CHARLOTTE – For the many things that Marquise Williams did well as North Carolina’s starting quarterback, he never found consistency in one area.
Williams struggled in the short passing game. Whether it was over middle in tight paces, in the flat, wide on either side, or dump offs to the backs, many of his passes hit the ground, were too high, or fell into the hands of the opposition.
Not to denigrate Williams, who served this program extremely well, but 10 of the 25 interceptions he threw were short passes. Last fall, five came in the red zone.
This year’s starter, junior Mitch Trubsky, excels with the short ball. In fact, it’s a strength.
“’Quise threw a great long ball, he really did, he threw a great long ball,” UNC coach Larry Fedora said. “Mitch is probably more accurate I would say in the intermediate and short passes, probably more zip on the ball and more accuracy.”
The struggles in the short passing game the last two seasons occasionally handcuffed the offense. Opposing defenses blitzed linebackers sometimes because they didn’t respect Williams’ ability to dump it off and find open receivers in short spaces. Given what Trubisky has displayed in his limited time on the field and what his coach and teammates are saying, it’s fair to expect the short game will be much more effective this season.
“Yeah, there’s a chance,” Switzer said. “I think Mitch has the upper hand (over Williams) in accuracy and putting the ball where it needs to be. It’s something that needs to be good in order for us to be successful.
“When we got blitzed last year – Clemson blitzed a lot and their defensive line was a problem for us – our short intermediate passing game, if it had been where it needed to be that game could have been a lot different… It definitely has a chance to be better and it has to be better for us to be successful.”
While Trubisky was the clear backup to Williams the last two seasons, he did get some quality
reps. On five occasions, he was thrust into competitive situations when Williams had to leave
games by rule after his helmet came off. The staff trusted the Ohio native so much, they called
for passes each time.
*In 2014, with the Tar Heels trailing at Virginia 27-21 with 4:05 left in the game and in possession on 3rd-and-15 at the UVa 16, Trubisky hit T.J. Thorpe for what proved to be a game-winning touchdown.
*Last season, on UNC’s first possession at rival N.C. State, on 3rd-and-goal from the 5, Trubisky found Quinshad Davis in the end zone or a 7-0 Carolina lead.
*Also last season, in the ACC championship game versus Clemson, facing a 3rd-and-7 at the Tigers’ 41 on UNC’s first possession of the game, Trubisky hit Mack Hollins 12 yards over the middle, and Hollins ran it 6 more yards to the 23. The Heels kicked a field goal several plays later to take a 3-0 lead.
*In the other two, he threw an incomplete pass and completed another on a drive that didn’t materialize with any points.
Furthermore, Trubisky is 20-25 with 3 touchdown passes in the red zone in his career.
Another aspect of the short passing game the Tar Heels will employ more this fall is getting the ball in senior tailback T.J. Logan’s hands. Logan has 47 receptions in his career and has proven he can be a weapon catching balls out of the backfield.
In fact, one of UNC’s big plays against Clemson in the ACC title game came when Logan took a short pass from a heavily-rushed Williams and raced 46 yards for a score, burning right up the gut of Clemson’s defense into the end zone.
Additionally, is that Logan can also line up in the slot position, something he did several times late last season.
Fedora says Logan can be a huge weapon catching the ball for the Tar Heels this season.
“Oh man. First of all, T.J. can go goal line-to-goal line, he can take it the distance any time, and he’s got great hands. So, he’ll make a lot of plays for us catching the ball out of the backfield.
“And we know this, we’ve worked on moving him into slots, moving him around, because he can do a lot of things.”
So when one thinks about it, a more accurate short-game passer combined with an improved offensive line and a plethora of skill guys that can take it and burn, and the possibilities are tantalizing.
“When you’ve got guys like me and T.J. Logan, who can turn something in, a 2-yard into a 60 or 70-yarder, that takes a lot of pressure off of Mitch and our offense as a whole,” Switzer said.
No doubt it can, and UNC fans are going to see that come to life this season.
