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Among The UNC's Priorities, Red Zone Efficiency

To take the enxt step, UNC Coach Mack Brown says his team must get better in the red zone on both sides of the ball.
To take the enxt step, UNC Coach Mack Brown says his team must get better in the red zone on both sides of the ball. (Jacob Turner, THI)

CHAPEL HILL – The stated mission these days at North Carolina is to win the ACC’s Coastal Division, contend for the overall conference crown and eventually shoot for something nationally significant.

To get there, the Tar Heels have a lengthy and cluttered road to travel, but that’s a process any college football program must experience getting from point A to point Z. Carolina darted away from A the minute it hired Mack Brown as its coach 17 months ago, and the Tar Heels are now well into that climb, at the very least.

So as the coaching staff continues layering the program, one of the next steps is to improve its performance in the red zones on offense and defense. Stout teams contend for championships, and that’s the eventual goal in Chapel Hill.

“We’ve talked a lot about improving our red zone offense and defense, short yards and go line red zone and red zone offense and defense and, and those are areas that we’ll work really hard on,” Brown said, when advancing some of the points of emphasis heading into spring practice, which has been cancelled due to shutdowns stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

The numbers suggest the Tar Heels weren’t exactly awful on either side of the ball last season, but they also indicate the cavern between being a competitive 7-6 team that sneaks into a bowl game as opposed to one that bangs its head on a much higher ceiling.


Losing Ruder affected Carolina's options in tight situations.
Losing Ruder affected Carolina's options in tight situations. (Jenna Miller, THI)
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On offense, UNC was No. 31 in red zone efficiency at 89 percent. The Tar Heels had 55 trips into the red zone scoring a fairly impressive 49 times. The problem, however, is Carolina managed just 31 touchdowns, thus it crossed the goal line only 56.3 percent of the time.

The breakdown: 21 passing touchdowns and 10 on the ground.

By comparison, national champion LSU scored touchdowns on 81.9 percent of its trips into the red zone. In the ACC, Coastal rival Virginia Tech scored TDs 67.3 percent of the time, division champ Virginia was at 62.3 percent of the time, and national runner-up Clemson crossed the goal line 76.1 percent of the time.

So, there’s clearly plenty of room for the Tar Heels to improve, especially when it comes to opening some cracks and pushing the pile some in tight situations.

“Offensively, I think the biggest thing that hurt us was when we lost (backup quarterback) Jace Ruder and then we couldn’t run Sam,” Brown said. “And it really helped us in the bowl game and we couldn’t run Sam at all. And that hurts you in short yardage.

“It hurts you and goal line cause you’ve taken one of your most valuable players out of the game with his legs and you’re, you’re not putting the pressure on the defense that you could… And, and I really feel like that, that that will help us a lot in the short yardage and goal line woes that we had.”


The Tar Heels need to get more stout when opponents near the goal line.
The Tar Heels need to get more stout when opponents near the goal line. (Jacob Turner, THI)

Ruder saw action in just two games before suffering a season-ending injury. He carried the ball three times in a loss at Wake Forest, including a scamper around left end for 22 yards. And he ran the ball once the following week in a home loss to Appalachian State before being injured.

The redshirt sophomore was expected to participate in spring practice and working on that part of UNC’s game would have been a priority for the team. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo said earlier this spring having a healthy Ruder available will enhance the short-yardage ground attack.

It should also be noted that UNC returns four starters along its offensive line and the staff expects to have more depth there this fall as well. Longo said this group is singificantly further ahead than the o-line was a year ago at this time. That's obviously another plus.

On the other side of the ball, the defensive numbers were just above the middle of the pack nationally, as the Heels rated No. 54 allowing an 81.8 percent success rate. The touchdown rate was 56.8 percent, which must improve.

By comparison, Ohio State allowed just 12 touchdowns in 29 trips, which is 41.4 percent, and in the ACC, Virginia Tech gave up TDs 54.7 percent of the time, Pittsburgh did so 45.7 percent of the time, and Clemson allowed teams touchdowns 42.4 percent of the time.

Magnifying the importance of missing spring practice on this side of the ball is that the Tar Heels lost their starting defensive tackles, both of whom were well ahead of their backups. So improvement and building depth this spring was going to be a big part of getting better in these situations.

Brown has a laundry list noting how his team must improve, some of which he addressed a few weeks ago. Red zone efficiency on both sides of the ball are a priority.

“We know what we need to change,” he said. “We know what we need to accomplish, we know what we’re good at and we know where we gotta get better.”

And that includes in the trenches near the end zones.


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