Game Day Preview - East Carolina

Game Day Preview - 

East Carolina

Take any analysis and throw it out the window.  Things like:

• The 3-Step Drop.  ECU uses a quick passing game to get the ball into space with the hopes that their receivers can break a tackle for a big play.  This will put stress on our secondary.  While we get Jabari Price back, this year our biggest weakness defensively has been the secondary.  This quick passing game is an extension of their running game and we must be prepared to make one-on-one tackles in space.  ECU has one of the youngest offensive coordinators, Lincoln Riley, in the country and he studied under Mike Leach at Texas Tech.  He is going to spread it out and create space with 3, 4 and maybe even 5 wide receiver sets. 

Eric Highsmith against ECU last year at Kenan.

• Red Zone Efficiency.  UNC has put 6 on the board in 12 of 14 visits to the red zone.  On the other two visits, there was a fumbled snap against UVA and a game ending Victory-formation against Rutgers.  Needless to say, we are efficient in the best possible sense.  However, ECU eighteenth in the country in red zone defense, allowing only 9 TDs on 16 red zone possessions by the opposition.  This is the same team that held VT to 17 at home. 

Yup.  Toss out the analysis.  This is an intrastate game rivalry with a school that feels it has a stronger football tradition and more passionate fan base than UNC.  It is their Super Bowl.  Ask NC State.  The Pirates have something to prove.  It is a night game.  A night game at a school that is known more for its partying than anything else.  It is going to be loud.  It is going to be rowdy.  It is going to be intense.  It is going to hostile.

If we are prepared and can handle the environment, we win big.  Period.  Their talent does not stack up to our talent.  If we let it get away from us a little, we win, but it will be too close for comfort.  If we aren't focused and it get loose, we could loose, but I don't think that will happen.  Withers will have this team ready to play.

The Good with the Bad in ATL

Looking Back -

The Good with the Bad in ATL

The Broad Strokes

The Bad:

We lost 35-28, giving up 496 yards of total offense for a jaw dropping 6.7 yards per play.

The Good:

Despite two interceptions, one blocked punt and being without starters Erik Highsmith, Zach Brown and Jabari Price, we still had a chance to win with a quarterback starting under center for the first time on the road. 

The Quarterback

The Bad: 

The bad is easy to identify - the interceptions and the sacks.  Possessions are precious against Georgia Tech.  It is a frustrating offense to play against for the defense, so you need to keep them off the field as much as possible. 

Renner's two interceptions were bad and momentum killers.  The first came with less than 5 minutes and 30 seconds to go in the second quarter and two plays after a Tre Boston interception.  With the score UNC 7 - GT 10, the Yellow Jackets used the extra possession to drive 79 yards in 12 plays for a touch down to close the half and push the lead to 10.  To begin the second half, GT got the ball back after deferring the winning toss to go 62 yards in 10 plays over 5 minutes and 13 seconds for a field goal.  A 10 point swing that kept the defense on the field too long and gave Paul Johnson too many opportunities to probe and set up the big play.

The sacks were the product of holding onto the ball too long and unacceptable in a two-minute offense.

The Good:

Renner completed 17 of 25 passes for a completion percentage of 68% with 2 touchdowns.  This was despite four drops in the game.  Renner played really well for a redshirt sophomore starting on the road for the first time.  All of his mistakes are experience mistakes and he will get better with experience.

Most importantly, Renner got the offense going and executed in the second half to get us with a possession of a W.  Renner is a winner.  I know it seems odd to write that considering the loss, but Renner could have retreated mentally, but he didn't.  He showed his mettle.  Bright days are ahead because Renner is leading the way.

The Running Backs

The Bad:

A.J. Blue needs more carries.  I hate arm chair quarterbacks . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . BUT . . . oh, you knew it was coming, but in the second quarter when we are running the ball ineffectively with conservative play calling, we need to give Blue the rock and let him pound it between the tackles.  Against UVA, Blue proved he can move a pile and fall forward for positive yards to keep you in 3rd and manageable territory.  Recognize the personnel and take advantage of their strengths.  Blue needs more carries. 

The Good:

Gio Bernard.  Do I really have to get into this?  Yeah!  You know why?  Because it makes me smile.  Bernard had 17 carries for a 155 yards and 2 TDs.  Every time he touches it, you hold your breath.  He may take some tackles behind the line of scrimmage, but his big play ability more than makes up for it.  When it is all said and done, Gio could be record breaking this season.

The Wide Receivers & Tight Ends

Ebron's first TD

The Bad:

Drops.  In the first half, there were several dropped passes that put us in perfect down and distance for blitzes, which stalled our offense and put our defense back on the field.

A Second Receiving Threat.  Dwight Jones is a beast, but we need someone else to step up.  


