Offense:
Tyler Van Dyke - 31/48 391yds 4TD’s & 2INT’s
Henry Parrish - 13car 73yds
Xavier Restrepo - 11rec 96yds & 2TD’s
Jacolby George - 6rec 125yds & 1TD
Brashard Smith - 3rec 90yds & 1TD
Isaiah Horton - 4rec 52yds
Offense gained 482 yards of total offense (391 passing & 91 rushing); off 76 plays at 6.3 yards per play, getting 28 first downs, going 3/11 on 3rd down with 30:04 in time of possession.
Very good route by Jacolby George on the 4 route that went for 27yds. But the drive was negated by a bad turnover on the fumble by Parrish. Finally had a really good drive in the 1st quarter & got the ball all the way down to the red zone, but had a crucial fumble right at the goal line. This would end up being the story of the game on Offense... Cannot have those kinds of critical mistakes in intense road games like this. Losing the turnover battle is what almost always loses the game.
Really good drive in the 2nd quarter, to tie the game at 7-7 aided by 2 penalties in favor of Miami, then finished off with XR getting an 18yd TD off a Rail route from Trips bunch-formation; Good call & good throw.
Phenomenal throw by TVD to Jacolby George on the Deep Wheel route for a 35yd TD. He stood in there & got absolutely walloped by made a great anticipatory throw & laced it perfectly to JGeorge.
Another great catch by George for a 16yd gain with .20 seconds left before the end of the first half, he made a great adjustment on the route & came back the the ball extending & making a nice grab to keep the ball in his hands.
Really unfortunate bad snap by Lee & happened as soon the announcers mentioned the rain during halftime, a slippery snap gets out of hand & another critical turnover.
Bad INT by TVD, the LB dropped & read his eyes, TVD locked in on George & let it go with the LB getting depth. At least he wasn’t only looking for Restrepo right?
Nice play calls on both TD’s to Restrepo & the Slot-fade to Brashard Smith in the 4th quarter.
Offense kept fighting, but just too far of hold to dig out of.
I think TVD toughed it out & played better than anyone will be willing to give him credit for. He got rocked & was obviously banged up early on, that still doesn’t excuse his poor decision making. But I’ll caution the rabid fan base, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it...
The run game was there early on, but once we got down by 2 scores, the run game really doesn’t matter as much & once HPJ got hurt, welp, that was it.
Jacolby George & Restrepo both played very well, Colby Young however mostly lost all of his one on one matchups. Despite being 6’5, UNC’s Corners were able to make at least 4 breakups on passes sent his way. After having a solid screen play in the 1st half, he was rendered ineffective in the 2nd half against the physical play of UNC’s CB’s hence why Horton was able to get more snaps late in the 4th quarter.
TE’s are de facto OL’s in this Offense. Idk what the debate is anymore, Idk where this notion that they will be incorporated into the Offense as the season progresses keeps coming from, but again as I’ve been saying since the beginning of the season, their #1 main priority is Blocking. IF they run routes, its as a decoy & on the off chance they get the ball, it’s because the top 3 progressions were covered. But otherwise, TE’s = Extra OL, end of discussion.
The OL played it’s worst game so far, not just on giving up 3 sacks, but UNC was getting after TVD all game & hitting him quite a bit. They still gave him time to make some throws, but overall, specifically at the Tackle spots, Mauigoa didn’t have too great of a showing.
Overall it wasn’t as bad a game by the Offense that people will make it out to be. There were plenty of plays there & some nice throws were made throughout the game, but the Offense making critical mistakes with turnovers is what will stand out. But the game IMO, came down to our Defense not being able to slow down UNC’s multifaceted attack.
What the Offense needs more than anything is diversification; It’s too much dependency on just 3 guys to make all the plays, the other WR’s need to have more plays designed to get them the ball & there needs to be more creativity in spreading the ball around. Also, the Offense is significantly better when we go Tempo, vs when we try to force run plays that aren’t there. We’re not an Air Raid team, but tbh we should be, which I know is sacrilegious to say to the Bro Faithful, but the team in its current iteration is at its best when we’re going fast & throwing it often... But I know, I know, “tReNcHeS & bALL bALaNcE bRo!”
