By Doc Kennedy
A state-championship-winning coaching friend once told me you can’t get a team up 12 times a season. Sometimes you’re going to have to grind out a win, particularly over an overmatched opponent. It appeared that North Carolina might have been taking FCS N.C. Central lightly in the inaugural meeting between the neighboring schools as the Eagles took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in 12 plays, eating up half of the first quarter for a 7–0 lead. Meanwhile, the offense under Conner Harrell in the opening quarter looked as mismatched and discombobulated as a duck-billed platypus. The Tar Heels finally turned to Jacolby Criswell, who led Carolina on three straight scoring drives and a 17–10 halftime lead. The offense bogged down in the third quarter before finally wearing down the Eagles, scoring three touchdowns in the final quarter frame as UNC emerged with a 45–10 win.
Good
Omarion Hampton
UNC’s All-American candidate continues to do Omarion Hampton things, racking up 210 yards rushing and three touchdowns in just over three quarters of work before giving way to Davion Gause and Charleston French in clean-up duty. UNC racked up 330 yards on the ground for the game.
UNC’s defense after the opening drive
After giving up 75 yards on Central’s first possession, Carolina gave up 92 total yards and three points the rest of the game. It certainly didn’t help the Eagles’ cause that starting QB Walker Harris didn’t play in the second half, or that NCCU had nearly as many penalty yards as total yards in the last 3 ½ quarters. Carolina held an opponent to under 200 total yards for the first time in eight seasons.
Jacolby Criswell
The fifth-year graduate student senior jump-started the anemic Tar Heel offense and ended up with 161 passing yards and a touchdown. Criswell was already known to be a better passer than Harrell, and it showed, as he hit his first five passes, but his receivers had a few drops. It will be interesting to see who starts next week and more importantly, who is the starter against Duke in two weeks.
Bad
UNC’s defense on the opening drive
Central gashed Carolina for a 75-yard drive that took nearly half the first quarter, converting a 3rd-and-11 with a 34-yard completion that was a flashback to last week’s big plays against Charlotte. But NCCU only managed three plays of more than 10 yards the rest of the game, all on the drive to end the half, which ended in a Carolina goal-line stand, and the Eagles had to settle for a field goal.
Ugly
Penalties
Carolina opened the season at Minnesota in a crisp game with only three penalties. Last week against Charlotte, that jumped to eight flags. Did the Tar Heels think eight is enough for one game? Nope, UNC racked up an astounding 16 penalties against Central, including five defensive offsides calls, two roughing the passers, and two ineligible receivers downfield, the last one wiping out a 41-yard completion by Harrell. Most of the 16 penalties were mental and not hustle plays. Coaches will have a lot of work cleaning that up for next week.
For someone who just sees the final score, UNC prevailed by five touchdowns over an FCS opponent. But given that Carolina was up only 17–10 going into the fourth quarter, the final score does not tell the whole story. The Tar Heels still have questions to answer on offense, and the chief among them is who will be the quarterback. Meanwhile, the defense is still inconsistent, not knowing what you’ll see from play to play. It was hoped that this three-game stretch of G5 and FCS opponents would help polish up Carolina on both sides of the ball, but it’s clear the Tar Heels aren’t there yet. But they are 3-0 with plenty of room for growth. Let’s hope the growth is in the right direction.
Doc Kennedy is an alum, longtime UNC fan, and former high school and college basketball coach who wrote this report for years on Tar Heel Blog.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communication
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