Lucas: Wake Forest Rapid Reactions

Sam Howell

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

November 6, 2021 | Football, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas

Quick takeaways from the homecoming battle with Wake.

By: Adam Lucas

By Adam Lucas

1. OK, be honest: when Wake led, 45-27, midway through the third quarter, how many of us saw this coming?

2. For the next slightly over 20 minutes, Carolina blitzed Wake Forest, 31-3. The offensive onslaught you might have predicted. But the defense suddenly standing up and getting multiple stops didn't seem imminent the way the rest of the afternoon had proceeded. "I'm really proud of the guys," Mack Brown told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "We messed up a bunch of things, but we did just beat the number-eight team in the country."

3. But first, the Tar Heel offense. Ty Chandler had the game of his Carolina career, going for 213 yards on 22 carries, scoring four touchdowns and busting the game-clincher with 1:12 left.

4. Chandler was joined offensively by Sam Howell, who was sensational yet again. Howell completed 16 of 26 passes for 216 yards and a score, and he also rushed 21 times for 104 yards. In the course of the game, he became the program's all-time total yardage leader, a well-deserved honor. It's a mark of how good the offense has become that they put up 58 points on a top-ten team with a fairly normal game from Josh Downs (four catches for 35 yards). A month ago, the offense wasn't capable of posting those types of numbers without a huge day from Downs. It's continued to get better throughout the season, partially due to a healthier offensive line. "Our offensive line is getting better and that's because our centers are getting healthy," Brown said.

5. Unexpectedly, though, there were also defensive heroes. Cam'Ron Kelly picked off two passes, Ray Vohasek batted down a big fourth down pass, and Storm Duck was largely effective in his return from injury. "Storm Duck was a difference," Brown said. "We lost Don Chapman for the year. Storm hadn't played in a year and a half, and he did a great job covering."

6. Carolina also used Power Echols more after the loss of Jeremiah Gemmel, and he responded with seven tackles, and Cedric Gray continued his emergence with a game-high 12 tackles.

7. Both teams likely leave Chapel Hill thinking they committed too many penalties. Carolina and Wake were each flagged 11 times, Carolina for 118 yards and Wake for 119 yards. That's been an area of concern for the Tar Heels lately, and they'll need to clean it up before visiting Pitt Thursday. "We've got to learn to win," Brown said. "We have to understand this is part of the deal and you can't act that way."

8. Two really nice in-game moments at Kenan Stadium. Bruce Carter was honored as the Kenan Legend, and used the occasion to get engaged, a moment he's been planning for months with the help of the game operations staff. And Eddie Smith and his entire family were honored as the Kenan field was officially named for Chris Smith, who tragically lost his battle with ALS this past May. The Smith family has been an incredible support of Carolina athletics and the entire University, and received a well-deserved ovation.

9. If the Tar Heels can take care of business against Wofford, they should now be in good shape for bowl eligibility. Still left on the table, somewhat improbably, is the Coastal Division. Carolina has a difficult assignment Thursday night with a short turnaround at Pitt, the current Coastal leader. A Tar Heel win would at least make it interesting in the season's final weeks.

10. More realistically (and importantly in the big picture), a win would show that the Tar Heels have learned how to handle prosperity, which has been an occasional problem over the last two years. "Things were too easy for us the first two years," Brown said. "We leaned on those great players too much. Our program has to grow up. We have to get better in every area. We saw that with those losses. The next three weeks will be really good for us to grow like the last two have been...Our team didn't give in today. They kept fighting."

11. As you will hear elsewhere, Carolina fans gave Wake Forest fans the highlight of their lives by rushing the field. Some people will doubtless say it wasn't justified. A lot of time and money has gone into making football fun in Chapel Hill. If that made it fun—and memorable—for everyone who invested their Saturday afternoon in coming to Kenan Stadium, then it was worth it. "What a great day for our fans," Brown said. "They're still out on the field. They were a difference today. That third and fourth quarter, they really rallied to help our defense."