Inconsistent Ground Game A Recurring Problem
CHAPEL HILL - Barring a lone drive in the third quarter, North Carolina struggled to consistently run the ball once again in its 34-31 loss to Appalachian State in Kenan Stadium on Saturday.
UNC’s offense amassed 65 yards on the ground, 62 of which came through sophomore running back Javonte Williams, during a 98-yard drive that eventually ended with a Carl Tucker one-handed touchdown snag that he was wide open for because the running game helped suck in the Mountaineers’ linebackers on the play.
The score cut App’s lead to 27-24 with 4:18 remaining in the third quarter and shifted the momentum back in the Tar Heels’ favor.
“Fortunately for us, that long drive was something where things started to click,” sophomore center Brian Anderson said. “I think that drive we just really got in a groove and were hitting the plays we wanted to hit and just getting success on early downs that put us in a good position to score in the end.”
While the Tar Heels would finish with 146 rushing yards, nearly half of those came from a single player on a single drive. The running game simply wasn’t consistent enough, a trend that this offense hasn’t been able to shake through the first four games.
In the season-opener against South Carolina, UNC had 143 yards on the ground with 1:47 remaining in the third quarter. It would go on to finish with 238, of which 68 came on one drive that senior Antonio Williams was responsible for 53 of.
In the 28-25 win over Miami the following week, the Tar Heels finished with just 97 yards on the night, with 76 coming through Javonte Williams. Less than a week later, the running backs would again struggle to find consistency as a group in the 24-18 loss at Wake Forest, finishing with 144 yards, 72 of which came in the fourth quarter.
Learning to run the ball steadily for 60 minutes will take pressure off the offense as a whole, but injuries on the offensive line have made it difficult to do so. Senior center Nick Polino was ruled out indefinitely after picking up a lower body injury against Miami while senior tackle Charlie Heck didn’t play against App with an upper body injury, leaving the offensive line with only one healthy upperclassman in junior Layton Barber, a walk-on who hasn’t and likely won’t play a snap.
“That plays a big part because you’ve got two veterans that are communicating and know each other and know the signals,” Williams said about the injuries to Polino and Heck. “And then, you put two new people in that are trying to learn the signals, and you’re going to have some mistakes.”
Still, that’s the reality the Tar Heels’ offense faces, and Williams thinks improved communication can help the running backs perform on a more consistent basis.
“I feel like we’ve just got to communicate better with the o-line,” he said. “Sometimes, when we start running the ball well, our communication starts to lag and that’s when we start to go up and down. But I feel like, once we get that communication together and everything starts rolling, we’ll be good.”
After another erratic performance, UNC’s rushing attack will now be tasked with finding its stability next Saturday against its toughest test of the season in the top-ranked Clemson Tigers.