Lucas: Rapid Reactions

Javonte Williams
University of North Carolina Football v South Carolina
Bank of American Stadium
Charlotte, NC
Saturday, August 31, 2019

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

August 31, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas

Quick takeaways from the season opener against South Carolina.

By: Adam Lucas

By Adam Lucas

1. You have to have lived the last two decades of Carolina football to fully appreciate what Mack Brown and his 2019 Tar Heels just did. Facing 20 years of season opening futility (Carolina hadn't won a season opener against a Power Five opponent since Indiana in 1997) and behind a fan base thirsty for any reason at all to believe in Tar Heel football, Carolina stared down a 13-6 halftime deficit and beat a vaunted SEC opponent, South Carolina, in the 2019 opener in Charlotte. It's a very long season. But watching Mack Brown's eyes mist up as he talked about the emotions of this win, it was hard not to feel like things have changed for Carolina football.

"I'm so happy for the team, coaches and the fans," Brown told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "In our past couple of years, we've lost so many games like this in the fourth quarter, and oh my gosh, we tried. But these kids overcame it. They kept competing and fighting."

2. Sam Howell did something no Carolina true freshman quarterback has ever done when he started the first game of the season. He acquitted himself well, completing 15 of 23 passes for 245 yards and two scores, and there were multiple occasions when he didn't get a ton of help from the Tar Heel receivers, who had a couple of big drops and also committed three pre-snap penalties. The freshman can improve in some areas moving forward--he took too many hits, and he panicked on a third quarter turnover--but those are parts of the game where you can reasonably expect a player in his first college game to not be perfect. The bottom line for Howell: he won the game, and he made the big second half throws when they were needed.

3. There's a chance we're going to look back at the 98-yard scoring drive that spanned the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth as an important part of the 2019 season story. Trailing 20-9 and with little offensive momentum, the Tar Heels opened the drive by punishing South Carolina on the ground, then got a highlight reel scoring catch from Dyami Brown, and then Howell channeled Jason Stanicek running the option on the two-point conversion to close the gap to 20-17. That drive took Carolina from being a team that appeared to just be trying to absorb punches to a squad that was delivering the blows.

4. New defensive coordinator Jay Bateman has made tackling fundamentals an area of focus during spring practice and training camp. The Tar Heels had a couple of slips in that area (but the biggest missed tackle was from a quarterback making the transition to linebacker, so it's unreasonable to expect perfection in game one, and it's worth noting that Chazz Surratt got into the backfield later in the half and picked up half a sack) that led to the first South Carolina touchdown. Some of the missed tackles were by unblocked defenders who missed an opportunity for sacks or big tackles for loss. But by and large, they were a clearly improved defense and kept Carolina in the game during an afternoon when the offense was still finding its footing under a rookie quarterback. Interesting take from Brown: "After the first quarter, we tackled much better the rest of the game. You don't tackle as much in preseason anymore, and in the first quarter of the first game you're going to miss a lot of tackles. We tackled much better in the second half."

5. If you're going to say Carolina was too conservative with Howell, you also have to recognize that part of the reason the Tar Heel coaches could use that strategy is because the Tar Heels ran the ball extremely effectively. Using a trio of Javonte Williams, Michael Carter and Antonio Williams behind a young offensive line that was supposed to be a question mark, the UNC ground game piled up 238 yards on 52 carries for an average of 4.6 per rush. At different parts of the game, all three looked like they could carry the majority of the rushing load. Having all three is a major luxury, and credit to the line for opening the holes. Javonte Williams finished with 102 yards for his first career 100-yard day.

6. The area where Carolina could least afford an injury in the first half was the defensive backfield, where lingering suspensions from last year's season finale against NCSU had already depleted the depth. An injury on the very first drive to Trey Morrison kept the talented sophomore out for the rest of the game, and forced true freshman Storm Duck into the game at cornerback. The Tar Heels also played without linebacker Dominique Ross due to a holdover suspension and a team rules violation. Somewhat surprisingly, South Carolina very rarely tested the inexperienced Tar Heel corners deep; when they hurt Carolina with the pass, it was usually in the middle of the field. The Morrison injury did hurt the Heels on a key fourth quarter pass interference penalty by freshman DeAndre Hollins, who was on the field in Morrison's spot.

