(Bruce Young, aka The Man of Many Talents, is THI's photographer, social coordinator, bureaucrat, and resident Tar Heels fan)
What a difference a week makes.
I left Kenan Stadium after the JMU game not feeling too excited about my Tar Heels. After a lackluster win over James Madison, I was asking many questions about the direction this Tar Heel team was headed. After Saturday’s win over Pittsburgh, I still have a lot of concerns, but the Heels showed all of us they WILL NOT quit and that's a very good start.
It would've been easy to quit, but late in the 4th quarter, the defense stepped up and made stops. Mitch Trubisky, Ryan Switzer and the rest of the offense, would not let this team lose. Converting three 4th down conversions on the final drive, Mitch was an absolute surgeon, running the passing game to complete perfection, finishing the day 35-46 for 453 yards and 5 TDs. Ryan Switzer, who had a record day catching 16 passes for 208 yards and 1 TD, was at his best since arriving in Chapel Hill.
It's almost impossible to describe Ryan Switzer's performance on Saturday. People just don't realize how small Ryan is compared to the defensive backs and linebackers trying to take his head off coming across the middle. Ryan reminds me of a Wes Welker or Julian Edleman type player; the type that will catch the ball over the middle with ABSOLUTELY NO FEAR, doing whatever he has to do to get open and make the play! Yes he takes big hits, that's part of the game. You'll not find anyone anywhere with a bigger heart and determination than this young man. Enjoy what you're looking at for the rest of the season, because you don't see players like this come along often.
I know it may be a little too soon to be making this next comment, but you know that's never stopped me from making these kinds of statements in the past, but I truly believe that Mitch Trubisky may one day go down as the best QB ever to play at Carolina. Coming from me, that's a hard thing to say. If you know me, you know I have a man crush for Darian Durant, who I feel is the "toughest" QB ever to be under center in Chapel Hill. If Mitch stays healthy and continues on this path, he will be a legit Heisman Trophy candidate next year.
After talking about Ryan and Mitch, I haven't even mentioned Bug Howard and Austin Proehl. These two young men had 3 TDs between them, 2 for Howard including the game winner with 2 seconds left and 1 for Proehl to go along with 99 yards receiving. Both young men made clutch receptions in the 4th quarter to keep drives alive, and their will to win was a thing of beauty to watch from the sidelines.
Lets talk about the fans on Saturday. You know the crowd was fantastic when Coach Fedora singles them out in his opening remarks at his postgame press conference. I had chill bumps when with 4:03 left after Carolina got the ball back after a defensive stop; I looked into the crowd, especially on the home side, and everyone was on their feet yelling and cheering. The Tar Pit was, well let's just say the Tar Pit was the Tar Pit and all of you know what that means. The atmosphere was what a college football atmosphere is supposed to be like. We haven't always had that in Chapel Hill. It helped the players get the extra energy they needed to cap off an incredible comeback win, as stated by several of the players in their postgame comments.
Yes, a lot of fans left early on Saturday and the players noticed. Ryan Switzer and Nazair Jones were two that commented on their twitter accounts, thanking the ones who stayed and never gave up. Most fans don't understand just how important they really are to these kids. They need you in the stands for the WHOLE game. In today's game, you never know what's gonna happen; Saturday afternoon proves just that. Any of you remember Gio Bernard returning a punt late for a TD to beat NCSU. A lot of people left that game early and you know they wished they hadn't. I can speak on this, because I was one of those people (I will regret that for the rest of my life). After covering the Tar Heels up close and personal, I realize how important we are to the team and coaching staff. I will never do that again, I can promise you that. I believe there are many Tar Heels who can say the same thing after Saturday. GO HEELS!!!!!
