(Bruce Young, aka The Man of Many Talents, in spite of his horrible taste in music, is THI's social coordinator, official bureaucrat, available bachelor, photographer and resident Tar Heels' fan)
What a difference a week makes.
Coming off a last-second win against Florida State the previous week, Carolina Fans everywhere looked forward to the Hokies of Virginia Tech coming into Kenan Stadium this past Saturday, with plans of taking a stranglehold on the Coastal Division. However, Mother Nature had a different plan, a devastating plan in Hurricane Matthew!
Yes, the Tar Heels were not ready for what happened to them on Saturday and Virginia Tech was. The conditions were the same for both teams, I understand that, and Virginia Tech got the job done, period. The rain played "tricks" on some of the Carolina Players as Linebacker Andre Smith told us after the game. It was a mental thing that some guys just couldn't deal with.
Practicing with wet balls last week probably helped some, but the wind was a factor that couldn't be duplicated in practice. Mitch Trubisky said he tried to compensate for the weight of the wet football by taking a little off his throws. This caused some of his passes to sail on him; thus him throwing his first two INT's of the year! Carolina's style of play is definitely not conducive to rain and wind, where Virginia Tech is made for these conditions. This point was driven home by the 34-3 beat down by the Hokies!
To me personally, before the kickoff, I thought the game should have never been played. This was NOT a normal rainy day, people, this was a Hurricane and not of the Miami persuasion. These were unsafe conditions for the fans first and foremost and the higher ups in the ACC cared nothing about that! Yes, the Kenan Stadium surface was in excellent condition because of the drainage system installed last year. It was definitely money well spent. That fact alone was a major reason why there were not more injuries during the game!
Coming into Chapel Hill from Zebulon for the game was not that bad. It was rainy and the wind was moving my car a little, but I could see the road in front of me. After the game was a different story entirely. There were bridges washed out, trees down on the roads and IT WAS DARK! It was hard to see sheets of water on the road. I tell you these things to make my point about the safety issue.
Because of rules changes, football is about as safe today as it's ever been. But where was the concern for the fans. It was nonexistent! As usual, TV and the almighty dollar again ruled the decision to play this game. Why John Swofford and his staff decided not to do this is unacceptable! As always, LEGAL TENDER WINS AGAIN!
For the first time in my life, I'm not going to bash the fans that didn't show up, because that would be crazy and totally unfair. The ones that showed up were totally awesome. Virginia Tech continued to be one ACC school that travels in large numbers with their team. At times in the first half, I thought was at a Hokies home game. There were very few instances when the Tar Heel faithful had something to yell about, but when they did, they were loud. Considering the aforementioned conditions, this was a fantastic crowd!
There were not a lot of Carolina players who had great games on Saturday, but one young man stood out to me and that was Defensive Linemen Nazair Jones. Naz played possibly his best game as a Tar Heel, as Larry Fedora stated during his Monday press conference. From my position on the sidelines, I watched Naz physically whip the offensive lineman in front of him and put the hammer on several Tech ball carriers all day long; some hits I'm sure they won't soon forget.
I vividly remember as the Hokies were going in for a score in the first half, seeing Naz perform one of the most technically sound tackles I have seen in a long while on a Tech running back. He put his helmet on the ball forcing a fumble; a fumble he would recover. If he can stay healthy, we will be seeing Mr. Jones playing on Sunday afternoons in a year or so!
This Carolina team will be tested in a major way on Saturday afternoon in Miami. We will find out a lot about this team, and while their team goals are still achievable, a loss on Saturday will all but destroy their dream to repeat as Coastal Division Champions. I believe, as stated many times before, in this coaching staff and these kids.
At this time, I'd like to go ahead and apologize to Canes fans in advance. What the Tar Heels are gonna do to you on Saturday just might be illegal in 49 states (everything is apparently legal in Colorado) and you still have time to get out of town. You've been warned. GO HEELS!!!!!!!!!!
