University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Comfort Zones
September 13, 2016 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
By Turner Walston
The season-opening swing for Carolina Football, two games away from Kenan Stadium before Saturday's home opener against James Madison, has tested the mettle of the Tar Heels. First, a neutral-site game in Atlanta against Georgia, then the first non-conference home sellout crowd at Illinois in nearly 30 years. Carolina's first home game is the latest on the schedule in the last six years, and the boys in blue are eager to play for their fans.
"Our kids are excited to get back and play in the Tar Pit," head coach Larry Fedora said on Monday. "They really are. We feel like that this home field is an edge for us, and I think they're anxious to get back and play in front of our fans. We've played in front of two hostile crowds. Especially early on, that game last week, that crowd was loud and they did a great job, and we're looking forward to coming home and that being an edge for us."
Beginning the season as they did, in front of many, many opposing fans, was an early trial by fire for two Tar Heel leaders in new roles. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky is a first-year starter behind center. Run or pass, the offense goes through him. Middle linebacker Andre Smith started a handful of games a year ago, but now he's been expected to step into a new role with confidence. Run or pass, the defense goes through him. Both Trubisky and Smith have some experience, but they're now playing without a net, so to speak, out from behind the seniors that were ahead of them on the depth chart a year ago.
Trubisky looked more like himself at Illinois than he did against Georgia, and the on-field results bore that out. He was 24-40 for 156 yards and no touchdown passes in the Georgia Dome; a week later, 19-24 for 265 yards and two scores in Champaign. Much more efficient in fewer attempts. And what won't necessarily show up on the stat sheet is his decision making on the run-pass option calls that the Tar Heel offense employs. Perhaps Trubisky tried to do too much himself in the opener; at Illinois, he was more willing to share the offensive load with a capable stable of running backs.
"I think I was just going through my reads better," he said of his performance against the Illini. "Just going through my progressions better, IDing the defenses, I did a better job of that. They still threw some stuff at us, but we just adjusted on the fly in the game."
One adjustment that Trubisky himself made was to scamper for 39 yards in the first quarter with the Tar Heels trailing 7-0. Wearing the green jersey in practice, Trubisky can't get hit by his teammates. Though Fedora didn't particularly want his quarterback to take a hit in the game, Trubisky told his head coach that he needed to make that run. "I wanted to finish that run," he said. "I didn't feel like going out of bounds. That's just how I play. I just wanted to run hard, show that I'm capable of doing it and just do what I need to do for my team."
Trubisky's running ability was a question of sorts in off-season discussions about this team. It's the one major difference that many pointed to between him and Marquise Williams, a point of discussion that was not entirely driven by the players' playing styles. But Trubisky is a capable runner. As he can't really practice that kind of run during the week, Trubisky will only get better by attempting it in games. That ability will help keep defenses honest moving forward.
For his part, Andre Smith wasn't particularly satisfied with his play at Georgia, either. There, the sophomore middle linebacker had seven tackles as he stepped into the role of the heartbeat of the defense. He doubled that number on Saturday. "I wasn't very productive in game one," Smith said. "I think I really was able to see the game better (at Illinois) and really just go out there and really just play football and be myself." For his efforts, 14 tackles including one for loss and a pass break-up, Smith was named the ACC's Linebacker of the Week. "What Coach (Gene) Chizik talks about is production, so I think I produced a lot more, so I'm just going to keep getting better and better."
The early evolution of Smith, and indeed the Tar Heel defense as a whole, can be glimpsed in the microcosm of that Illinois game. On the third play from scrimmage, the Illini's Ke'Shawn Vaughn rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown. Illinois had 134 yards of total offense and scored 14 points in the first quarter. They had 175 and scored nine for the rest of the game.
"We definitely did not want that to happen," Smith said of the early score. "It was just everyone picking each other up, motivating each other, influencing everyone, and knowing that the outcome of this game will not result in a loss. We're way better than that."
They were. And the Tar Heels enthusiastically return to Kenan Stadium on Saturday, with another opportunity for their leaders to grow and for the team itself to take a step forward.
"Being out there in the Tar Pit, there's no place like it," Smith said. "I can't wait to go out there and jump in the Tar Pit and see all the blue, because lately I've been in a sea of red and orange. I'm ready to see some blue again."
You can follow Turner Walston on Twitter @TurnerWalston
