UNC Tar Heels Football Team Fall Short Against the Seminoles
by Derrick Clyburn
The Tar Heels football team stunk up the first half. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. They had two punts blocked and a pick-six which gave Florida State a 31-7 lead. That was enough to seal the win for the Seminoles.
The Tar Heels offensive coordinator Phil Longo was a little too conservative with the play calling. North Carolina’s first three series, they ran the ball and couldn’t convert on third downs and had to punt and two of the three punts were blocked which led to touchdowns.
UNC made a valiant comeback in the second half to cut the deficit to three points, but Longo continued to call running plays when the passing game is what got the Tar Heels back in the game.
UNC Game Stats
UNC Total Offense – 558 yards
Rushing 184 Passing 374
UNC Passing: Sam Howell 20-36-374yds 3 TD’s 1 INT
UNC Rushing: Javonte Williams 20-119yds 1TD, Michael Carter 17-65yds
UNC Receiving: Beau Corrales 4-141yds 1TD, Dyami Brown 4-56yds 1 TD, Javonte Williams 3-67yds 1TD
FSU Total Offense- 432 yards
FSU Passing: Jordan Travis 8-19-191yds 1TD
FSU Rushing: La’Damian Webb 12-109yds, Jordan Travis 16-107yds 2TD’s
FSU Receiving: Ontaria Wilson 2-61yds
UNC Bright Spots
Sam Howell threw for 374 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Javonte Williams rushed 20 times for 119 yards 1 touchdown and had 67 yards receiving and 1 touchdown.
Beau Corrales had 4 catches for 141 yards and 1 touchdown.
Dyami Brown had 4 catches for 86 yards and 1 touchdown.
Needs Work
The defense has to do a better job of tackling in space. They had at least twelve missed tackles that led to big plays or scores. They also need to get more pressure up front on the defensive line to cause pressures and hurries or just disrupt more plays.
Special Teams needs to continue to improve and cut down on mistakes. They had two punts blocked and missed a 43-yard field goal.
Final Observations
The game plan by the offensive coordinator was horrible. Longo decided to run the ball heavily against Florida St. in the first half because they struggled against all of their previous opponents this season. The offense was stagnant and had to punt and two were blocked. That put the Tar Heels in a bad spot and gave the Seminoles great momentum. North Carolina seemed to panic on both sides of the ball and they were down by 24 points at the half.
UNC almost made the miracle comeback but we need to play almost flawless ball. They fell short. I do like that they didn’t quit, but they need to learn how to handle being ranked in the top 5. They are now the hunted. North Carolina has to play everyone like it’s a championship game.