University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
November 29, 2015 | Football
By Adam Lucas
1. No matter what you think about Saturday's 45-34 win over NC State, take a second to savor an 11-1 regular season and an undefeated Atlantic Coast Conference season. It really was an incredible campaign, and even with Clemson ranked number-one in the country, Larry Fedora deserves to get some ACC Coach of the Year votes. What a season to follow Tar Heel football—the best comeback in program history, an undefeated home slate, a Coastal Division title and a state championship, the opportunity to play the country's top team next week, and a prestigious bowl appearance still on the horizon.
“It's incredible,” Larry Fedora told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. “This group of seniors is leading this team and the rest of these guys. They're doing some things that have never been done at UNC. What a tremendous legacy these seniors are leaving. “
2. Carolina ended the regular season very differently than they started it. In the season's first game, the Tar Heels probably didn't use Elijah Hood enough in the red zone while falling to South Carolina. In the regular season's final game, Carolina absolutely pounded NC State with Hood, as he finished with 220 yards to become the first UNC back with 200 rushing yards since Giovani Bernard against Virginia Tech in 2012.
Hood, who posted the 14th-biggest single game rushing performance in program history, will get most of the headlines. But T.J. Logan played a major role on the ground also, finishing with 100 yards. “Early on, every time he got in the secondary he was gone,” Fedora said. “I can't say enough about T.J. If you watch him in practice every week, he might be one of the hardest working guys on the offensive side of the ball.”
3. And any time you have two running backs with a great day, that means the offensive line had a terrific performance. The Tar Heel line was the biggest factor in allowing the visitors to open a commanding 35-7 lead in the first quarter.
4. There's a lot left to savor in this season, but if you're already worried about 2016, the coaching staff showed exactly how much confidence they have in Mitch Trubisky in the first quarter. Facing third and goal after Marquise Williams' helmet came off, the Tar Heels could've called timeout to allow him to re-enter the game. Instead, they inserted Trubisky and allowed him to throw a pass, which he smoothly completed to Quinshad Davis for the game's first touchdown.
5. Huge credit to the defense for a big stop after Elijah Hood fumbled early in the third quarter in the UNC red zone. An NC State touchdown there would have been a big momentum shift, but the defense stiffened—and Dave Doeren opted to kick a field goal on fourth down to keep it a three-score game rather than go for it—and held State to just three points.
6. You most often think of offensive tempo in a passing game. But the Tar Heels used tempo very advantageously at the start of the fourth quarter. Starting on the NC State 19 yard line, Carolina ran Hood three times in 31 seconds. Each time he bowled over another Wolfpack defender and was dragged down, the Tar Heels sprinted back to the line of scrimmage and handed it to him again. That touchdown gave Carolina a 42-23 lead and changed the game after a relatively nervous third quarter.
7. Carolina by no means has played its best game the last two weeks. The Tar Heels need to clean up turnovers before next week's ACC Championship game against Clemson.
“I feel like every time I'm down people are still ripping it from me,” Marquise Williams said on the THSN. “I have to hold on to it tighter and I have to be careful with those.”
8. The Tar Heels are in a terrific position for next week's ACC title game against Clemson in Charlotte. No one expects them to beat the Tigers, so they get to play the game with no expectations and no pressure. That makes a talented club very dangerous. Clemson will far and away be the best team UNC has played this year, but Carolina has shown enough this year that if you're one of the lucky fans with tickets, you can go to Charlotte legitimately believing the Tar Heels have a chance.
“We know Clemson is the number-one team in the country,” Fedora said. “For us, you couldn't ask for a better situation.”
