University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
September 13, 2015 | Football
By Adam Lucas
1. If last week's game against South Carolina was a proving-type game, this one was mostly just confirming what everyone already expected. The 53-14 victory over North Carolina A&T confirmed the Tar Heels can score against outmatched opponents. But it was still a valuable experience to get some young players some actual game snaps. And, as a bonus, it appears the Tar Heels emerged injury-free.
2. For all the positives, no one really had any doubts about whether the Tar Heels could score against North Carolina A&T. So it's hard to get overly excited about putting up 53 points. The challenge will be repeating it next week against Illinois (a team that sneakily has won two games by a combined 82-3 margin), and then most definitely in doing it at Georgia Tech on Oct. 3. Carolina is now 4-0 against FCS opponents under Larry Fedora, and has outscored them by an average of 47 points per game.
3. It's not that important in a 53-14 game, but it might be later in the season: Nick Weiler is proving to be a weapon on kickoffs. He nailed a 48-yarder against the Aggies to go with his 47-yarder against South Carolina. Weiler is now 3-for-3 on field goals this year.
4. Shakeel Rashad was a playmaker for the defense. He forced the fumble that led to Sam Smiley's 52-yard return in the first quarter, and he also picked off an interception in the second quarter.
5. For fans who weren't at the game: the Tar Heels are going to white out Kenan at the home game against Delaware on Sept. 26. Here's hoping that one is also a night kickoff. Evenings at Kenan are just plain better than the afternoon starts.
6. A few comments about the various events and atmosphere surrounding the game. Granted, the opponent was North Carolina A&T and it wasn't one of the marquee dates on the home schedule. But thanks to some hard work from the marketing department, it still felt like an event. From the terrific halftime performance featuring the combined efforts of the Marching Tar Heels and the North Carolina A&T marching band, to the postgame fireworks, to the nearly perfect weather that included only a couple brief showers that actually cooled off the September night, it was the kind of evening that will make people want to come back to Kenan Stadium and become repeat visitors.
One quibble: the traffic situation coming up Highway 54 to campus can get better. Exit on that route is exponentially better than entrance, so it can clearly be done.
