(Bruce Young, aka The Man of Many Talents, is THI's photographer, social coordinator, bureaucrat, and resident Tar Heels fan)
When I left Kenan Stadium late Saturday night, I was not as positive about my Tar Heels as I thought I would be after 3 games. Still disappointed about losing to Georgia, an uninspired win at Illinois and an undisciplined win against an inferior James Madison squad, I was very negative about what the rest of the season was going to look like! I don't like feeling like this but it's hard not to with the way our team is playing!
I don't have a lot of confidence in this team’s ability to repeat as Coastal Division Champs, I just don't. For anyone that knows me will tell you, I always see the glass half-full when it comes to Carolina Football. I've looked thru "blue glasses" as many of you do for my entire life! The way they are playing on defense seems to have reverted back to a couple of seasons ago when they were one of the worst defenses in College Football! But how is this possible and why is it happening!
I could make excuses that injuries have played a big role and they have. Several players with "personal issues" could also be used as an excuse as key players have missed playing time because of these issues. Injuries are a part of the game and we are talking about "kids" and personal issues do creep up sometimes! But good teams overcome these issues and move forward. Is this Carolina good enough to make this happen?
The thing that I see can be summed up in one word: Discipline! Through the first three games, team discipline has been lacking and as of Saturday afternoon, it's getting worse. I see young men making plays and acting like they've never done it before, because of their unsportsmanlike conduct, if you will, that is shown towards their opponents and has cost the team 100's of penalty yards so far.
I know football is an emotional game and I'm not saying emotion shouldn't be part of it. But, there is a time, place and a proper way to celebrate a nice play. Celebrate with your teammates, not by getting in the face of your opponents and taunting them, causing the Ron Cherrys of the world to throw that little yellow flag on the field. This team needs to show some class and let their play speak for them.
The players should be held accountable, and Coach Fedora said in his postgame pressor that he was going to take care of this issue! My question is, why has it taken three games to "take care" of this problem! This coaching staff, that I have a lot of respect for, has its work cut out for it in the next few week to get this situation turned around. For all of our sakes, I hope they can!
On a positive note, Mitch Trubisky played a great game as did the offensive line. The O-line gave Mitch time to throw and he passed for over 400 yards. I understand it wasn't the Clemson defense he was playing against, but 400 yards is 400 yards. The offense seems to be on the same page and that doesn't bode well for Carolina's upcoming opponents! Not only are they on the same page, but they really picked up their defensive teammates when they were coming off the field in the first quarter of Saturday's game after giving up several TD's. I love to see that kind of support for each other. They do seem to carry over last year's mantra "we got your back".
I was really excited and happy with the crowd that showed up for the JMU game. It was a lot more people than I thought would be there for a game that wasn't against a Power 5 School or ACC foe! The Tar Pit was fantastic as usual as they were loud and proud throughout the entire game. This Saturday, we start ACC play as the Pitt Panthers come into Kenan for a 3:30 kickoff. Pitt has struggled at times this year, but they are a capable opponent and the Heels and the fans MUST be ready. I'm ready, are you! GO HEELS!