7. You have to give a significant amount of credit to Chazz Surratt. In an era when quarterbacks leave as soon as they miss a rep in practice, Surratt chose to move to linebacker. Pressed into service immediately because of the thin ranks on the Carolina defense, Surratt had a solid defensive debut and finished with a team-high 12 tackles and a pass breakup.

8. Mack Brown 1.0 built its success in part due to disruptive defensive linemen who controlled the line of scrimmage. Carolina knew they'd be facing a player in that mold in South Carolina's Javon Kinlaw; the talented Gamecock senior was a force on the interior of the line and also blocked a 47-yard Noah Ruggles field goal in the second quarter (given how close the game turned out, that was a big play). The Tar Heels think defensive linemen Jason Strowbridge and Aaron Crawford are capable of making similar big plays as the season progresses. Strowbridge was whistled for a crucial personal foul on a second quarter South Carolina drive that eliminated a third down Tar Heel stop, extended the drive and handed the Gamecocks three points. But he and Crawford also combined for three of Carolina's seven tackles for loss, and Crawford had one of the three Tar Heel sacks.

9. Carolina used a mostly conservative offensive gameplan in the first half (the Heels ran it on five of seven third down opportunities), highlighted by three straight runs inside the ten yard line when trailing 13-3 late in the first half. The ground game couldn't crack the end zone on that drive, and the Tar Heels had to settle for a Ruggles field goal that trimmed it to 13-6. But for everyone chirping about those play calls, remember that it was Howell's first college game, he'd already taken some big hits and had fumbled two plays earlier, and Carolina was set to receive the second half kickoff. In that scenario, points and staying in the contest were preferable to a disastrous miscue that could've turned the game.

10. Junior safety Myles Wolfolk had some of the biggest hits of the game for the Carolina defense, plus two enormous fourth quarter interceptions. Wolfolk missed all but four games last year with an injury; the Tar Heel defense is better and more dangerous when he is on the field. "The difference in this game was that we emphasized the fourth quarter the whole camp and finishing strong," Wolfolk said on the THSN. "Last year that's what we didn't do. We practiced the fourth quarter every day, and we promised ourselves today we were going to fight like we did in camp." Don't forget about the impact of strength and conditioning coach Brian Hess and his staff in preparing Carolina to be a team that could take control in the fourth quarter on a steamy day in Charlotte.

11. Penalties were a problem under the previous regime, and Mack Brown won't be happy with his team's discipline in the game in Charlotte. In addition to the Strowbridge penalty, the Tar Heels committed two pre-snap penalties on the first offensive drive, then added on a personal foul on a defensive series, and then had an illegal formation on a punt late in the first quarter. Late in the game, a key facemask penalty wiped out a Howell scramble that would've delivered a first down and chewed some more clock. Those types of infractions are an area Brown wants to clean up during a season where his team is likely to be in some close games and can't afford to give away yards.

12. The confusion on the final UNC series of downs is going to be a learning experience for all involved. And, happily, now it's something that can be laughed about and not a disaster.

13. Music superstar Eric Church, a friend of Brown and huge Tar Heel fan, was on the Carolina sideline.

14. Earlier this week, there were 500 tickets available for next Saturday's 8 p.m. kickoff against Miami. Those should disappear quickly. That's going to be a rowdy, fun, important evening in Chapel Hill. Carolina is finally getting what the program has wanted and needed for years: a big, early-season showcase under the lights at Kenan. "For the program, this win means everything," Brown said on the THSN after the game. "This was a huge win for us. We were a huge underdog and had a lot of guys not playing. Nobody thought we were going to win this game. We put so much emphasis on the fourth quarter, and these kids stepped up. This reinforces that we have a chance every week, and we hope the fans will come support them."

15. The postgame locker room scene shows you just how desperate for some success this program has been. What a fun day in Charlotte: