University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
October 31, 2020 | Football, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from Carolina's visit to Charlottesville.
By Adam Lucas
1. Disappointing evening in Charlottesville, as the Tar Heels once again found themselves in a deep hole on the road in the ACC, mounted a furious comeback, but fell just short, losing 44-41 to a Virginia team that entered the game 1-4 and had averaged 19 points per game in its most recent three league games (all losses). The Tar Heel defense has now allowed 141 points in the last four games, an average of 35.3 per game.
2. Carolina's most recent two road first halves are the two worst halves the team has played this season. In the games at Florida State and again on Saturday night, Carolina allowed the home team to gain some confidence, turning what could have been an easier evening into a complete battle. The Tar Heels aren't significantly better than the balance of the league. They have to play well to win. In both defeats, they didn't play well and allowed an inferior opponent--by record if by no other standard--to take control of the game.
3. The Tar Heels are struggling to get any kind of pressure on the quarterback from the defensive line and were not able to stop the Cavalier running game (the Hoos gained 201 yards on the ground--4.6 per carry--as opposed to Carolina's 93 rushing yards and 2.8 per carry). That allowed the unheralded Brennan Armstrong to have plenty of time in the pocket, and combined with his running ability, he completely carved apart the Carolina defense. There are young players along the defensive front and more on the way. It will be interesting to see if freshmen like Clyde Pinder, Desmond Evans and Myles Murphy get more snaps as the season progresses. Another freshman lineman who might have contributed, Kedrick Bingley-Jones, is out with an injury. Help is on the way. But Carolina needed it more immediately than "down the road" on Saturday night. A bright spot on the line: sophomore Tomari Fox had ten tackles, including a sack.
4. Credit to Bronco Mendenhall for a great call on the fake punt, trusting his team to do what they had done best all night to seal the win. But Carolina should have never, ever been in that position against a 1-4 team. 41 points on the road in an ACC football game should win the game.
"We have to start learning how to win on the road," Mack Brown told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "We obviously have to learn how to win these close games at the end. If we stop the fake punt, which we thought we might do and we had it stopped on one side and didn't contain it on the other side, we still have a chance to win the game. We had one timeout left and plenty of time."
5. It's a shame that Dyami Brown's incredible night came in a losing effort. The junior receiver caught 11 passes (out of 13 targets) for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Sam Howell was 23-28 for a whopping 443 yards and four touchdowns. Nevertheless, Howell probably leaves that game wishing he had gotten rid of the ball a little sooner in multiple instances when extending the play turned out to be a negative.
6. In Tallahassee, we learned that the program is not yet at the point where it can survive a pick-six, two blocked punts, two failed fourth downs, multiple dropped passes and a missed field goal in an ACC road game. In Charlottesville, we learned the program is not yet at the point where it can survive special teams turnovers, killer penalties, zero points from the two-yard line and a fumble in minus territory in an ACC road game. The summary: the Tar Heels are improved over a couple years ago. But the program isn't yet at the point of overwhelming talent where it can survive such crippling errors against a conference opponent. Special teams has consistently provided at least one significant negative play per game, and that has to be corrected.
7. There were lots of issues with the Tar Heel defense on Saturday night. Many were physical, some were personnel-related, but the fact remains that when you're struggling on that side of the ball, you simply can't give the opponent 20 yards in penalties on the decisive drive of the game. That's exactly what Carolina did after pulling within 41-34, as a personal foul and an obvious offside flag helped sustain a Cavalier drive that chewed up nearly ten minutes and ended in a field goal.
8. Atlantic Coast Conference officials didn't distinguish themselves on a second quarter sequence. After Sam Howell alertly recovered his own fumble and sprinted into the end zone, officials ruled an inadvertent whistle that canceled out the run. Carolina had to replay the down and the drive ended in a Grayson Atkins field goal to tie the game at 13-13.
9. You already know Michael Carter is one of the best running backs in the country. As he showed in the second quarter, he's also one of the smartest players in the country. His heads-up choice to grab a second quarter kickoff with a foot out of bounds forced a Virginia procedure penalty while avoiding what very nearly looked like it was about to be a Tar Heel disaster, with the ball rolling dead on the one-yard line.
10. But the mirror image of that play came a few minutes later, when the Tar Heel defense forced a rare first half stop. Carolina was poised to take over with about four minutes left in the first half in a tie game...but then Trey Morrison--who has been one of the team's most consistent and most valuable defenders all season long--was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the whistle that gifted Virginia with a first down.
11. That drive was then sustained again by another Tar Heel special teams blunder. After Carolina had again gotten a sack to force a fourth down, Toe Groves muffed the ensuing punt and gave the Wahoos a first down at the Carolina 20. Virginia scored two plays later, providing a 27-20 advantage.
