By Doc Kennedy
Remember the good vibes and steady improvement of the past four games, with Carolina actually finding victory the past two weeks and keeping bowl hopes alive?
To paraphrase Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects, “And like that, it was gone.”
Even though Halloween was two weeks prior, many of UNC’s old demons showed back up against the Deacons. They turned Allegacy Stadium into a house of horrors, resulting in a 28–12 loss to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. Missed tackles, poor decisions, bad breaks, back-breaking mistakes and offensive ineptitude were among the ghosts that haunted the Tar Heels on Saturday.
Ironically, Wake and Carolina entered the game in similar situations, having some offensive challenges while showing solid play on both sides of the ball. And in fairness to the UNC defense, the Deacons really only had two sustained scoring drives during the game, only entering the red zone twice (one of which was aided by a highly questionable spot on fourth down that negated a UNC stop on downs) but finding the end zone each time. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, marked just two field goals on four trips to the red zone and never got closer to the goal line than the Wake 16.
This game marked the first time since the infamous Hurricane Matthew game against Virginia Tech in 2016 that UNC did not score a touchdown, a span that includes some pretty awful offenses at the end of the Larry Fedora era.
And that’s the difference between a team like the Deacons, who have now posted seven wins in Coach Jake Dickert’s first year, and the Tar Heels, in Bill Belichick’s first campaign. Wake found a way to make winning plays, whether it was a 50-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown or a flea-flicker touchdown. UNC, on the other hand, continued to find ways to not make the plays that counted.
So with that in mind, here is the Wake Forest edition of the Good, Bad, and Ugly Report:
Good
Rece Verhoff
Yes, the Marshall transfer had two kicks uncharacteristically blocked, but he was the entire Carolina offense with four field goals, and set a school record at the end of the first half with a 57-yard kick.
Jake Johnson
At least one Johnson is getting some playing time, as Max’s brother had a team-leading five catches for 54 yards. Targets for tight ends have been conspicuously missing this season, which is curious given that the offense is gearing more toward shorter throws to match Gio Lopez’s limited ability to go down the field. Hopefully, this is a sign that the tight ends will be more involved in the last two games.
Bad
Defensive front
For the most part, Wake bullied the UNC defense up front all night. The Heels managed just two sacks: one was for a big stop, but the other was on a scramble that was stopped half a yard short of the line of scrimmage and only technically met the definition of a sack. Deacon QB Robby Ashford usually worked without pressure and avoided trouble in the backfield through missed tackles, while the Tar Heels recorded no other tackles for losses beyond the sacks. Wake pounded the ball on the ground, and Ashford managed the game. Big step backwards for a unit that had really shown improvement.
Second-half timeouts
here were two head-scratching timeout calls in the second half, both of which potentially cost the Tar Heels points. With the clock winding down in the third quarter, Bill Belichick called a timeout with UNC trailing 21–9 and facing fourth down. Belichick later said it was to take advantage of the wind on a breezy night, but Verhoff’s kick was blocked. Verhoff made (and had kicks blocked) in both directions, so that decision was somewhat puzzling. Then, with 27 seconds left in the game and the Deacons having a fourth-and-goal and not needing to run another play, Belichick inexplicably called a timeout. Wake came out and understandably punched the ball in. Belichick later explained that the thought was to keep competing and you would never know what would happen. Just a bizarre sequence in both instances.
Ugly
Rushing offense
After being a foundational part of the Carolina offense earlier this season, the running game was essentially non-existent for the second straight contest. Wake manhandled the Tar Heels up front and UNC obliged by not really trying to establish the run in any meaningful way. Demon June and Benjamin Hall only had 17 attempts combined for just 53 yards. And despite recruiting and continuing to start Lopez as a dual-threat QB, there was just one designed run called for him.
Explosive plays
A major concern for an anemic offense is the lack of explosive plays (passes of over 20 yards or runs of over 10 yards), and once again, the UNC offense was plagued by a deficit here. Carolina had only two of these the entire game, and they came on back-to-back plays in the third quarter. By contrast, Wake, not an offensive juggernaut by any means, had eight. UNC only had nine total plays over 10 yards. That’s a tough grind.
In the preseason, before anyone knew what the Tar Heels would look like with 70 new players and an unproven college coaching staff, someone close to the program said being bowl-eligible would be a good result this season. It turns out that the assessment was on target. UNC’s bowl hopes are on life support, with games against suddenly slumping Duke and old rival N.C. State remaining. Neither the Heels, Devils, nor Pack acquitted themselves well on Saturday, so anything could likely happen. But it’s hard to call what happened at Wake anything other than a significant setback, and unfortunately, that’s where the Carolina program is in mid-November.
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 via @UNCFootball
tarheeltribune.com 