University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Extra Points: Flex Time
October 5, 2020 | Football, Featured Writers, Extra Points
"A tree that is unbending, is easily broken."
Mack Brown was considering the patchwork life that coaching and playing college football had become in the Covid-19 era last week. In front of him and his Carolina football team were two opponents—one, the unbeaten Boston College Eagles with a quarterback-tight end combo not seen in these parts since Brady-to-Gronkowski and, two, the specter of moving a team and support staff 700 miles away under rigorous health and safety protocols.
"We are so much out of routine, and we're all creatures of routine," Brown said as the Tar Heels worked toward their first game since handily dispatching Syracuse three weeks ago. "We don't have any routine anymore. I don't even remember the first game, it's been so long. Whoever adapts best to not having routine and whoever can be flexible will come out on top in the end."
Little did Brown know he would harken the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu in running a football program in 2020. Long gone is that comfortable blanket of habit and ritual. Just consider a few of the nuances in play for the Tar Heel traveling party as it ventured to Chestnut Hill for the first time since 2009.
A bus carrying some two dozen support staffers (managers, trainers, videographers and the like) was chartered to reduce the number of passengers on the airplane and maintain social-distancing dictums. Players could wear a sleeve-like neck-gaiter on the sideline but had to switch to an N95 or surgical mask at all other times. Food and drink are not allowed on buses or planes, so the Tar Heels were required for hydration purposes to down bottles of water or Gatorade during four transportation junctures Friday en route to Boston—Kenan Football Center to bus, bus to plane, plane to bus, debarking bus to hotel. The team hotel fortunately had a ballroom large enough to accommodate 65 round tables sized for a normal seating of eight individuals but now seating only two per table; otherwise the players would have had to take their meals to their rooms, where they could eat while properly spread out.
"The year 2020 has taught us nothing will be routine," says Joe Haydon, the director of football operations who handles team travel logistics. "Everything changes on the fly. Guys have to get used to not doing the same thing every week, that procedures will be different week to week."
That flexibility applies to the game football as well, as the Tar Heels learned in capturing a 26-22 win over the Eagles. They jumped to a quick 11-point lead after one quarter but then were mired in a rash of 10 penalties and one costly turnover that were among the reasons they could notch just one more touchdown the rest of the game.
Carolina football has gone from being underdogs last year to the Top 10 this year.
"I think we came out strong, got up 14-3, kind of got in a lull," linebacker Chazz Surratt said. "Sometimes we say we're going to blow people out. Sometimes even when we're winning, guys are hanging their heads like we're behind. We expect so much out of ourselves."
Quarterback Sam Howell and the offense are having to adjust to being known commodities in 2020 and seeing defenses recalibrate to take away the deep ball to a bevy of outstanding receivers. One answer Saturday was to ride the sturdy legs and shoulders of tailbacks Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, who combined for 234 yards rushing and receiving. Another was to continue to give Howell opportunities in the running game; he ripped off gains of 20, eight, seven and eight yards on scrambles or designed runs.
"I was probably more impressed with Sam making plays with his feet than ever before," Brown said. "He did some of that in the bowl game, but he made some huge plays tonight with his feet. And that's really going to help us. They changed up coverage a lot. They did a good job, so we held the ball some, and I thought we didn't protect him well all of the time."
Howell is listed at the same 225 pounds as a sophomore as when he entered Carolina a year ago, but he's certainly added some lean muscle through strength training and being vigilant to a healthy diet—particularly during the period last spring when players returned home during the outset of the pandemic. He's also worked consistently the last eight months on a routine of hip mobility and flexibility exercises to help his agility and elusiveness running the ball.
"Definitely when I see space, I want to take advantage of that as I don't think a lot of teams account for me as a runner," Howell said. "There's a lot of space out there and I took advantage of it a couple of times."
And they're having to adapt to injury and personnel issues on defense in a scary déjà vu scenario in the secondary. After fielding a patchwork unit throughout 2019 amid a rash of injuries, the Tar Heels thought their fortunes had turned 180 degrees this year. But three players in the defensive backfield opted out of participation during the summer and two more were hurt in the Boston College game.
