North Carolina Preview

National Ranks in parenthesis

Total Offense vs Total Defense
CANES 441.3 ypg (40th) vs UNC 312.3 ypg allowed (20th)
UNC 486.7 ypg (23rd) vs CANES 510 ypg allowed (118th)

Scoring Offense vs Scoring Defense
CANES 30.2 ppg (T-54th {WMU}) vs UNC 17.8 ppg allowed (26th)
UNC 44 ppg (9th) vs CANES 34.7 ppg allowed (101st)

Rushing Offense vs Rushing Defense
CANES 134.2 ypg (89th) vs UNC 86.3 ypg allowed (11th)
UNC 200.3 ypg (32nd) vs CANES 250.7 ypg allowed (116th)

Passing Offense vs Passing Defense
CANES 307.2 ypg (15th) vs UNC 226 ypg allowed (62nd)
UNC 286.3 ypg (31st) vs CANES 259.3 ypg allowed (91st)

Pass Efficiency vs Pass Efficiency Defense 
CANES 132.7 (64th) vs UNC 113.16 (30th)
UNC 153.4 (22nd) vs CANES 146.79 (102nd)

TFLs Allowed vs TFLs
CANES 4.17 (T-18th {Ohio}) vs UNC 8.3 (T-6th {BYU, LSU})
UNC 6.17 (T-79th {VT, UK, UConn}) vs CANES 5.2 (T-82nd {Minnesota})

Sacks Allowed vs Sacks
CANES 1.17 pg (T-26th {USF, Arkansas St.}) vs UNC 2.5 pg (T-32nd {Arkansas, Missouri, Duke, Toledo, Cal, Temple, Oregon St.})
UNC .67 pg (T-11th {Ohio, Duke, Tulsa}) vs CANES 1.17 pg (T-102nd {Clemson})

3rd Down O vs 3rd Down D
CANES 45.1% (41st) vs UNC 34.78% (35th)
UNC 45.98% (36th) vs CANES 45% (T-94th {Idaho})

Time of Possession
CANES 24:54 pg (116th)
UNC 27:06 pg (107th)

Turnover Margin
CANES +3 (.6 pg) (T-33rd {LSU, Oregon, South Carolina})
UNC +5 (.83 pg) (T-23rd {New Mexico, Ohio St.})

Net Punting
CANES 35.43 avg (88th)
UNC 39.1 avg (31st)

Punt Returns vs Punt Return D
CANES 7 ypg (74th) vs UNC 3.3 ypg allowed (21st)
UNC 13.9 ypg (23rd) vs CANES 16.7 ypg allowed (115th)

Kick Returns vs Kick Return D
CANES 24.7 (29th) vs UNC 20.8 allowed (57th)
UNC 26.3 (18th) vs CANES 14.4 allowed (4th)

A couple of stats jump out at me here. First, their D vs the Run. It is very good. They are as you can see 11th in the nation in that category. Another that jumps out is the TFLs. They are tied for 6th with BYU and LSU in this category. They swarm to the ball carriers very quickly. Their Punt Return D is very good. They only allow 3.3 ypg here. The opportunities when we have them, we need to take advantage to give the O good field position.  Our Run D will be tested tomorrow with trying to stop UNC RB Gio Bernard. He lit VT's vaunted D for over 200 yards last week.

In the end, I believe we'll make just enough plays to win. Gametime tomorrow is at 2:30 on ESPNU.

My prediction: CANES 38 Carolina 31

Report Card for game vs Notre Dame (Chicago)

Well, last night's game, on the first possession, we had two golden opportunities to really set the tone in this game, but didn't take advantage at that point and you could tell from there that the air just went out of us from that point on. Another chance we had late in the half to cut the ND lead to 7 was missed when Jake missed a FG that didn't have a chance from the start. In the 2nd half, when we needed a stop on the 1st possession by ND, it didn't happen, they scored and from that point, they dominated in the 2nd half and we had no answer for them at all. Tip your cap to the Irish, they just kicked our butts in the 2nd half.

Here's the ugly report card for last night's game

Offense: D- : Only 285 yards of total offense and of that, just 84 yards rushing. (Duke 22 yards on 8 carries, MJ 28 yards on 6 carries). The dropsie disease was very much in evidence last night, especially on the first possession, two drops by Phillip that would have been 6 for us. Yes, Morris was 18-35 for 201, but after he was harassed and hurried in this game, really from the 2nd quarter on. Morris was hurried 5 times last night and the O-Line did not adjust to that at all. The O-Line didn't allow a sack which was good, but the ND front 7 really took it to our O-Line in this game. Also, didn't help when Stephen's TD was called back by Jonny's holding penalty on the next possession after the two drops by Phillip on the first one. Jonny killed us with two penalties on that drive. Poor performance last night all around here. You will not win games against Top 10 opponents when you have just 84 yards rushing.

Defense: F : Here are the ugly numbers allowed. Total offense by ND: 587. Of that 587 yards allowed, 376 of those yards were on the ground. We allow two of their rushers to go over 115 yards rushing (Atkinson III 123 on 10 carries 1 TD, and Wood 118 on 18 carries 2 TDs). We even allowed McDaniel to score a late TD. We did try to blitz last night but to little or no avail. Just 1 QB Hurry all night (Bush). The penalties here were just as bad. The personal foul on EJ on the 1st drive kept a ND drive where they ultimately scored. Later, an offside penalty on Corey on ND's first drive of the 2nd half, kept a scoring drive for them alive and they ultimately got 7 there and for all intents, ball game over at 20-3. Complete disaster all around by the D. They allowed ND to get on all their possessions in the 2nd half 4 TDs. On ND's 2nd possession of the 2nd half, they went to the running game and we could not stop it at all and they knew it was coming. Their O-Line just dominated our front 7 last night. We allowed 34 first downs to ND last night. Completely inexcusable.

Special Teams: D- : Gabriel's BS roughing the kicker call on 1st punt by ND, kept their drive alive and they ultimately got 7 from it. Later at 13-3 ND, Tyrone gets called for an illegal block in the back that pushes us back from a field position standpoint. ND started their drives from an average of their own 18 while we started our drives from an average of our own 28. Usually when you win the field position battle, you usually get the win. Last night was certainly not the case at all. Jake misses a key FG that would have cut the ND lead at Half to 7. Botts did have a TB in this game, but three of his punts were inside the 20. Overall, very poor performance by the Special Teams.

In closing, we have to bounce back from this and forget this game. This game is over and the next focus needs to be on Carolina, which had an impressive win over VT yesterday. We're home for the next three games, and it'll be good to get back to Sun Life and hopefully back on the winning track.