Lucas: Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

That's a setback, no doubt about it. Carolina now finishes the first third of the season at 2-2 (with Clemson on the horizon), and the 34-31 loss to Appalachian State partially wipes out part of the shine from wins over South Carolina and Miami.
The Tar Heels essentially handing the Mountaineers 14 points in the first half helped decide the game. ASU ran back a Sam Howell fumble for a touchdown, and also capitalized on a Howell interception on a screen pass that eventually turned into a touchdown. "We gave them two turnovers that turned into points and we're not forcing turnovers," Mack Brown told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "That was probably the difference in the game." Howell did throw for 323 yards, his first 300-yard game, but would probably be the first to say it wasn't his best performance.
As frustrating as it is to lose to Appalachian, keep in mind that these types of games happen as a program is being built. It's improbable but true that all four of Carolina's games in 2019 have come down to the final play. It's not fun to be 2-2 right now, but playing meaningful football all the way to the final snap is indisputably progress. This was always going to be a process. Games like this are part of the process. "I told the team that tonight they need to be hurting," Brown said. "If losing is OK, you shouldn't be playing. It's really disappointing. The last two weeks we had opportunities to win the game. We tried hard and kept fighting but didn't do the things we needed to do to win the game…we have to get our identity where we play the entire game instead of parts of the game. There are times we have lapses and we get behind and get in trouble."
One key second half stretch came when Sun Belt officials elected not to throw a flag for pass interference in the end zone on a long pass to Dyami Brown on what appeared to be a clear infraction. On the very next play, Howell threw another interception, and instead of getting what looked like at least a field goal, Carolina was left with zero. As for any explanation, as Brown said during postgame, "When you have Sun Belt officials, you don't get much of an explanation."
Neither team distinguished itself with clock management. Carolina was too leisurely at the end of the first half while driving with two timeouts, but App coach Elias Drinkwitz gave the Tar Heels a gift by calling timeout with 13 seconds left in the half. Carolina scored a touchdown with one second on the clock.
Carolina put together a very physical drive to motor 98 yards for a touchdown in the second half. The drive began with Javonte Williams blowing open several big runs, and the Tar Heels also converted a key fourth and one with Antonio Williams near midfield. Javonte had seven carries for 62 yards on the drive and finished with 94 yards for the game on 16 carries. Unfortunately, the Tar Heels were not able to sustain that type of physical offense for most of the game. "We're not able to run the ball consistently," Brown said. Carolina averaged just 3.7 yards per rush, while App picked up 4.6 yards per carry.
Carolina continues to dream of the day it could put a full roster on the field. Tackle Charlie Heck missed the game with an injury, and the pressure on the key Howell fumble came from the left side, where Heck would normally have been (combined with the absence of Nick Polino, UNC was without 40 percent of the starting offensive line). The Tar Heels also lost a key defender when Jeremiah Gemmelwas ejected for targeting in the first half. Safety Myles Wolfolk missed most of the fourth quarter with an injury.
Carolina closed to within 27-24 in the third quarter but then gave up back-to-back 30+ yard passing plays that allowed the Mountaineers to go right back up by ten points. ASU was outgained by Carolina, had barely half as many first downs (16 to 29), and ran 18 fewer plays...but made the key play every time they needed to, whether offensively or defensively.
The Tar Heels entered the game 125th out of 130 teams in third down conversion rate and again had issues, especially in the first half. They did finish 7-for-16 in that category, but as Mack Brown and Phil Longo have said, part of the problem is not being efficient enough on first and second downs.
App's conditioning seemed to cause Mountaineer defenders regular problems after big Carolina offensive plays, with defenders dropping due to cramps after nearly every chunk play for the Tar Heels. Appalachian offensive players seemed to be in better condition.
On a day when Tar Heel receivers had a couple of drops, Beau Corrales had a nice day with six catches for 84 yards. Carl Tucker also made a beautiful one-handed grab in the end zone for a scoring catch and Dazz Newsome had six catches for 88 yards.
The Kenan Stadium atmosphere was again very good. Blue smoke during the pregame team entrance was a nice touch, and the crowd was mostly there early and loud. "Our fans are doing everything they can possibly do as fans," Brown said. "Hang in there with us and we'll get it fixed."

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Charlie Heck

Carl Tucker

Antonio Williams

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