Trey Morrison, switched to safety last week to account for the loss of Myles Wolfolk to an academic issue, laid a pulverizing hit on Eagle tight end Hunter Long early in the game and then intercepted a pass on a two-point conversion deep in the fourth quarter and returned it for two points to secure the Tar Heel victory.
"Trey is such a winner," Brown said. "He's a real heady player."
The Tar Heels expected Boston College to try to establish the run behind a veteran offensive line and then try to find Long and the fleet slot receiver Zay Flowers on play-action fakes. But QB Phil Jurkovec, a recent transfer from Notre Dame, used his size and mobility to ward off legions of would-be tacklers and completed 37 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns. Long led all Eagles receivers with nine catches for 96 yards.
"We're really good against the run game," Surratt said. "I think they kind of abandoned the run coming into the game, and we didn't really expect that.
"I think we got to the quarterback a lot. But he's a big guy so he was able to make some plays and throw the ball away. We probably could have had like seven or eight sacks. But he was a big guy, tough to bring down."
The Tar Heels' 2-0 start matches their wins over South Carolina and Miami to open the 2019 season. But last September, they basked in their newfound celebrity perhaps a bit too much and got sloppy in a loss to Wake Forest the next game. That's exactly what Brown will fight against this week when Virginia Tech comes to Kenan Stadium for a noon kick-off.
"We're 2-0 and in a better place than we have been," Brown says. "I like having things to fix while we're winning. One of the things I said when I came back, I was always disappointed at Texas if we didn't play well and we won. And I said I'm not going to be that way at Carolina. I'm going to enjoy this one. I'm going to appreciate winning."
And, of course, he and the Tar Heels are going to continue to be flexible and roll with the punches in an early season that has seen such extremes as the University of Houston having four games postponed because of Covid-19 issues on either its squad or an opponent. Though with Virginia Tech, Florida State, N.C. State and Virginia laid out the rest of the month, the idea of settling into a routine is appealing to everyone.
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.
Mack Brown was considering the patchwork life that coaching and playing college football had become in the Covid-19 era last week. In front of him and his Carolina football team were two opponents—one, the unbeaten Boston College Eagles with a quarterback-tight end combo not seen in these parts since Brady-to-Gronkowski and, two, the specter of moving a team and support staff 700 miles away under rigorous health and safety protocols.
"We are so much out of routine, and we're all creatures of routine," Brown said as the Tar Heels worked toward their first game since handily dispatching Syracuse three weeks ago. "We don't have any routine anymore. I don't even remember the first game, it's been so long. Whoever adapts best to not having routine and whoever can be flexible will come out on top in the end."
Little did Brown know he would harken the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu in running a football program in 2020. Long gone is that comfortable blanket of habit and ritual. Just consider a few of the nuances in play for the Tar Heel traveling party as it ventured to Chestnut Hill for the first time since 2009.
A bus carrying some two dozen support staffers (managers, trainers, videographers and the like) was chartered to reduce the number of passengers on the airplane and maintain social-distancing dictums. Players could wear a sleeve-like neck-gaiter on the sideline but had to switch to an N95 or surgical mask at all other times. Food and drink are not allowed on buses or planes, so the Tar Heels were required for hydration purposes to down bottles of water or Gatorade during four transportation junctures Friday en route to Boston—Kenan Football Center to bus, bus to plane, plane to bus, debarking bus to hotel. The team hotel fortunately had a ballroom large enough to accommodate 65 round tables sized for a normal seating of eight individuals but now seating only two per table; otherwise the players would have had to take their meals to their rooms, where they could eat while properly spread out.
"The year 2020 has taught us nothing will be routine," says Joe Haydon, the director of football operations who handles team travel logistics. "Everything changes on the fly. Guys have to get used to not doing the same thing every week, that procedures will be different week to week."
That flexibility applies to the game football as well, as the Tar Heels learned in capturing a 26-22 win over the Eagles. They jumped to a quick 11-point lead after one quarter but then were mired in a rash of 10 penalties and one costly turnover that were among the reasons they could notch just one more touchdown the rest of the game.
Carolina football has gone from being underdogs last year to the Top 10 this year.
