By Doc Kennedy
Carolina welcomed an FCS team to Chapel Hill on Saturday afternoon and generally did what decent FBS teams are expected to do to FCS teams, hammering Richmond in a dominating 41–6 victory.
Offensively, the Tar Heels were able to put some points on the board, putting up a season-high 41, which is more than Carolina scored in their first two games combined. UNC took advantage of a number of Spider miscues and some short field opportunities to build a comfortable lead. On defense, the Tar Heels continued to improve, holding the Spiders to 199 yards, 68 of which came on Richmond’s final garbage time against UNC’s reserves.
There’s probably not too much to be read into a game like this other than Carolina won comfortably on a lovely day in Kenan Stadium. So with that in mind, here is the Spider-riffic version of the Good, Bad and Ugly Report:
Good
Demon June
Like Sammy Hagar growing into the role taking over for David Lee Roth as the lead singer of Van Halen, the true freshman is growing into the role taking over for Omarion Hampton as lead back. June ran 14 times for 148 yards and a touchdown despite offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens pretty much not giving him the ball for a quarter and a half.
Team defense
Until their final drive, the Carolina defense had held the offensively-challenged Spiders to 131 yards and three points through 3½ quarters. The Heels forced three Richmond turnovers and held consecutive opponents without a touchdown for the first time since 2012. With Bill Belichick as head coach, it was expected UNC would have a defensive mentality and the Tar Heels have exerted their defensive will in wins versus two overmatched opponents.
- Check out a photo gallery from the game.
- Big day from defense, June help UNC thump Richmond|
- ‘Juju’ June goes from bottom of depth chart to breakout star
Bad
Passing offense
Gio Lopez again struggled through the air, going only 10 of 18 for 119 yards, though he did throw for two scores. His timing seems to remain off and his receivers helped him out on a number of the 10 passes he did complete. More of his dual-threat capability was on display as he rushed 11 times for 40 yards, but he’s going to need to be a more consistent passing threat against more difficult competition.
Penalties
The good news is, Carolina only had four penalties, but for a stiff 50 yards. The bad news is, a roughing the passer call kept a drive alive, and a pass interference call wiped out an interception.
Ugly
Red-zone offense
While Carolina went 4 for 4 in the red zone, only two of those were touchdowns, and the two field goals were in goal-to-go situations. If you can’t score a touchdown on goal-to-go against Richmond, twice, that’s not great.
And with that, the first quarter of the regular season is complete. It certainly would have been reasonable to think 2–1 is exactly where the Tar Heels would be at this point.
On the sunny side of the street, Carolina is certainly better than where they were in the opener against TCU. The team is developing a defensive identity and June has emerged as a capable running back.
On the cloudy side, the team is still wildly inconsistent on offense and is still subject to defensive lapses. Next week will be a good test as UNC heads to Orlando to take on UCF, coming off an open week with more time to prepare for the Heels.
If Carolina can steal a win against the Knights, they get an open date to heal and make adjustments before a suddenly reeling Clemson team comes to town. We still don’t know exactly what to make of UNC quite yet but next week will help bring some things into focus.
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 by Joshua Lawton
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