Defense:
Kam Kinchens - 9tks 1 sack, 2TFL’s & 2PD’s
Te’Cory Couch - 9tks
James Williams - 8tks 1PD & 0.5TFL’s
KJ Cloyd - 6tks 2TFL’s & 1 sack
Francisco Mauigoa - 6tks 2.5TFL’s & 1 sack
Nyjalik Kelly - 4tks & 0.5TFL’s
Corey Flagg - 4tks
Daryl Porter Jr - 4tks
Rueben Bain - 3tks 1 sack 1.5TFL’s & 1FF
Jared Harrison-Hunte - 2tks 1 sack & 1TFL
Leonard Taylor - 2tks
Defense gave up 508 total yards (273 passing & 235 rushing), with 11 TFL’s & 5 sacks.
Worst performance by the Defense this season, finally gave up 100yd rusher & the Secondary had no answer for UNC’s passing attack in the 2nd half.
Early on Defense failed to keep a spy on Maye which is something you have to absolutely do because his mobility with his feet is just as lethal as a arm talent. He’s an ELITE 1st round QB & you have to play really really well mistake free Football on Defense in order to keep him contained & under wraps. But did a good job adjusting & creating more pressure upfront with loop stunts & delayed Blitzes in the first half. Unfortunately, that was short-lived as UNC’s Offense completely ran away with it in the 2nd half.
Reuben Bain with a really nice sack on Maye after the Parrish fumble, but just our luck, the ball still get advanced forward smh lol. Bain was absolutely disruptive force causing havoc plays in the 1st half.
First big play for UNC was to WR JJ Jones for a 48yd gain where he worked Jaden Davis in Man coverage off a double move. That drive culminated in Drake Maye hitting newly eligible WR Tez Walker on a Post route out the Slot with Couch in coverage against Cover 3.
Jaden Davis got worked again to start the 2nd half against Tez Walker on a Post route that went for a 55yd TD. He was playing Off coverage bail technique, gave free release vs inside leverage & was beat off the first 2 steps, he just simply couldn’t run with Tez. Then on Tez’s 3rd TD, the CB’s were playing Zone & Tez ran right by the Defense sitting back in a Cover 6 look off a Bang 8 route. As I’ve been saying about JD all year, slow & cannot cover the Deep ball. I’ve pointed this out multiple times & been met with a lot of backlash because of it, do yall get it now?..
So when people who kept asking me why I had UNC as our toughest game this season & why I’ve been so skeptical of the CB’s, that’s why.
And for those that wonder why I’m always harping on our lack of Speed at CB, do yall see it now? Do I have to keep explaining this every week? You got it? Okay cool.
A lot of yall did the classic false bravado sh*t talking when it was announced that Tez Walker was eligible, it was very clear most of the tough guy Super Bros did not know who Devontez Walker was & were completely unaware of UNC’s Offensive prowess. A suggestion; maybe you guys should watch more teams than just the SEC every now & then, ignorance is not bliss. He’s a really good player & it was a legitimate concern that he was going to be able to get back on the field against us. We had no match that could cover him & putting JDavis on him for the 2nd half was a huge error by Guidry/Addae...
Speaking of Addae, at what point does this guy keep getting away with his subpar evals both in HS recruiting & in the Portal, plus his lack of on field development & coaching? When does this dude get held accountable for his misses at CB? All we seem to be doing is recruiting slow Safeties at CB, in what universe is this an acceptable formula for building a good Secondary??? Maybe instead of banking on low rated 3-star developmental diamonds in the rough who are slower than dried up snails in the Mojave, we can start to recruit some actual Corners who can run & cover? Is that too much to ask?
Great Safety Blitz call by Guidry right through the A-Gap by Kam which would’ve ended the drive & forced a punt, but of course the Undisciplined U strikes again with Keontra Smith getting an unsportsmanlike penalty that keeps the drive going.
