Report Card and Game Balls @UNC

Here's my report card and Game Balls to give out @ Carolina. 

Wow, where do you begin on last night's game? Well, here's my take on it. I felt we were pretty sloppy and out of sync for most of the game and this is a big problem that almost cost us last night. We turned it over 4 more times in this game and was a -2 in turnover margin. We have got to get those ME's fixed. For the most part though, we found a way to win late. We did commit 4 penalties for 30 yards, which is an improvement from last game vs GT when we committed 7 for 54. However, we still have to clean that up some more. 

Offensively, we had 556 yards of total offense. 234 yards rushing and 322 passing. Duke gets knocked out of the game with a concussion in the 1st half, and Phillip also gets hurt in the 1st half as well. According to Al Golden, Duke should be back for next game. Before he was knocked out, he had 8 carries for 83 yards. What a big game out of Dallas. He had 33 carries, 137 yards, 2 TDs (including the GW with :16 left). Big night out of Hurns in the receiving game with 98 yards on 6 catches. Solid games all around from Herbie here having 54 yards on 3 catches. Phillip (before getting hurt) and Clive had some good games as well with 68 and 57 yards receiving respectively.  Poor decision making from Stephen with the 4 picks, but fortunately, they only converted a FG. On the last drive, he stepped up and was a leader with three big completions that led to Dallas' GW TD. However, that said, we still need to be better and clean up those silly mistakes. Of the 4 penalties last night, 2 were on the offense and both of those penalties were false starts. The OL did allow another sack in this game. Bottom line, we need to get the ME's fixed now before we go up to Tallahassee in two weeks. Overall, very sloppy performance but found a way to win late and that's what teams of destiny do, but we can still be better. Grade: C-

Defensively, we forced 2 more turnovers in this game, both being picks.  Although we allowed 500 yards of total offense last night, just 105 of those yards were rushing, we didn't allow a 100 yard rushing game from an individual standpoint. In the 1st half, we allowed 57 yards rushing, but 234 passing and Renner had his way with our defense most of the night. In the 2nd half, we allowed 48 yards rushing, but 161 yards passing. The rush defense did a good job, however, the tackling was awful at times. and the pass defense was sloppy in the 1st half, but in the 2nd half, we sacked Renner 3 times. Still, we need to have a complete game from the Defense. They stepped up when they had to in the 2nd half, allowing just 2 FGs. We held the Tar Heels to 5-15 on 3rd down conversions, and forced 7 three and outs, including twice in the 4th quarter. Of the 4 penalties we had in this game, 2 penalties were on the D (The PI call on Tracy, and offsides call on Curtis). We did allow an X-Play in the 2nd quarter on the TD. The D came up big again when it had to, but still, there were some ME's here as well that need to get fixed before the trip to Tallahassee in two weeks. Grade: C

Special Teams wise, this unit came up huge with the Blocked FG and LaDarius returning it for a TD. Matty did miss a long FG from 43, but overall, good game from him. Another solid return game with 103 yards of total return, all on KR's. OK game from Patty overall. The Punting game was very solid with one of his punts being inside the 20. However, on Kickoffs, he did have one go out of bounds, which gave up some field position there. We did not have a penalty called on our ST units last night. We need for that part to be consistent. The Return Defense was much better last night for the most part, though missing tackles was an issue here. Carolina had 71 yards of returns (68 on KR's, but just 3 on one PR). We started drives on Average from our own 25 and UNC started drives from their own 29. There are some areas that still need some fixing and they are very fixable here, specifically tackling. Those ME's are easily fixable and need to be fixed now before we go up to Tallahassee in two weeks. Overall, very good, but there is some room for improvement, and I felt we did that last night. Grade: C

Now, to Game Balls. This week, I'm going to give out three game balls. 

1. Dallas Crawford - 33 carries, 137 yards, 2 TDs (including GW with :16 left)
2. Tracy Howard - 2 INTs
3. Allen Hurns - 6 receptions, 98 yards. Some big catches on the final drive. 

