CHAPEL HILL – Why didn’t Omarion Hampton run the ball more in the second half Saturday night?
That is the most obvious question coming out of North Carolina’s 31-27 loss to Virginia at home, delivering the Tar Heels their first loss and knocking them out of the top 10 of the national rankings.
And in truth, the UNC staff knows it made a mistake, because it admitted that Monday morning during the weekly press conferences. Carolina Coach Mack Brown said so, as did offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey.
“You’ve got a great back like Omarion, and you don’t hand him the ball,” Brown said, using hindsight as 20/20 vision. “And if you’re passing game’s not hitting, go to something that is… And Omarion was averaging 7.2 yards per carry, do get him the ball. Give him the ball. If we’re dropping balls or not protecting well or if the passing game’s off, go with what you’re doing best.”
UNC quarterback Drake Maye passed for 347 yards, but he missed on half of his 48 attempts, and was well off on many more than has been his norm. Plus, the Tar Heels forged a 24-14 lead midway through the third quarter. Even as poorly as they were playing, the game was setting up in their favor.
So, perhaps this was one of those times where the staff simply ride its best horse of the night to the finish line.
But they didn’t.
Brown said he didn’t say anything to Lindsey about it during the game because it’s difficult to communicate when there’s just precious seconds to make the next call quick enough so it gets communicated to the field. Lindsey is in the box upstairs, further complicating that singular aspect.
“Why didn’t I step up and say, ‘C’mon, man, hand it to him more?’ Because you hate to get involved with play selection during a game because I’ve done that,” Brown said. “And it’s hard to talk to a guy a lot while he’s got a whole process, and he’s trying to figure out what he’s doing up there. Sometimes you can have too much conversation, but that’s my job.”
Hampton ran the ball for 112 yards on 19 carries, but had just five runs (for 36 yards) in the second half. Yet, Lindsey says Brown shouldn’t have needed to get him to use Hampton more.
“Looking back, he’s right,” Lindsey said. “You look at the plays the last two drives, we were kind of in a two-minute situation, but before that, there was definitely some opportunities. I’ve got to do a better job, being honest with you, and just making sure that gets done.
“That’s on me as the coordinator. I’m responsible for it all… Omarion’s a great player.”
Hampton had one carry over the final 14:53 of the game. Of his 19 runs, ten went for six or more yards, and only three went for fewer than four yards. Clearly, using Hampton was a winning move, or would have been a winning move.
Lindsey said that calls often depend on what he thinks a defense will do in that situation, which factored into not calling Hampton’s number more. Yet, it still comes back to him.
“At the end of the day, I need to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Lindsey said. “At the end of the day, I think that cost us. Maybe if we give him a few more carries there in the fourth quarter, maybe we go ahead and finish the game the right way.”
Many mistakes were made Saturday night, and therefore many lessons were learned. So, the odds are pretty good, next time UNC needs to ride Hampton hard to the winner’s circle, it will.
