koenning, the defensive coordinator, and his staff will have to address over two weeks. Carolina lacks a true edge pass rusher given one injury that sidelined Norkeithus Otis the entire game and another that had Shakeel Rashad sidelined part of the first half; the Heels suffered a preponderance of missed assignments (the 56-yard pass allowed for a touchdown early in the second quarter was not the responsibility of freshman corner M.J. Stewart, but rather a safety who didn't rotate over); and they missed at least two clear shots on the quarterback on golden blitz opportunities. And there was one third-down, post-snap penalty on a freshman defensive tackle after a stop that allowed the Aztecs a fresh set of downs and an eventual touchdown.
"I'm disappointed in the way we played," said Koenning. "We've got to be better than that. We can't have all the missed assignments, the busted coverages."
Koenning sighed and emitted his own version of "Whew."
"Thank the Lord Tim saved the day at the end," he said. "Someone's looking out for us."
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (leepace7@gmail.com) is entering his 25th year writing "Extra Points" and 11th reporting from the sidelines for the Tar Heel Sports Network. His unique look at Tar Heel football will appear regularly throughout the fall. Follow him on Twitter @LeePaceTweet.
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