The Good:

In Erik Highsmith's absence, a couple of young guys, Eric Ebron and TJ Thorpe, emerged with some big plays at key points in the game.  Both deserve a longer look and more opportunities to make plays on offense.  Ebron also caught his first TD.  It was a nice catch off of a sneaky post-route where he showed strong hands in finishing the play by holding onto the ball after a big hit.  

The Offensive Line

The Bad:

In the first half when we were trying to keep the GT offense off the field with conservative, clocking eating running plays, the O-line was unable to open up holes for Gio to pick up 3 or 4 yards a run and stay on schedule.  The defensive line and linebackers were on Gio way too fast.

The Good:

The O-line did a great job in protection.  The sacks that were given up were not because of a break down in coverage.  The sacks were because Renner held onto the ball too long.  The big uglies did a great job in pass protection.  They should also get some credit for Gio's ridiculous running stats too.

The Defensive Line and Linebackers

The Bad:

GT ran for an average of 5.4 yards per rush.  GT had four guys that averaged more than 5.0 yards per carry. 

The Good:

(1) No one was seriously injured.  (2)  Despite the gaudy numbers, the D-line almost did enough to get the road win.  They forced 3 punts and 3 field goal attempts.  Against GT, that is what you need to do.  While almost isn't good enough, the defensive effort of the front seven had a respectable day against a difficult offense to defend. 

The Secondary

The Bad:

The big plays.

The Good:

We don't have to face the Yellow Jackets again.  GT's offensive scheme sucks in the secondary with the run and then attacks over the top of the cheating secondary for big plays and they do it with 6' 5" Stephen Hill.

The Specialist 

The Bad:

Hibbard had a punt blocked.

The Good:

Hibbard continues to be the biggest surprise of the season and an important piece of the field position game with his punting abilities. 

Trace Jones did a much better job kicking the ball deep against GT.  I hope he is able to keep it up.

The Take Away

We have a good football team and will enjoy more success than failure.  If we can learn from our mistakes as well as continue to improve and grow, we will be a tough team to beat by the end of the season.

Game Day Preview: Georgia Tech

Tweet of the Day

InsideCarolina InsideCarolina

CB Jabari Price has returned to full practice this week. Withers hopes to hold Price out against GT and have him ready for ECU on 10/1.

Three Facts.  Three Fictions.

UVA Reaction

Tar Heel Football is 3-0 overall for the first time since 1997 and
1-0 in conference for the first time since 2000.

3-0, 1-0 is reason to smile!

The Highlights:
http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/allaccess/?media=264529

Three Facts

Zach Brown

One:  Zach Brown should be known as the Eraser.  Brown is one of the fast linebackers I have ever seen.  Several times last Saturday, Zack Brown made an opposite field tackle to prevent a solid run from becoming a homerun play.

Two:  We all know that Gio can do special things with the football in his hands.  What is overlooked is his ability to pick up the blitz and protection in the passing game.  Gio does a great job of identifying where the pressure is coming from and preventing the pressure from getting to Renner.

A.J. Bluuuuuuuuuuuuuue

Three: A.J. Blue needs to get more carries.  Blue had 9 carries for 40 yards for 4.4 yards per carries.  Good numbers.  What was more impressive was watching him run.  Blue is a BEAST and just wouldn't go down.  (See highlights at 6:40 mark)  If you are in Kenan and Blue breaks off a good run, don't forget to "Bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue."

Honorable Mention:  Tre Boston's body slam . . . uh . . . I mean tackle of Kevin Parks (See highlights at 4:22 mark); Turnover margin; and Penalties against UNC.

Three Fictions

One:  The defensive line was dominate. 

UVA rushed for 170 yards and 5.0 yards per carry with only 3 sacks/tackles for loss on the UVA QB or RBs.  UVA is a run first team and they were able to sustain long drives.  Luckily, they were unable to finish their drives.  Take notice.  We cannot be successful with that kind of effort or production from the defensive line. 

Two:  The defense did a great job of forcing 3 and outs. 

In each half, the defense only forced one three and out.  Eliminating any UVA possession that came with less than 30 seconds to go in the half, the UVA offense averaged 7.8 plays per drive for 31 yards and 3 points on two field goal attempts in the 5 first half drives.  On 6 drives in the second half, the UVA offense averaged 5.5 plays per drive for 42 yards and 14 points on 2 TDs.  In the second half, UNC gave up too many big plays.  With a defensive front seven that is as stout as ours, it is not unreasonable to expect more 3 and outs against a traditional run first offense.  

Three:  The UVA punt returners where able to give the Wahoos great field position.

Kidding.  We won.  There are a lot of positives.  Thomas Hibbard is the impact freshman of the season so far.  He averaged 42.0 yards per punt with a long of 57 yards for 0 (ZERO!) return yards.  He also does a great job of field some questionable snaps and getting the ball off.  Not to take a turn back to negative town, but Hibbard will eventually have a punt blocked if the long snapper can't clean that up. 

