Extra Points: Don't Blink

October 26, 2020 | Football, Featured Writers, Extra Points

By: Lee Pace

By Lee Pace

The pantheon of great marketing campaigns of all time is rich with phrases and images that endure for decades: Got Milk? Just Do It. Wassup? Where's the Beef? Tastes Great/Less Filling.

In 2020, the Don't Blink catch phrase applied to the Carolina football offense is entering uncharted territory five games into the season. Don't Blink because you might miss something. Don't Blink if you get stoned one series or one quarter because there's another one coming soon. In the Tar Heels' 48-21 domination of N.C. State Saturday in Kenan Stadium, the offense continued to prove you can, in fact, please all of the people all of the time.

Quarterbacks? You can throw it 30-plus times for 280 yards a game like Sam Howell has done over a season and a half and even deliver a punishing block in the running game like he did Saturday, pitching to Javonte Williams and running alongside downfield and pancaking a Wolfpack defensive back.

"That's Sam for you," offensive coordinator Phil Longo said. "It's rare a quarterback can deliver a blow. They're usually taking the blow. But that's Sam's mentality. We're a physical football team and he's a physical player."

Tailbacks? You can bide your time one year as the passing game is sizzling like it was in 2019 and then explode the following season as defenses worry more about the long ball. Michael Carter is averaging 117 yards a game and Williams 112, with Williams on Saturday leaving Wolfpack defenders with tattoos and bruises galore. He averaged 8.4 yards on 19 carries.

"I think they're probably the best combination of two backs in the country," Mack Brown says. "They're tough, they're smart, they protect the ball, they run with power, they both have patience and really no one has tackled them on a consistent basis all year."

Receivers? Longo will send his two wideouts and one slot receiver "chasing grass" wherever they can find it. Last year, Dyami Brown snared 12 touchdowns, the longest 66 yards; Dazz Newsome, 10 scores, longest 57; and Beau Corrales, six touchdowns, longest 41. Those big numbers have tailed off a whisker in 2020 because defenses had a year to ponder and prepare. And the players keep on coming. On Saturday, freshman slot receiver Josh Downs scored on a 17-yard pass with no one within 10 yards of him because of a coverage bust.

"Our receivers, they can hurt you in so many ways," cornerback Storm Duck said during August training camp. "Beau can jump. Dazz will shake you. Dyami will take off and run past you. They're ready to go against anyone."

The tight end is finding more of a role (Garrett Walston has caught four passes the last two weeks). And the offensive line is beginning to consistently win the line of scrimmage as it matures and builds cohesion. Center Brian Anderson, right guard Marcus McKethan and right tackle Jordan Tucker have started together since the Wake Forest game in September 2019, and Josh Ezeudu is now healthy and is anchoring the left side at both guard and tackle.

After the Tar Heels were pinned inside their one yard-line on a pooch kick in the third quarter, the line bludgeoned an opening for Williams. He added a nifty spin move and scampered for 24 yards, and the Tar Heels motored 99 yards in 11 plays for the knockout punch and a 31-7 lead.

"Our guys said, 'Let's go 99 yards and that'll take over the game,'" Brown said. "It took a lot of time off the clock and it was a statement by the offensive line and Javonte. When you hand it off in the end zone, there are a lot of bad things that can happen."

There are indeed, as Tar Heel fans remember all too well having watched safeties yielded against Georgia, Illinois and Pitt early in the 2016 season and against Notre Dame in 2017. But Longo's personnel group and formation included a pair of tight ends on the wing positions to batten down the edges.

"When we're inside the five, our only goal is to get a first down and some breathing room," Longo said. "The O-line won the line of scrimmage and Javonte did the rest. Then you just call the offense."

Even with the first-half hiccup against Florida State in the Tar Heels' only loss against four wins, the offensive machine has churned out 656, 558 and 578 yards in its last three games. With an average of 38 points and 531 yards per game, the Tar Heels are not far from Longo's expectation that year two of his version of the "Air Raid" offense in a new program is generally worth a hundred yards and one touchdown better than year one (those numbers were 33 points and 474 yards in 2019). That efficiency was showcased perfectly in the third quarter and into the early part of the fourth, with Carolina scoring touchdowns on four straight possessions.

"It was a real test to overcome the mystery and unknown with this pandemic," Longo said. "We went six weeks before game one and three weeks before game two. I think that was a lot to overcome. Now we're hitting stride and we're in a rhythm and we're playing more consistently.

"I am really happy we are playing without mental mistakes. Saturday, we had very few mental mistakes. Focus was what I talked to the offense about before the game. We're going to be physical. And we're athletic. But the other piece is mental, focusing in on the little things make a huge difference. The third quarter was a really good example of what we're capable of."

The Tar Heels ran for 326 yards and held the Wolfpack to 34 yards, bolstering the stat Brown got from Tar Heel play-by-play announcer Jones Angell before the game that whichever team between Carolina and State runs the ball for more yards has won 25 of the last 28 meetings. That the turnover margin was tilted 4-0 toward the Tar Heels was even more fuel to the fire.

"Football is about who is more physical?" Brown said. "Who wins the rushing battle? Who wins the turnover battle? We won those today, and we were better in the kicking game. We're growing up, we're making progress. We just have to keep getting better."

Brown was pleased to see the defense allow only one touchdown "when it mattered"—that is, while the outcome is still in doubt—but the circumstance of that Wolfpack score nonetheless rankled the Tar Heel coach. With freshman quarterback Ben Finley giving the Wolfpack offense a spark in the second quarter, State struck on an 80-yard scoring drive just a minute before intermission. That mirrored Florida State's quick assault a week earlier late in the first half.

"We've given up so many touchdowns before halftime, that's a critical time," Brown said. "I'm not sure what's wrong. It's been that way for two years. You cannot give up an easy touchdown before the half."

The Wolfpack moved the ball some late in the game against a lineup of young Tar Heels, though its last drive was snuffed with an interception by Cameron Roseman-Sinclair. At that time, the Tar Heels fielded a defense that included six freshmen rated four-stars-or-better by the recruiting services—Des Evans, Clyde Pinder, Myles Murphy, Ja'Qurious Conley, Tony Grimes and Roseman-Sinclair—and another, Kaimon Rucker, who the coaches feel was a recruiting steal coming out of Georgia. Brown was irked they allowed a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.

"We obviously have to get our young defensive players better," Brown said. "My gosh, they didn't make any plays when they were in there. But they sure looked pretty. I think that was a product of not having spring practice and not having a lot of work in games early this year, all the games were so close. We've got to continue to work to gain depth."

The latter concern falls into the category of First World problems. Don't blink or those kids will grow up and soon be making the defense the big story in the Carolina vs. State game.

Chapel Hill based writer Lee Pace (Carolina '79) has written "Extra Points" since 1990 and has been part of the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast crew since 2004. Write him at leepace7@gmail.com.