University of North Carolina Athletics
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Lucas: Rapid Reactions
October 19, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from Carolina's visit to Blacksburg.
By Adam Lucas
1. The way Carolina recovers from what could be a pivotal defeat will determine the course of the season. With Duke and Virginia coming to Kenan Stadium in the next two weeks, the Tar Heels have the chance to get right back into the Coastal Division race after Saturday's heartbreaking 43-41 six-overtime defeat. But they'll need to play cleaner games than they did in Blacksburg, when they let the Hokies escape with a win.
2. The Tar Heels have been a much less penalized team under Mack Brown. But two key penalties helped decide the outcome. Carolina received a crucial holding penalty that moved the ball back to the 25 yard line instead of inside the ten prior to Noah Ruggles' potential game-winner at the end of the third overtime. And the Tar Heels also earned a delay of game penalty that pushed them back five yards before Ruggles' 44-yard field goal attempt in the fourth overtime was blocked. Prior to the penalty, Ruggles had nailed a 39-yarder that was erased by the flag.
3. Chazz Surratt was sensational. The QB-turned-linebacker had 17 tackles and was all over the field. Two of those tackles were for loss.
4. Speaking of sensational, Sam Howell is in the process of rewriting much of the Carolina offensive record book. The freshman completed 26 of his 49 pass attempts for 348 yards and five touchdowns, tying the school record for scoring passes in a game. Howell put it in the air almost 50 times without an interception. Nine of those receptions went to Dazz Newsome, who had 112 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Howell's 20 touchdown passes this season are already the freshman record, eclipsing Darian Durant's 17.
5. The vast majority of discussion about this game will be about the six overtime periods. But Carolina may have let the game slip away earlier than that. They were on the verge of a two-touchdown lead early before a penalty forced them to settle for a field goal and 10-0 lead. The Tar Heels held 10-0 and 17-7 advantages early but lost all the momentum--and the lead--and trailed 21-17 at the halftime break. "We had our opportunities two or three times when we'd get up by ten points, or we'd be up three with the ball," Mack Brown said on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "We had opportunities to stretch the score and put more pressure on them and we just didn't do it."
6. Carolina's lack of depth at defensive back is hurting. Even down to their third string quarterback, Virginia Tech was still able to identify some areas where they felt they could hurt the Tar Heels and exploited those parts of the field for some big plays in the second half and overtime.
7. No one probably believes two-point plays are a great way to decide a game. It would be like sending a basketball game into a free throw shooting contest. But multiple-overtime games were getting so long that there was some concern about player safety, and that's why the change was made this year to start running two-point plays in the fifth overtime to decide the winner. And if Carolina had gotten into the end zone in the fifth overtime, maybe we'd all be talking about what a great rule change it was. Instead, the Tar Heels are left with a painful defeat in the longest game in Atlantic Coast Conference history.
8. A mobile quarterback once again proved problematic for the Tar Heels. Quincy Patterson threw the ball just six times and didn't look sharp through the air, but he finished with 122 yards rushing. His biggest run of the game, of course, was the game-winner on the Hokies' last two-point play.
9. So, what now? Carolina is 2-2 in the conference but has games remaining against three of the four teams ahead of them in the Coastal standings. Next weekend's battle with Duke (also 2-2 in the league) is likely a Coastal elimination game. It's also a chance for Mack Brown--who places a big emphasis on in-state matchups--to eliminate the sting of two in-state losses earlier this season.
10. Remember, we've known all year that the likely best-case scenario for Carolina football in 2019 was to be in some very, very close games and hopefully pull out a majority of them. That's exactly what has happened. The Tar Heels won a couple of squeakers early, lost three tight ones, won a rare breather in Atlanta, and now have you right back on the edge of your seat. That's where you're likely to stay most of the rest of the season. The hope is that playing more close games than anyone else in the country will pay dividends in the second half of the year. Sure, this could very easily be a one-loss team. But it could also be a six-loss team. That's part of growing a program.