12. The Tar Heels then capped the half by cruising down the field and making it to the two-yard line with 12 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, they had burned a couple of timeouts at inopportune times, leaving them with zero. That heightened the frustration when on first and goal from the two, Howell threw a lateral to Dazz Newsome which was mishandled, allowing time to run out. There was no margin for error on that play, as either Newsome had to score--weaving through multiple tacklers--or the half was going to be over. With Williams in the game, if the Tar Heels were going to run essentially a running play, then it might have made more sense to allow Williams to try and break some tackles. But if Phil Longo had it to do over again, a pass into the end zone--where an incompletion would give you at least one more snap, and maybe two--could have been preferable. Heightening the frustration was the fact that Virginia was set to receive the kickoff to start the second half, which they promptly drove for a touchdown and a 34-20 lead. Carolina needed points at the end of the second quarter. In what ended up being a three-point game, the missed opportunity to get at least a field goal was very damaging.
"Our offense did a tremendous job to take us the length of the field," Brown said. "We had an opportunity to get at least three and we messed that up. We also had a defensive player use a timeout that we didn't need to, and we didn't have a timeout in our pocket."
Brown has become nearly Roy Williams-esque in his usage of timeouts and his desire to have at least one available at the end of each half. He was proven right on Saturday--having a timeout available at the end of the first half very well might have made the difference in a win or loss.
13. 109 of those Virginia rushing yards came from players who lined up at quarterback. Carolina continues to have issues stopping mobile quarterbacks, and that will be the book on how to beat them until proven otherwise. Those two quarterbacks nearly outgained the Tar Heels' much more heralded running back tandem, as Javonte Williams and Michael Carter combined for 118 yards and just one touchdown.
"They were crowding the line of scrimmage and had too many men in the box, so we couldn't run it the way we need to," Brown said.
14. Carolina's depth issues in the secondary continued, as the Tar Heels played without cornerbacks Kyler McMichael and Storm Duck, both likely starters. The absence of Jordan Tucker on the offensive line also posed some problems, as Howell was under pressure most of the evening. Virginia's defense accumulated five sacks.
15. Saturday's game was the pivotal one in this sequence of four straight rivalry games. The Tar Heels needed a win--against a program in a state where they have made major recruiting progress but have now lost four straight in the series--to show they have made progress since the loss at FSU, to gain some separation from middle-tier league programs, and to set themselves up for an important November and December. Instead, they're now 4-2 and jammed into the middle of the league race with other teams looking to make a leap into that non-Clemson category of ACC teams in competition for the conference's best non-playoff bowl berths.
16. A little perspective, courtesy of Twitter:
Things aren't perfect right now, but Mack Brown has the program in better shape than when he arrived. The next step is cleaning up some of the issues that prevent a team from winning the close games that have consistently been part of the program over the last two seasons.
1. Disappointing evening in Charlottesville, as the Tar Heels once again found themselves in a deep hole on the road in the ACC, mounted a furious comeback, but fell just short, losing 44-41 to a Virginia team that entered the game 1-4 and had averaged 19 points per game in its most recent three league games (all losses). The Tar Heel defense has now allowed 141 points in the last four games, an average of 35.3 per game.
2. Carolina's most recent two road first halves are the two worst halves the team has played this season. In the games at Florida State and again on Saturday night, Carolina allowed the home team to gain some confidence, turning what could have been an easier evening into a complete battle. The Tar Heels aren't significantly better than the balance of the league. They have to play well to win. In both defeats, they didn't play well and allowed an inferior opponent--by record if by no other standard--to take control of the game.
3. The Tar Heels are struggling to get any kind of pressure on the quarterback from the defensive line and were not able to stop the Cavalier running game (the Hoos gained 201 yards on the ground--4.6 per carry--as opposed to Carolina's 93 rushing yards and 2.8 per carry). That allowed the unheralded Brennan Armstrong to have plenty of time in the pocket, and combined with his running ability, he completely carved apart the Carolina defense. There are young players along the defensive front and more on the way. It will be interesting to see if freshmen like Clyde Pinder, Desmond Evans and Myles Murphy get more snaps as the season progresses. Another freshman lineman who might have contributed, Kedrick Bingley-Jones, is out with an injury. Help is on the way. But Carolina needed it more immediately than "down the road" on Saturday night. A bright spot on the line: sophomore Tomari Fox had ten tackles, including a sack.
4. Credit to Bronco Mendenhall for a great call on the fake punt, trusting his team to do what they had done best all night to seal the win. But Carolina should have never, ever been in that position against a 1-4 team. 41 points on the road in an ACC football game should win the game.
"We have to start learning how to win on the road," Mack Brown told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "We obviously have to learn how to win these close games at the end. If we stop the fake punt, which we thought we might do and we had it stopped on one side and didn't contain it on the other side, we still have a chance to win the game. We had one timeout left and plenty of time."
5. It's a shame that Dyami Brown's incredible night came in a losing effort. The junior receiver caught 11 passes (out of 13 targets) for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Sam Howell was 23-28 for a whopping 443 yards and four touchdowns. Nevertheless, Howell probably leaves that game wishing he had gotten rid of the ball a little sooner in multiple instances when extending the play turned out to be a negative.