Overall, I felt we were sloppy, however, we kept grinding and found a way to win late. That being said, there were still some ME's (Mental Errors), that still need to be fixed, namely the penalties and ball security, which are still issues that have to be fixed. The penalties went down last night, there are still a little bit too many of those penalties for my liking. I'm glad we had a game like this, because it shows that if you go through the motions against a good team like FSU, you'll get beat and beat badly. Bottom line, we gotta clean up the mistakes before the trip to Tallahassee in two weeks. We have one more game to clean up the ME's and that's next Saturday vs Wake Forest at Noon on ESPNU. 6-0 is a good feeling right now, but we could still get better and cut the ME's out. Take care and GO CANES! 

Part 2 of 12 part CANE 2012 opponent series

In Part 2 of the 12 part 2012 CANE opponent series, we're going to preview a team that's a darkhorse to maybe win the whole thing and that's the Kansas State Wildcats. 

In 2011, the Wildcats went 10-3, and finished #16 in the Coaches Poll, #15 in the AP, and #8 in the final BCS standings. 

When we look at the 2012 version, we'll first start on Offense. Collin Klein (6'5" 226) returns at QB for his senior season. He led them in both rushing and passing yards last year. He threw for 1,900 yards last season while completing 57% of his passes, and throwing for 13 TDs, which is pretty impressive when you consider that he's also one of the top rushing QBs in the country rushing for 1,141 yards and 27 TDs.


Kansas State isn't just Klein in the running game, they also have very good backs returning from 2011 in Junior John Hubert (5'7" 191) and Senior Angelo Pease (5'11" 215). Hubert was 2nd on their team only to Klein in yards gained on the ground last season with 970 yards, although the majority of the scores went to Klein as Hubert eclipsed the goal line just three times.


We know that they are going to run the ball first and foremost. However, they will go to the air from time to time and when they do, they'll have two returning starters at WR. They're top target in the air this season might be Senior TE Travis Tannahill (6'3" 253), who is one of the better TE's in the Big 12 this season, and can block with the best of them, as well as be a very good pass catcher.


If there's a weakness in their offense, it's going to be on their O-Line. They only return two starters from their '11 team and they don't have much experience. You might want to watch RS Freshmen Cody Whitehair (6'3" 300) and Boston Stiverson (6'4" 306). They are both young and talented and you'll see them on the field a lot for them in '12. 


Now, we'll talk about the Defense.  Their D-Line returns both starters at DE from 2011 in Seniors Adam Davis (6' 259) and Hendricks Award candidate Meshak Williams (6'3" 245). They are very good, especially Williams, but will need to step up their game if they're going to get pressure on the QB in 2012 and have the rest of the back seven's job much simpler. 
 
They do have their top tackler from a season ago back in Senior LB Arthur Brown (6'1" 228), a former CANE, who is one of the top LB prospects in the country this season. He's on the watch lists for the Camp, Nagurski, Butkus, and Bednarik . In 2011, he had 101 tackles,  (7.5 tackles for loss) and two sacks. However, Brown is not a one man show at LB. they are going to have to count their other LBs Junior Tre Walker (6'3" 225) and Senior Justin Tuggle (6'3" 223) to step up in 2012 and make plays when teams are doubling and tripling Brown. 


Their pass defense was pitiful in '11 as they were ranked 107^th in pass defense. A big reason why is there were little to no pass rush was because of the fact that the pass rush they did have was very inconsistent, however, you can make the case that their secondary takes some of the blame also. They do have Senior Nigel Malone (5'10" 185) back at CB, and he's going to be asked to shut down the opposition best receiver a lot in '12. He's going to need help doing so. they don't have the depth or the talent to get it done by themselves without a consistent pass rush.


Time for my prediction for Kansas State in 2012. They will be very good and I think a darkhorse to reach the BCS championship game. They will be very good again this season, but they are not going to surprise anyone like they did in 2011. They will be very good again rushing and they will be a little better in the passing game. However, their Achilles heel will be their defense, and I believe we're going to see a lot of high scoring games with K-State from time to time and when you have a run dominant offense and not much of a passing game, its going to be tough to be a BCS title team.
 
They host Miami early, then start Big 12 play on the road in Norman vs Oklahoma, and their other Big 12 road test is in Morgantown vs newcomer West Virginia. They do get Oklahoma State and Texas at home, with the latter being in the season finale on December 1st. Looking at their schedule, I can see 8-9 wins for them this season. I am predicting a 8-4 season for the Wildcats in 2012.


In part 3, I'll talk about a very good team in the FCS in the state of Florida, and that's the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.