University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Keep The Good Thing Going
October 22, 2015 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
by Turner Walston
Carolina and Virginia will tangle for the 120th time Saturday as the Cavaliers visit Kenan Stadium for a 3:30 kick. Carolina has won five straight against Virginia (having ended a streak of futility in Charlottesville in 2010) and leads the overall series 62-53-4, but this is a rivalry of runs: after Carolina won nine straight from 1974 to 1982, Virginia went on to take 20 of the next 27 match-ups (the two teams played to a 24-24 tie in 1984). But of course, history means more to fans and alumni than current players and coaches, and Larry Fedora is rightly only concerned with the 2015 team.
That 2015 team is riding a five-game win streak and carries a ton of momentum into Saturday's game. But while the Tar Heels are 5-1 and 2-0 in the ACC and Virginia sits at 2-4 and 1-1, the home team knows better than to underestimate its opponent. “Their four losses have been against teams that all have been ranked sometime this year,” Fedora said this week. “I think they're much better than what people give them credit for. They've played some tough teams. They've played them well. They just didn't get over the hump in those games.”
Though they won't be satisfied with a 2-4 record to date, Virginia is nothing if not tested. After a season-opening loss at UCLA, the Cavaliers lost by a touchdown to Notre Dame, beat William & Mary, dropped a home game to always-hot Boise State, lost by a touchdown at Pitt and then beat Syracuse in triple-overtime. It's an up-and-down start for the Wahoos, but as Fedora said, all four losses have come to teams that have appeared in the Top 25 at some point this year (if Carolina wins Saturday, Virginia will have to settle for being beaten by a team in the 'Others receiving votes' category).
Meanwhile, Carolina is now 5-1 for the first time since 2011 and seeking to get off to the team's best start since 1997, when the Tar Heels began the season with eight straight wins. The upperclassmen on this year's Tar Heel team have been on the flip side of that record, having started 2013 at 1-5, and last year's team was 2-4 before rattling off four wins in the final six games of the regular season. Certainly the good start feels good, but center Lucas Crowley cautioned that while the Heels are seeing the fruits of their labor, the players must keep composure. “It feels great,” the junior said after Tuesday's practice. “All the hard work and stuff that we put in over the summer, everybody's been locking in and coming together tighter as a team and everything like that and we see it's paying off. The big thing is that we've just got to focus in and keep our eyes on the prize and make sure we're still locking in on everything and not getting too high-headed and stuff like that. But it feels good.”
It ought to feel good for Crowley and his cohorts on the offensive line. At 6.15 rushing yards per attempt, the Tar Heels are the nation's fifth-best team in rushing efficiency. When Marquise Williams or Elijah Hood take off, the team is picking up better than 7 yards, on average. Last week, Hood rushed for 101 yards on just eight carries. At Georgia Tech in early October, it was Williams who led the Tar Heels in all three offensive categories (passing, rushing and receiving), but against Wake Forest the team had a more balanced attack. A capable run game anchored by the tailbacks will take pressure off of Williams and allow for the element of surprise. That starts with getting touches for Hood.
“He's healthy this year, he's hungry, he runs extremely hard, he's very physical, he dislikes being tackled and the offensive line is better,” Fedora said of Hood's recent success. “All the way across from the five offensive line to the tight ends to the receivers, everybody is doing a better job blocking on the perimeter, downfield, all those things.”
While there are calls to get Hood more touches, the sophomore himself is most concerned with his efficiency. And getting better than 12.5 yards per carry (as he did against Wake Forest) is quite efficient. “I'm just trying to be productive within the scheme of the offense, do what I need to do,” Hood said on Monday. “Run hard, make plays, make guys miss. The more opportunities I get to do that, that's great if it's what's necessary and if it's being productive.”
Hood, Williams, Logan and Romar Morris are getting good blocking up front from a veteran offensive line, but from there it's on them and their downfield blockers to chew up yardage. Crowley, as an offensive lineman accustomed to being out of the spotlight, makes sure to share the credit for the run game's success. “A lot of it has to be do with not only us, but the backs,” he said. “I think the backs have been running their butts off just working hard and doing all they can to help make us look good. I think a lot of credit has to go to them.”
On the defensive side of the ball, junior defensive end Junior Gnonkonde earned ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors for his tremendous game against Wake Forest. Dajaun Drennon, the player ahead of Gnonkonde on the depth chart, couldn't hide his pride in his teammate. “We've both been competing for that starting job since I got here and we've really been pushing each other to greater limits,” Drennon said Monday. “This week, he just proved that he had what it takes. Nine tackles, two sacks and two [tackles for loss]? It doesn't get too much better than that.”
The Tar Heels are hoping that it gets better than 5-1. It starts with 6-1, a record they'll seek to reach on Saturday.
