UNC Tar Heels: Bye Week: Mid-Season Review

Lawrence Jordan: Much like the Tar Heel Football team this year, this mid-season review is going to be very one-sided. Despite the situations with which the UNC offense handicapped the UNC defense, the UNC defense lived up to much of the preseason hype piled on their backs.

The Defense, led by sophomore Robert Quinn, has sacked, hurried, pressured, and tackled their opponents into a 14.17 points per game average while forcing 13 turnovers (around 2 per game). There productivity landed them amongst the top defenses in the NCAA (rank): Pass Defense (3), Tackles for Loss (3), Total Defense (5), Scoring Defense (12), Rush Defense (35).

The Offense, quarterbacked by TJ Yates, has stumbled, dropped, misread, and punted many of the opportunities the defense has handed them. The Offense's lack of productivity resulted in 16 turnovers, numerous possessions without a first down, and some of the lowest offensive scores in the NCAA (rank): Scoring Offense (93), Rush Offense (102), Pass Offense (102), Total Offense (115).

The discrepancy hasn't gone unnoticed by the players:

• "It's frustrating, but, I don't know, as a defense, if we see our offense isn't doing it, we'll put it on our shoulders. If they don't score, they can't win. If we shut a team out, the offense doesn't have to put much up for us." - Robert Quinn

UNC's offensive numbers are skewed by playing two FCS opponents, The Citadel and Georgia Southern, and their numbers against ACC opponents are even uglier. UNC averaged only 164 yards per game and 5 points per game in its two conference match-ups, which was good for a total output of 1 FG and 1 TD in two games.

UNC's offense was so anemic in ACC play it only held possession of the ball for 44 min and 22 seconds (37%) out of 120 total minutes. So...basically the defense is not only producing, but they being forced to do so almost twice as long as the offense.

For the Heels to reach 7-5 (my worst case scenario) the Tar Heel's are going to have to take some pressure off the defensive players by sustaining drives on offense, protecting the ball, and taking advantage of scoring opportunities. Balance is the key.

First Half Observations:

• Robert Quinn has been incredible. His play is forcing teams to game plan for him, which opens up opportunities for the other talented defensive players.
• Erik Highsmith's emergence at WR has been a breath of fresh air in the otherwise murky offensive performances.
• Ryan Houston needs to touch the ball more. He's proven to be much more than a short yardage TD machine. When Draughn can't find the hole, Houston will make one.
• Losing AJ Blue and Jamal Womble to injury/surgery does not bode well for the offense.
• Shoop needs to open up the offense more and use Yates' strength to take more shots down field - short, touch passes are Yates' weakness and it's the majority of the calls. Successful completions will open up the running game.