Extra Points: Numbers Game

September 28, 2015 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace

By: UNC Athletic Communications

by Lee Pace, GoHeels.com

“Statistics tell us that a person who eats rarely survives,” said the Scottish knight William Wallace, which is hilarious when you think about it. Indeed, statistics can be twisted and contorted and made to stand on their heads to prove a point. Nonetheless, today we dive head-long into parsing the Tar Heel football stats book on the cusp of the inauguration of their ACC schedule with a trip to Georgia Tech:

• The record, 3-1. The Gaffe Vs. the Gamecocks still stings, but the Tar Heels have played 10 mature, focused and productive quarters since the opener in Charlotte against North Carolina A&T, Illinois and Delaware. They hiccupped the first half Saturday in the rain against the Blue Hens but dominated the second half for a resounding 41-14 win.

“For whatever reason, the energy just wasn't there in the first half,” receiver Ryan Switzer said. “It's been something we've been able to avoid so far, but it hit us today. We didn't change anything we were doing schematically at halftime, we just took it up a notch. We let them hang around much longer than we would have liked.”

• Good news: Tar Heels are third in the nation in passing yards allowed with 113 a game. The recruiting class of 2013 featuring Donnie Miles, Des Lawrence and Brian Walker is the nucleus, augmented by fifth-year senior Sam Smiley, sophomore M.J. Stewart and freshman Mike Hughes.

“They're developing a good knowledge of the game,” defensive coordinator Gene Chizik says. “They understand conceptually what we are trying to do. Charlton Warren does a fantastic job coaching them on the details of the position. They are starting to understand and learn the conflicts of the game out there. There are a lot of run-pass conflicts. They are learning to adjust to and handle those conflicts.”

“There is a more aggressive mindset back there now,” head coach Larry Fedora adds.

• Bad news: Carolina is 113th in rushing yards allowed with 229 and has gotten to the quarterback for sacks only twice. Ground-oriented Delaware did exactly what it wanted to do in the first half and early in the third quarter as the Blue Hens rushed for 5.7 yards a snap.

“We still haven't gotten sacks and today we didn't stop the run,” tackle Nazair Jones said. “We have a bunch of problems. Delaware got way too many yards straight downhill running.”

“We're still seeing opponents get too much push up front,” Fedora says. “We've got to do a better job with our front four.”

• Senior linebackers Jeff Schoettmer and Shakeel Rashad lead the team in tackles-for-loss with three each and both have an interception. Each made key first-half plays against Delaware, Schoettmer keenly sniffing one trick play with an eligible receiver lined up as a tackle and making an interception, and Rashad nailing a reverse for an eight-yard loss.

“Both made big momentum plays in the game,” linebackers coach John Papuchis says. “Jeff's pick was all intelligence, in my opinion. We had prepared for that against South Carolina, where they line a tight end up as an offensive tackle, but we hadn't prepared for it since. Jeff recognized it, identified it and got the interception. Shak is the epitome of a work-hard, try-hard guy. He's always in the right position.”

• Carolina is 11th in the country in red zone defense, allowing opponents to score on two-thirds of their trips inside the 20. The Heels stoned South Carolina inside the 20 in the fourth quarter of the opener, giving them a chance at a game-winning drive, and did so again in the first quarter against Illinois to seize early momentum.

“We have really emphasized the power of great red-zone play,” Chizik says. “When you get down to it, what happens in the other 80 yards is pretty insignificant if you can play well down there. The field changes down there, routes change, concepts change, ideas change. Our guys have a good understanding of how the game is different down there and how our game adjusts down there.”

• Carolina opponents have scored zero points off turnovers, and the Tar Heel running backs have not lost a fumble. A sign in the running backs meeting room on the second floor of Kenan Football Center reads “Ball Security Equals Job Security,” and running backs coach Larry Porter had a manager dousing footballs in a tub of water during pre-game warm-ups to better acclimate his tailbacks to handling a wet ball.

• The Tar Heels are fourth nationally and first in the ACC in third-down conversions at 55 percent.

• Carolina is tied for 16th nationally in fewest penalties per game with just under five flags per game. The Tar Heels are 13th nationally with 37.8 penalty yards per game. That compares favorably to a pace of 7.6 flags a game for 76 yards in 2014.

• The offense is averaging 7.3 yards a snap and 485 yards offense; Saturday's game was the first the Tar Heels did not punt since beating Maryland in 1994. Eleven players on offense have scored touchdowns, and a deep well of playmakers revolves new guys through on a weekly basis. Against Delaware, it was receiver Mack Hollins with the big day: three catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

“They made more explosive plays because they have more explosive players,” said Delaware coach Dave Brock.

“The quarterback's job in our offense is just to get the ball into the hands of the playmakers,” Mitch Trubisky said. “That's all I tried to do today.”

• Kicker Nick Weiler is 7-for-8 on field goals and Saturday bounced back from his first miss of the year to notch a 46-yarder into the wind.

“It definitely changes your play-calling,” offensive coordinator Seth Littrell says. “When you get into the red zone and it's third down, your thought it, 'Let's don't make a mistake.' You might go with something safe like a screen pass. Last year, you kind of knew you were in four-down territory.”

• Carolina is averaging 41,333 home attendance in three games. Much was written and talked about in the aftermath of spotty attendance against Illinois and a tweet from receiver Bug Howard musing about whether a Tar Heel basketball scrimmage at halftime would boost football attendance.

Waste all the breath you'd like about “culture” and taking more initiative to draw crowds. But the statistics are simple: a 99-109 record over 17 years from 1998-2014 and five years of weariness spawned from NCAA and off-the-field issues wears on a fan base. And being cubby-holed into a preponderance of noon kickoffs by the TV networks and having one side of the ball so abysmally bad as the defense was in 2013-14 is even more weight to overcome.

Quarterback Marquise Williams had it right this week when asked: “We've just got to win games. That will get them in.” It always has, it always will. Winning is one stat that's never told a lie.

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (leepace7@gmail.com) is in his 26th year writing “Extra Points” and 12th 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.