University of North Carolina Athletics
RAMblings - New Year, New Personality - Rams Club
RAMblings 9.15.09- New Year, New Personality
by Lee Pace
Two games into the 2009 football season, a new personality for the Tar Heels is starting to emerge. This is more of an old-school, old-economy team built on rock-ribbed defense, a powerful running game and what one hopes develops into a solid kicking game.
The downfield passing attack of the last two years anchored around Brandon Tate and Hakeem Nicks has been temporarily shelved as Carolina seeks to cultivate a receiving corps comprised of Greg Little and Johnny White (still relative beginners given their career position hopping) and Todd Harrelson, Josh Adams, Erik Highsmith and Jay Boyd (all freshmen playing in their first collegiate games). The growing pains are evident, witness the Heels' inability to consistently snare well-thrown balls. .
Shaun Draughn now has a year of playing tailback on his resume; he was productive and durable in the season opener against The Citadel with 118 yards. Ryan Houston is 15 pounds lighter but still a bull up the middle as he showed against UConn, carrying four straight times on a key fourth-quarter drive to help set up a touchdown. And freshman A.J. Blue brings some athletic creativity to his ball-handling role in the "Wildcat" formation.
It's no wonder, then, that Carolina has rushed for nearly 150 yards a game through two outings. Keep that up and it would be the Heels' best ground attack in five years.
Meanwhile, Carolina's defense has unveiled some athleticism, depth, maturity, intelligence and aggressiveness much improved over 2008. The Tar Heels are seventh nationally in total defense (174 yards a game); 12th in scoring defense (12 points); 14th in rushing defense (51 yards); 11th in passing defense (123); and tied for 10th in turnovers gained with six.
Perhaps most significantly, the Heels are limiting opponents to 14 percent conversion on third down; UConn was only 2-of-13. That compares to 2008, when opponents struck for a 43 percent success rate.
"Our defense played very, very well," Davis said in the wake of Carolina's 12-10 win in East Hartford. "They took the field after turnovers and handled sudden-change situations. They played on short fields. They just kept battling, they kept scrapping, they kept giving us chances in hopes our offense would get some momentum and get a little traction. One of the key things they contributed was holding Connecticut to two of 13 third downs. That was clearly instrumental in giving our offense a lot of opportunities."
The Tar Heels were good on defense at times in 2008, but the lack of a solid cornerback opposite Kendric Burney and some mid-season injury issues to Bruce Carter left them with some holes that were hard to mask at times.
This year they have been more productive in generating heat with a four-man rush; sophomore end Robert Quinn has "all-star" clearly stamped on his forehead. Carter and Quan Sturdivant have moved into the upper echelon of ACC linebackers, and freshman Kevin Reddick has enormous potential. Charles Brown is now healthy after missing much of 2008 with an injury, and he and Burney give the Heels a solid 1-2 punch at cornerback.
"We've heard a lot about 'potential' the last two years, and so far I think we're reaching it," junior safety Deunta Williams says. "But the story is far from over. We have to just keep grinding, keep chipping away. There's a lot of football left to play."
The kicking game is vitally important as well, and through two games the Heels have shown mixed results. Da'Norris Searcy returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown against The Citadel, but otherwise Carolina's return game has been pedestrian, and twice against UConn the punt return team allowed opposing kicks to be downed inside the three yard-line. Casey Barth missed a 45-yard field goal against the Huskies, and a bad center snap against The Citadel resulted in a botched PAT. Grant Schallock has kicked for a solid 40.8 average through two games and has been quick in his release after switching from a three-step to two-step kicker in the off-season.
Most notably, perhaps, has been the team's maturity and poise. Going on the road to a hostile environment and falling behind by 10 points in the fourth quarter could have prompted lesser teams to fold. But the Heels were patient and cohesive. They allowed their defense to keep them in the game while the offense hunted and pecked until it found something that would work.
The result is a 2-0 record with East Carolina coming to Kenan Stadium this Saturday.
"I am very proud of this team," Davis said. "I am so proud of their tenacity to hang with each other. We have a lot of work to do. But winning on the road in this manner will pay dividends later in the year."