UNC Football Moments After – UNC vs. Duke 21-20 Loss
UNC Tar Heels Football Team Falters in the 2nd Half and Allows the Devils to Capture the Victory Bell
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina football team looked to get their sixth straight win against Duke on Saturday night. After a horrendous performance last week by the UNC defense giving up 70 points, the Tar Heels needed to bounce back and set the tone on the defensive side of the ball early. Carolina did just that and was very impressive defensively forcing three straight 3 and outs and forced 7 punts total out of 8 defensive possessions in the first half, holding Duke scoreless. The Heels were flying around, stuffing the run, and had several pass breakups, holding Duke under to just 97 yards total in the first half. Duke had no answers for what North Carolina was doing to them defensively, which was a complete turnaround performance for the UNC defensive unit compared to what we saw last week against James Madison.
Meanwhile, the Heels’ offense played fairly well early, scoring 10 points on their first two possessions. Omarion Hampton was the focal point of the Carolina offense in the first half with 20 touches for 113 yards, leading North Carolina to a 17-0 lead over the Blue Devils at halftime. In the second half, the Heels picked up right where they left off forcing Duke’s eighth punt of the game followed up by the Carolina offense marching right down the field in position to score again. However, after a holding penalty, UNC had to settle for a field goal and went up 20-0 with about 8 minutes left in the third quarter.
On the very next possession, Duke found some success offensively and went right down the field for a touchdown to make it a 13-point game. The Tar Heels went three and out and Duke went right down the field again to score another touchdown to cut the Carolina lead to 6. At this point in the game, it felt like the momentum was shifting Duke’s way, but UNC was still in control of the game up 20-14. In the third quarter alone, Duke had more yards offensively than they did in the entire first half. The Blue Devils were in a complete rhythm offensively and there was little North Carolina could do about it. Duke decided to put their imprint on the game with thier rushing attack and the Heels just could not stop it with their poor tackling and lack of gap discipline.
With about 7 minutes left in the game, the Tar Heels were forced into their third straight three and out as their offense fell completely out of rhythm with Duke pressuring and blitzing the Heels almost every play. Carolina’s offensive coaching staff and players had no answers for Duke’s pressure and fell completely apart offensively as a result. Duke capitalized on this and scored 21 unanswered points and took the lead with about 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter. It seemed like North Carolina was lifeless at this point of the game and was facing the reality of another collapse. Their last two offensive possessions ended in a punt and an interception leading to their second loss of the season.
UNC Game Stats
UNC Total Offense- 407 yards
Rushing 251 Passing 156
UNC Passing: Jacolby Criswell 21/39 251 yards 2TDs 1INT
UNC Rushing: Omarion Hampton 29-103 yards
UNC Receiving: JJ Jones 5-89 yards 1TD, Omarion Hampton 4-50 yards, Bryson Nesbit 5-33 yards 1TD
Duke Total Offense- 394 yards
Duke Passing: Maalik Murphy 15-34 209 yards 1TD
Duke Rushing: Star Thomas 30-166 yards 1TD, Peyton Jones 6-43 yards 1TD
Duke Receiving: Jordan Moore 4-80 yards, Star Thomas 2-45 yards 1TD
UNC Bright Spots
Jacolby Criswell threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns.
Omarion Hampton had 29 carries for 103 yards.
JJ Jones had 5 catches for 89 yards and one touchdown.
Bryson Nesbit had 5 catches for 33 yards and one touchdown.
Needs Work
The coaching staff needs to do a better job of making in-game adjustments on both sides of the ball. The Tar Heels had success early but once Duke adjusted, they had no answers or solutions for their adjustments and completely fell apart on both sides of the ball. The coaching staff must put their players in a better position to succeed and have them more prepared to counter whatever the opponents throw at them
Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsay needs to do a better job of finding ways to counter the pressures and blitzes from opposing defenses with his play-calling. Teams start bringing pressure and it completely wrecks the offense.
Defensively, they must do a better job against the run with their tackling, run fits, and gap discipline. Too many teams are imposing their will on the Heels in the run game.
Final Observations
North Carolina falls to 3-2 on the season after another disappointing loss. It was Mack Brown’s first loss to Duke since 1989 and it stops the five-game winning streak against the Blue Devils. The Tar Heels blew this game against Duke after being up 20-0 in midway through the third quarter and it’s unacceptable. Year after year under Mack Brown this team has collapses or bad losses and we sit here and wonder when is someone going to put an end to it. Most of the issues that plague this team start with coaching and the preparation of the players. The lack of adjustments during games by the coaching staff is mind-boggling. It seems like when opponents throw something different at the Heels from what they were showing earlier in the game, the team doesn’t know how to adjust to it or is ill-prepared.
They crumble when any adversity is thrown at them, and it just shows the type of culture and standard the coaching staff has allowed in this program. Their issues and errors on the field are self-inflicting. They are not doing the simple things including tackling, being in the right gaps, penalties, the offensive line not communicating to each other who they are blocking, and not giving their all on every play. This all starts with coaching and changes must be made. The Tar Heels must look themselves in the mirror and figure out what type of team and program they want to be moving forward. They may just need to clean house and start fresh, but for them to salvage this season, they must break those old habits of crumbling under pressure and not playing up to their potential. Next up is Pittsburgh on Saturday, October 5th at 12 P.M. on ACC Network.