"I think we came out strong, got up 14-3, kind of got in a lull," linebacker Chazz Surratt said. "Sometimes we say we're going to blow people out. Sometimes even when we're winning, guys are hanging their heads like we're behind. We expect so much out of ourselves."
Quarterback Sam Howell and the offense are having to adjust to being known commodities in 2020 and seeing defenses recalibrate to take away the deep ball to a bevy of outstanding receivers. One answer Saturday was to ride the sturdy legs and shoulders of tailbacks Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, who combined for 234 yards rushing and receiving. Another was to continue to give Howell opportunities in the running game; he ripped off gains of 20, eight, seven and eight yards on scrambles or designed runs.
"I was probably more impressed with Sam making plays with his feet than ever before," Brown said. "He did some of that in the bowl game, but he made some huge plays tonight with his feet. And that's really going to help us. They changed up coverage a lot. They did a good job, so we held the ball some, and I thought we didn't protect him well all of the time."
Howell is listed at the same 225 pounds as a sophomore as when he entered Carolina a year ago, but he's certainly added some lean muscle through strength training and being vigilant to a healthy diet—particularly during the period last spring when players returned home during the outset of the pandemic. He's also worked consistently the last eight months on a routine of hip mobility and flexibility exercises to help his agility and elusiveness running the ball.
"Definitely when I see space, I want to take advantage of that as I don't think a lot of teams account for me as a runner," Howell said. "There's a lot of space out there and I took advantage of it a couple of times."
And they're having to adapt to injury and personnel issues on defense in a scary déjà vu scenario in the secondary. After fielding a patchwork unit throughout 2019 amid a rash of injuries, the Tar Heels thought their fortunes had turned 180 degrees this year. But three players in the defensive backfield opted out of participation during the summer and two more were hurt in the Boston College game.
Trey Morrison, switched to safety last week to account for the loss of Myles Wolfolk to an academic issue, laid a pulverizing hit on Eagle tight end Hunter Long early in the game and then intercepted a pass on a two-point conversion deep in the fourth quarter and returned it for two points to secure the Tar Heel victory.
"Trey is such a winner," Brown said. "He's a real heady player."
The Tar Heels expected Boston College to try to establish the run behind a veteran offensive line and then try to find Long and the fleet slot receiver Zay Flowers on play-action fakes. But QB Phil Jurkovec, a recent transfer from Notre Dame, used his size and mobility to ward off legions of would-be tacklers and completed 37 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns. Long led all Eagles receivers with nine catches for 96 yards.
"We're really good against the run game," Surratt said. "I think they kind of abandoned the run coming into the game, and we didn't really expect that.
"I think we got to the quarterback a lot. But he's a big guy so he was able to make some plays and throw the ball away. We probably could have had like seven or eight sacks. But he was a big guy, tough to bring down."
The Tar Heels' 2-0 start matches their wins over South Carolina and Miami to open the 2019 season. But last September, they basked in their newfound celebrity perhaps a bit too much and got sloppy in a loss to Wake Forest the next game. That's exactly what Brown will fight against this week when Virginia Tech comes to Kenan Stadium for a noon kick-off.
"We're 2-0 and in a better place than we have been," Brown says. "I like having things to fix while we're winning. One of the things I said when I came back, I was always disappointed at Texas if we didn't play well and we won. And I said I'm not going to be that way at Carolina. I'm going to enjoy this one. I'm going to appreciate winning."
And, of course, he and the Tar Heels are going to continue to be flexible and roll with the punches in an early season that has seen such extremes as the University of Houston having four games postponed because of Covid-19 issues on either its squad or an opponent. Though with Virginia Tech, Florida State, N.C. State and Virginia laid out the rest of the month, the idea of settling into a routine is appealing to everyone.
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.
Players Mentioned
Running Back
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ Football
Linebacker
/ Football
Running Back
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ FootballChecking In with Hubert Davis - January 20, 2026
Tuesday, January 20
UNC Women's Basketball: Tar Heels Pick Up Win at Florida State, 82-55
Monday, January 19
WBB: Post-Florida State Press Conference - Jan. 18, 2026
Sunday, January 18
UNC Wrestling: #12 Carolina Controls Virginia, 25-10
Saturday, January 17