Carolina's Work In The Red Zone An Upgrade From Last Fall

**************************************************************************************

Remember, for just $8.33 a month, YOU CAN BE A TAR HEELS INSIDER, TOO!!!

***************************************************************************************

CHAPEL HILL – A point of emphasis this past offseason, and once fall camp commenced in late July, was for North Carolina to improve its touchdown efficiency in the red zone.

Last season, the Tar Heels ranked 20th nationally scoring 89.8 percent of the time in the red zone, but the sneaky details revealed a less effective unit than that percentage suggests. Three games into the 2022 campaign, and that appears to have changed.

The Tar Heels (3-0) have been in the red zone 11 times so far with 10 touchdowns. And the one time they didn’t convert, head coach Mack Brown is quick to point out, was in the closing minute of the season-opening win over Florida A&M when the Heels pulled back to run out the clock.

“We have worked more on short-yardage, goal line, red zone situations – two-point plays – than we’ve ever worked on, because those are things we had not done well in our first few years,” Brown said last week, when asked about the uptick in touchdown production iunsie opponents' 20-yard-line.

The numbers last year were as such: 49 trips into the red zone with 19 rushing touchdowns, nine passing scores, and 16 field goals. UNC crossed the goal line just 57.1 percent of the time it got into the red zone, ranking it among the worst in the ACC.

The numbers this fall: five rushing touchdowns and five passing ones.

Offensive coordinator Phil Longo had a lengthy explanation for why his unit has been so TD-heavy in those situations.

“We’re playing physical up front,” he said. “Truthfully, you can do some things play-calling wise in the open field to help protect your o-line, I think it’s hard to do it on short yardage. It’s hard to protect them on goal line, and it’s hard to protect them in the red zone.

“And at the end of the day, in short-yardage football, in goal line football, and in red zone football, regardless of the Xs and Os, and whether we run or throw, the ability to be able to run down there is huge. And there’s a physicality to pass protecting, too, it’s not just the run game. We’re getting some good production there at that position.”

While Carolina’s run blocking grade is well below the middle of the pack, it has been successful as the Tar Heels get closer to the goal line. The overall running grade is 81.4, according to PFF, which ranks the Heels at No. 22 nationally. Big runs, yes, but also getting into the end zone once in the red zone is a part of this, too.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye says UNC’s balance, in which seven players have caught touchdown passes and four have run for scores, forces defenses to sometimes play on their heels, no pun intended. And, as their backs get closer to the goal line, the clear advantage favors the offense. In this case, that's the Tar Heels.

“I think running the ball first and foremost,” Maye said. “Knowing the defense has to stop the run, and we’ve got some good backs making plays. I think Coach (Phil) Longo has put in some redzone stuff, moving me outside the pocket, and I think that there in the redzone is when I’m best and can play running and throwing.

“Also, we have tight ends that make it look easy. We have three weapons there they have to worry about, I think we’ve proven that. And obviously, Nes (Bryson Nesbit) makes it easy down there.”

Ten-for-11 strikes as easy; 10-for-10, as Brown puts, comes off as even easier.

The opponents will stiffen with Notre Dame and the ACC schedule still to come, but there is no denying that UNC has made progress in an area it was only so-so a year ago.