1. The way Carolina recovers from what could be a pivotal defeat will determine the course of the season. With Duke and Virginia coming to Kenan Stadium in the next two weeks, the Tar Heels have the chance to get right back into the Coastal Division race after Saturday's heartbreaking 43-41 six-overtime defeat. But they'll need to play cleaner games than they did in Blacksburg, when they let the Hokies escape with a win.
2. The Tar Heels have been a much less penalized team under Mack Brown. But two key penalties helped decide the outcome. Carolina received a crucial holding penalty that moved the ball back to the 25 yard line instead of inside the ten prior to Noah Ruggles' potential game-winner at the end of the third overtime. And the Tar Heels also earned a delay of game penalty that pushed them back five yards before Ruggles' 44-yard field goal attempt in the fourth overtime was blocked. Prior to the penalty, Ruggles had nailed a 39-yarder that was erased by the flag.
3. Chazz Surratt was sensational. The QB-turned-linebacker had 17 tackles and was all over the field. Two of those tackles were for loss.
4. Speaking of sensational, Sam Howell is in the process of rewriting much of the Carolina offensive record book. The freshman completed 26 of his 49 pass attempts for 348 yards and five touchdowns, tying the school record for scoring passes in a game. Howell put it in the air almost 50 times without an interception. Nine of those receptions went to Dazz Newsome, who had 112 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Howell's 20 touchdown passes this season are already the freshman record, eclipsing Darian Durant's 17.
5. The vast majority of discussion about this game will be about the six overtime periods. But Carolina may have let the game slip away earlier than that. They were on the verge of a two-touchdown lead early before a penalty forced them to settle for a field goal and 10-0 lead. The Tar Heels held 10-0 and 17-7 advantages early but lost all the momentum--and the lead--and trailed 21-17 at the halftime break. "We had our opportunities two or three times when we'd get up by ten points, or we'd be up three with the ball," Mack Brown said on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "We had opportunities to stretch the score and put more pressure on them and we just didn't do it."
6. Carolina's lack of depth at defensive back is hurting. Even down to their third string quarterback, Virginia Tech was still able to identify some areas where they felt they could hurt the Tar Heels and exploited those parts of the field for some big plays in the second half and overtime.
7. No one probably believes two-point plays are a great way to decide a game. It would be like sending a basketball game into a free throw shooting contest. But multiple-overtime games were getting so long that there was some concern about player safety, and that's why the change was made this year to start running two-point plays in the fifth overtime to decide the winner. And if Carolina had gotten into the end zone in the fifth overtime, maybe we'd all be talking about what a great rule change it was. Instead, the Tar Heels are left with a painful defeat in the longest game in Atlantic Coast Conference history.
8. A mobile quarterback once again proved problematic for the Tar Heels. Quincy Patterson threw the ball just six times and didn't look sharp through the air, but he finished with 122 yards rushing. His biggest run of the game, of course, was the game-winner on the Hokies' last two-point play.
9. So, what now? Carolina is 2-2 in the conference but has games remaining against three of the four teams ahead of them in the Coastal standings. Next weekend's battle with Duke (also 2-2 in the league) is likely a Coastal elimination game. It's also a chance for Mack Brown--who places a big emphasis on in-state matchups--to eliminate the sting of two in-state losses earlier this season.
10. Remember, we've known all year that the likely best-case scenario for Carolina football in 2019 was to be in some very, very close games and hopefully pull out a majority of them. That's exactly what has happened. The Tar Heels won a couple of squeakers early, lost three tight ones, won a rare breather in Atlanta, and now have you right back on the edge of your seat. That's where you're likely to stay most of the rest of the season. The hope is that playing more close games than anyone else in the country will pay dividends in the second half of the year. Sure, this could very easily be a one-loss team. But it could also be a six-loss team. That's part of growing a program.
Players Mentioned
Quarterback
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Place-Kicker
/ Football
Linebacker
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