You Know What, The Heels Are Pretty Good
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – If we want to spend a minute being picky about how the Tar Heels have played this season, we most certainly can.
Injuries aside, which aren’t really self-created negatives, the Heels’ defense was once matador-esque against the run. There have been the safeties, short-yardage issues, ill-time penalties, some very untimely fumbles, points left on the field, and Monsoon Matthew.
But really, as we sit here embarking on the team’s open week, finally, what we see after all of this is a football team that continues to grow, has regularly shown resilience that is clearly part of the program’s DNA, a quarterback who just might be as good an engineer and passer as there is in the nation, a defensive coordinator pushing the right buttons, a staff coaching up that side of the ball, and a team that despite all the wobbly stuff that has taken place, just might play for an ACC championship again.
The net result is that the Tar Heels are pretty good.
Saturday’s 35-14 win at Virginia is a great example that the Heels are maybe not elite, but they are among the nation’s better teams.
This was a classic trap game, for lack of a better term, because Carolina was coming off four consecutive emotional games, two of which ended essentially on the last play and another that ended by forcing a turnover on the road inside the final minute. The other was the unfortunate mess the ACC had the Heels and Virginia Tech play in a few weeks ago.
So many UNC teams in the past would have gone to Charlottesville, or visited a similarly struggling team, and lost Saturday’s game. Just look at the record books, Carolina’s history has many of these moments in its past.
The Wahoos had been playing better than its 2-4 (now 2-5) record suggested, and with 21,000 empty seats in Scott Stadium, the Heels had to create their own energy. Considering this is a group that loves playing in front of raucous road crowds and had previously won in front of full or near-full houses at Illinois, Florida State and Miami this season, generating their own energy was a considerable task.
And early on, as the Heels took some time to get their wheels churning, it appeared they just might suffer from trap-game-it is. But not this group. Not this coaching staff, not this growing head coach, and not this program.
The Tar Heels should have led 21-3 or 21-7 at the worst at halftime, but they made some adjustments and dominated the third quarter, essentially putting the game away. UNC outscored the Wahoos 14-0 and outgained them 160-39 in the period.
It was a big-boy response to a solid first half. It was a good team taking care of business.
“We started finally getting that rhythm back,” junior running back Elijah Hood said. “It felt good starting to move the ball well and we were able to put up points. We have not really put up any points in the second half of games in a while, so we were specifically challenged to make sure we played a full 60 minutes of football today.
“I am really proud of us because we absolutely came out there and did that. We did what we needed to do. The defense did a great job. I feel like we are just growing every game as a team.”
No doubt the defense did a fantastic job.
Virginia had won two of its previous three games over teams likely headed to bowl games – Central Michigan, at Duke, home versus Pittsburgh – averaging 38 points and 450 yards in those contests. But against the suddenly stout Tar Heels, the Wahoos fell 24 points and 197 yards shy of those averages.
Perhaps the greatest indication the defense has shed its former skin is that Miami and Virginia were a combined 7-34 on 3rd downs: 7-FOR-34.
The Heels have character, we know that. They also have talent, grit, moxie, a coaching staff that’s stock is groing, winnable schemes, and a great quarterback.
At 6-2 overall, 4-1 in the ACC, and riding a 9-game true road winning streak, it’s safe to say the Tar Heels are a pretty good football team, and getting better.