6. In Tallahassee, we learned that the program is not yet at the point where it can survive a pick-six, two blocked punts, two failed fourth downs, multiple dropped passes and a missed field goal in an ACC road game. In Charlottesville, we learned the program is not yet at the point where it can survive special teams turnovers, killer penalties, zero points from the two-yard line and a fumble in minus territory in an ACC road game. The summary: the Tar Heels are improved over a couple years ago. But the program isn't yet at the point of overwhelming talent where it can survive such crippling errors against a conference opponent. Special teams has consistently provided at least one significant negative play per game, and that has to be corrected.
7. There were lots of issues with the Tar Heel defense on Saturday night. Many were physical, some were personnel-related, but the fact remains that when you're struggling on that side of the ball, you simply can't give the opponent 20 yards in penalties on the decisive drive of the game. That's exactly what Carolina did after pulling within 41-34, as a personal foul and an obvious offside flag helped sustain a Cavalier drive that chewed up nearly ten minutes and ended in a field goal.
8. Atlantic Coast Conference officials didn't distinguish themselves on a second quarter sequence. After Sam Howell alertly recovered his own fumble and sprinted into the end zone, officials ruled an inadvertent whistle that canceled out the run. Carolina had to replay the down and the drive ended in a Grayson Atkins field goal to tie the game at 13-13.
9. You already know Michael Carter is one of the best running backs in the country. As he showed in the second quarter, he's also one of the smartest players in the country. His heads-up choice to grab a second quarter kickoff with a foot out of bounds forced a Virginia procedure penalty while avoiding what very nearly looked like it was about to be a Tar Heel disaster, with the ball rolling dead on the one-yard line.
10. But the mirror image of that play came a few minutes later, when the Tar Heel defense forced a rare first half stop. Carolina was poised to take over with about four minutes left in the first half in a tie game...but then Trey Morrison--who has been one of the team's most consistent and most valuable defenders all season long--was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the whistle that gifted Virginia with a first down.
11. That drive was then sustained again by another Tar Heel special teams blunder. After Carolina had again gotten a sack to force a fourth down, Toe Groves muffed the ensuing punt and gave the Wahoos a first down at the Carolina 20. Virginia scored two plays later, providing a 27-20 advantage.
12. The Tar Heels then capped the half by cruising down the field and making it to the two-yard line with 12 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, they had burned a couple of timeouts at inopportune times, leaving them with zero. That heightened the frustration when on first and goal from the two, Howell threw a lateral to Dazz Newsome which was mishandled, allowing time to run out. There was no margin for error on that play, as either Newsome had to score--weaving through multiple tacklers--or the half was going to be over. With Williams in the game, if the Tar Heels were going to run essentially a running play, then it might have made more sense to allow Williams to try and break some tackles. But if Phil Longo had it to do over again, a pass into the end zone--where an incompletion would give you at least one more snap, and maybe two--could have been preferable. Heightening the frustration was the fact that Virginia was set to receive the kickoff to start the second half, which they promptly drove for a touchdown and a 34-20 lead. Carolina needed points at the end of the second quarter. In what ended up being a three-point game, the missed opportunity to get at least a field goal was very damaging.
"Our offense did a tremendous job to take us the length of the field," Brown said. "We had an opportunity to get at least three and we messed that up. We also had a defensive player use a timeout that we didn't need to, and we didn't have a timeout in our pocket."
Brown has become nearly Roy Williams-esque in his usage of timeouts and his desire to have at least one available at the end of each half. He was proven right on Saturday--having a timeout available at the end of the first half very well might have made the difference in a win or loss.
13. 109 of those Virginia rushing yards came from players who lined up at quarterback. Carolina continues to have issues stopping mobile quarterbacks, and that will be the book on how to beat them until proven otherwise. Those two quarterbacks nearly outgained the Tar Heels' much more heralded running back tandem, as Javonte Williams and Michael Carter combined for 118 yards and just one touchdown.
"They were crowding the line of scrimmage and had too many men in the box, so we couldn't run it the way we need to," Brown said.
14. Carolina's depth issues in the secondary continued, as the Tar Heels played without cornerbacks Kyler McMichael and Storm Duck, both likely starters. The absence of Jordan Tucker on the offensive line also posed some problems, as Howell was under pressure most of the evening. Virginia's defense accumulated five sacks.
15. Saturday's game was the pivotal one in this sequence of four straight rivalry games. The Tar Heels needed a win--against a program in a state where they have made major recruiting progress but have now lost four straight in the series--to show they have made progress since the loss at FSU, to gain some separation from middle-tier league programs, and to set themselves up for an important November and December. Instead, they're now 4-2 and jammed into the middle of the league race with other teams looking to make a leap into that non-Clemson category of ACC teams in competition for the conference's best non-playoff bowl berths.
16. A little perspective, courtesy of Twitter:
UNC has now lost 8 games under Mack Brown by a combined total of 32 points. None by more than a TD.
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) November 1, 2020
Things aren't perfect right now, but Mack Brown has the program in better shape than when he arrived. The next step is cleaning up some of the issues that prevent a team from winning the close games that have consistently been part of the program over the last two seasons.
Players Mentioned
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Wide Receiver
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Running Back
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Defensive Back
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Linebacker
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Quarterback
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Defensive Line
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Wide Receiver
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Offensive Line
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Running Back
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