Carter's Talents On Full Display In Carolina Debut

CHAPEL HILL – One of the true bright spots in North Carolina’s puzzling 35-30 loss to California at home Saturday was the production of the ground attack, in particular true freshman running back Michael Carter.

Carter ran the ball 11 times for 94 yards, scored two touchdowns - both on option pitches from Chazz Surratt - and his longest run went for 47 yards. The 5-9, 195 pounder from Navarre, FL, displayed his breathtaking speed on that jaunt and disregard for body on his second score. He went airborne from around the 3-yard-line and managed to break the plane of the goal line in mid-flight before crashing to the earth.

If those were glimpses of what UNC fans have to look forward to from Carter, then brace yourself for a wild and entertaining ride. Carter was that impressive against the Golden Bears, though a bit modest speaking about his performance afterward.

“I think I did okay,” he said. “I have a lot to work on to be where I want to be.”

Work as in with the entire offense grinding it out up front pushing people around allowing for the backs to find seams was a big part of the Tar Heels’ approach. They ran the ball 45 times for 219 yards on the afternoon, including on 18 of their first 22 snaps.

The staff made a point of getting the offensive line and running backs, which includes the quarterbacks, who combined for 83 yards on 21 attempts, carries early because of what it expected from Cal’s defense and also to establish a particular mindset.

Early on, the Tar Heels struggled up front as the ground attack sputtered but it eventually got going. The determination to be more physical and make it work paid off once the group found some seams and got into a bit of a groove..

“We’ve got to be physical, and I think that’s a big part of why we ran the ball early,” Carter said. “We wanted to establish that physicality as a football team, because whoever goes out there first they set the tone.”

In the end, the run-pass ratio was 45-44, leaning a tad more toward the run than in previous years. Carter said it was more situational and will change from week to week. But he did embrace the effort to be more smash-mouth than the Fed Spread is known for.

But more singularly, Carter’s performance really was something the team can draw from on an afternoon in which there’s little competition in that respect. Interesting, Carter was asked if one reason the Heels ran more than they passed and he got the ball a lot in the first half to showcase his immense talents was because of the uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position.

Or, at least there was some mystery before the game. That could have been settled on the field Saturday.

“I think whoever we have at quarterback our running backs have to produce,” he said. “Me, Jordon Brown, Stanton Truitt will be back soon – sooner than you think -

Johnathan Sutton, Kayne Roberts… all of the guys, running backs, no matter who’s in there we have to make plays.”

As for Carter, he gave a canned response when asked to assess his play. But in reality, it didn’t look like his first college game, even with his fumble that Cal recovered. He’s a football player, and that’ what Saturday way.

“It felt like high school and it felt like youth league,” he said. “Football is football, the creases are the same creases, the hash marks are the same hash marks, the concepts are the same. So yeah, it felt good to play.”

And even in defeat, it must have felt good to a lot of UNC fans watching Carter play and knowing he’s just getting started

*Michael Carter postgame interview