A Few Minutes for Basketball

First of all, congratulations to big man Joel James for receiving a scholarship offer.  If you follow the blog, you know that I am a big fan of James.  He is a raw prospect, but has worked hard to improve (including cutting weight in order to be able to get up and down the court like Coach Roy Williams wants) and has great size (7'4" wingspan).  If he selects UNC, James will have time to develop offensively, but will contribute immediately on the glass and defensively.  More importantly, James is a 5.  We need a 5 in a bad way both on the court and in recruiting.  If we can lock down a true 5, it will help with the guys on our board that want to play exclusively at the 4 and 3/4.  

I love good point guard play.  Pass first point guard play is like crack cocaine for me and knowing Kendal Marshall will be running the point this year has me all kinds of excited.  However, my favorite UNC point guard of all time is Ed Cota.  Here is a reminder of why:

Game Day Preview:

Georgia Tech

Paul Johnson is to ACC football what MikeKrzyzewski is to ACC basketball.  Coaches that teach their teams to play dirty and have success doing so.  Georgia Tech runs a triple-option offense.  A key attribute of the triple-option offense is the cut block.  The following link is to a NFL video that explains the issues that cut blocks pose for defensive linemen.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/09000d5d81821ec8/Cut-block-demo

GT Head Coach Paul Johnson

The cut block is a dangerous technique for defense linemen because the offensive line basically just dive at the defensive linemen's knees.  As a result of this hazardous action, it is illegal to cut block a defender that is already engaged with another offense player.  It is known as a chop block.  That is all well and good, but it is bullshit against Georgia Tech.  The Rambling Wreck could literally be flagged for a chop block on 95% of their offensive plays, but they know that the officials would never throw that many flags.  As a result, you will see between two and four chop block penalties in the game.  This is collateral damage for Paul Johnson.  As soon as that first flag is thrown, Paul Johnson will throw a hissy fit disputing the call.  It is all an act.  It is gamesmenship in an effort to keep the flags off the field and in refs pockets.  The Paul Johnson's "blocking" scheme is to ACC football what Mike Krzyzewski's aggressive on-the-ball hand-checking, charge-taking flop defense is to ACC basketball.  I hold both in low regards.  One word: DIRTY.

Nerdiest Shirt in the World

While it may be dirty, it is effective.  When you combine this blocking scheme with the triple-option and the limited amount of preparation time that teams have to prepare for this unique offense, it makes it difficult to stop as reflected in GT leading the nation in scoring offense (59.3 ppg), total offense (675.3 ypg) and rushing offense (427.7 ypg).  Those are video game numbers.  Tech has got to be brimming with confidence as it comes into the game after a record breaking performance against Kansas last week.  They even made a shirt.  Rushing prowess has been a staple at GT since Paul Johnson took up residence in Atlanta.  The added dimension this year is the passing game.  In the preseason, I thought that Tevin Washington would be a liability for the Yellow Jackets, but he has proved to be quite capable of running Johnson's triple offense and taking advantage of the secondary sucking up into the box to stop the run.  Washington has 7 TDs and 637 yards of passing through three games on 17-28 passing.  Last game, GT had 5 pass plays longer than 50 yards.  

So what does all this mean?  It means the UNC defense is going to have to play discipline football.  It is a triple-option offense.  Our defenders must recognize their assignment, stay true to their assignment, and execute one-on-one tackles.  The defense's mantra for this game:  FIT YOUR GAP.  The good news is that this is not our first rodeo.  Listening to the player interviews, they understand what they have to do, what to expect (as far as dirty shenanigans) from the Georgia Tech rushing attack, and how important is it to stay disciplined to your assignment and have faith your teammates to uphold their assignments.

There two keys to the game is (1) the schedule and (2) turnovers.

We have to stay on schedule offensively by scoring touchdowns and keep Paul Johnson off schedule with a bend, don't break approach to defense.  Defensively, the Yellow Jackets are not impressive.  Against bad opponents, Tech is allowing 335 yards per game with 9 TDs.  Remember, Tech has only played Western Carolina, Middle Tennessee, and Kansas.  UNC will be the most potent offense they have faced on the season.  It is important that Renner and company sustain drives and finish in the end zone.

UNC will represent the biggest test defensively as well.  For UNC to win the game, the defense is going to have to limit the big plays and long drives for touch downs.  Georgia Tech will get their yards.  If we can limit GT's scoring to field goals and capitalize with stops on 3rd and long when available, UNC will win the game.

UNC needs to win the turnover battle.  It is true for every game, but especially true against the Yellow Jackets.  In this game, time of possession will be a critical stat.  The UNC offense must hold the ball and sustain drives to protect the defense.  GT matriculates down the field 4 yards at a time, eating up time of possession.  It can get very frustrating for defenses.  As such, we don't need to help Paul Johnson with extra possessions.

This is the biggest game of the season and a win could define our season.