Very good coverage in Man by Kam on the TE Bryson Nesbit reading & breaking against the Dig route. But other than that, it was mostly bad coverage by the Safety group. JWill had his classic unsportsmanlike penalty late & both Kam & JWill struggled in their coverage shells.
Assignment football was not being played tonight in the Secondary, it was basically every man for himself & trying to figure out what to do next. Really need to revamp the Secondary this offseason, both players & Coaches. MUST. GET. FASTER.
Another good delayed Blitz called sending Mauigoa off the weak side after 2 big runs by UNC, it looked like they were moving quick down the field to get a score & that sack took them out of FG range & completely halted their offensive momentum. (For the time being lol).
But UNC was able to break the game open capitalizing off turnovers by the Offense & mishaps by the Defense. It started off with Maye’s deep ball to Tez to start the 2nd half & then a few big runs by Hampton broke the Defense wide open.
Critical penalties continue to affect this team, particularly on Defense. We get a stop in the 2nd quarter & force a 4th down, but due to miscommunication with players substituting in/out, Guidry practically runs on field to get the refs attention & gets called for an unsportsmanlike, which extends the drive for UNC & gives them the opportunity to score. Then in the 2nd half the aforementioned penalties by the Defense leave us in vulnerable situations & give UNC good field position while they’re driving.
I thought we got rid of all the problem child’s on the team last year? I thought this team wouldn’t be as undisciplined anymore, what happened? As the old adage goes, you’re either Coaching it or allowing it, so one of them has to be true. Something’s gotta give because in our last 3 games, Miami has had a combined 20 penalties for 214yds. So WTF is up with that?!?!?
Again, we can blame it on the refs having it out for us, but at this point this isn’t a secret. We know that the refs are ALWAYS going to be against us, so why keep giving them opportunities to be overly litigious against us & make calls that we know will cost us? Teach the team to be more disciplined, to play with more control under pressure, to not allow for emotions to put them in position to get flagged for ticky-tack unsportsmanlike plays. You don’t have to get in a player’s face & chirp after every single play, you don’t have to always hit & make contact (even if it’s completely innocuous & not malicious at all) after a play; just get up & go back to the huddle or the sideline. Why? BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE A QUICK TRIGGER WITH THE FLAG AGAINST MIAMI SO STOP DOING SH*T THAT MAKES IT EASY FOR THEM TO THROW FLAGS ON US...
It was the tale of two half’s; 1st half we kept up with UNC, played well on Offense & was able to sack Maye 4 times disrupting his rhythm. 2nd half, they adjusted & started attacking our #1 weakness is covering the Deep Ball & it opened up the field. Their run game picked up as well & started gashing us keeping the Defense off balance.
It was an all around asswhoopin’ in the 2nd half. They pulled away & showed the clear cut difference between us as teams, COACHING.
Year 2 & I’m certain we’re going to hear the same excuses we head last year, in fact I would wager we’ll hear those excuses in year 5 & 6 too. The truth of the matter is, we’re not a team that can be Coached above it’s means, we’re flawed on both sides of the ball & have a major issue with leadership coming down from the top. Our best bet is to hope that the Holy Father Saint Cristobal can luck his way into loading up on as much talent as possible, but otherwise, this is who & what we’ll be for the majority of his tenure; average.
A wise man once said, “How you do anything is how you do everything..”, so how are doing things as we finish out this season? Only time will tell, but there’s still some tough games left on the schedule, lets see what Mario can do to keep from having this season completely spiral out of control more than it already has.
Another big matchup on the plate for next week against a team that has absolutely owned us since 2015 & has beaten us 4 times in a row. If we lose that game, the season is over. It’s time for Saint Cristobal to either work a miracle or start up the finger-pointing excuse bus & start throwing players & coaches under it, what’s he gonna do? Is this his team? Can he lead? Or do we have to wait another 6 years before we can expect better?
Go Canes
