Week 3 is in the books and Carolina finally got a much needed win against UVA. The game was a coming out party for the offense. I keep seeing people post about the “surprise emergence of the run game.” Is it really that big of a surprise? If you looked at the per carry yardage numbers for the previous games they weren’t bad, we just weren’t running the ball enough. Chandler had a breakout game with 198 yards. Downs had an incredible catch and went for 203 yards. Khafre Brown is getting mixed into the offense earlier which is nice to see.Our offense line was much improved, and Howell continues to be a huge factor in the run game. We established Howell as a runner on the first play of the game as he went for over 100 yards on the ground. I know there are a lot of mixed emotions on this, but I'm here for it. Look how good our offense is doing with him running the football. A coincidence? I think not. Now you have to respect Sam as a runner and a passer. He is also now a factor in RPO plays as well as run option plays where he can hand the ball off to the back or take it himself. If it keeps working then I say we keep going to it. Hood had a very nice showing. I was pretty critical of him in my previous post, but he looked a lot more like a running back in this game. He was patient, found holes, and made cuts. I don’t know if I would say that he is definitely the 2nd back behind Chandler, but it was great to see solid production from someone other than Howell and Chandler.
Howell is usually good for one bad decision a game and that was the INT he threw in the end zone. He never got his feet set and he kind of just lofted the ball towards Olson. Speaking of which, with all the weapons we have, why is Olson in the game when we are in the red zone. So far this year, his targets haven’t gone well. On the bright side, Howell looks a lot more decisive as a runner. He is recognizing pressure early and getting out of the pocket if he doesn’t see anything. Even if he only picks up a couple of yards this turns possible 2nd and 17 situations in to 2nd and 7 situations. The one time Howell looked slightly indecisive as a runner was when he kind of lazily got out of bounds. This led to helmet to helmet contact with one of the UVA defenders. I still don’t understand why they didn’t review that hit for targeting. I understand that not every helmet to helmet hit is targeting but the UVA defender didn’t even try to form tackle or avoid hitting him in the head. It honestly seemed like a cheap shot. The ref was right there and it was a hit on a QB going out of bounds. That play has to be looked at. Now the crew did a good job of getting the other targeting plays right. The hit on chandler was accidental as he lowered his body to absorb the hit and the defender was already committing to tackling him low. Chandler ducked into it and it was correctly called when it was ruled that it was not targeting. I think the targeting rule is a step in the right direction, but I still think more can be done. If players aren’t punished for hits like the one on Howell then they will continue to happen and that affects both the guy taking the hit and the guy delivering it. To me, there was intent to hit him in the head and there was no attempt to actually tackle him. That needs to be a penalty. Maybe just “hit to the head” becomes a penalty determined by intent, I don’t know. I have had 4 known concussions, maybe more. It's something I am passionate about. I understand its football, but there is still more that can be done to protect players. You only have one brain, and it needs to be healthy considering a lot of these guys won’t make the NFL and the guys that do still have a life after their NFL career.
Jay Bateman has gotten flat out coached in every first half this season. No debate. Now the halftime adjustments have been great, but we can’t really afford to only play one half of football on the defensive side of the ball. Armstrong wasn’t really an effective runner but he had 544 passing yards. This was on 54 attempts just to put those numbers into context. Those yards were the entirety of UVA’s offense. Still not good though. Only allowing 11 points in the second half was a major improvement though. Our linebackers are still struggling in pass coverage. I’m not sure if it's play calling or their lack of ability, but the middle of the field is way too open. Coverage was super soft and Armstrong picked us apart the entire game. Rucker looked good and I hope to see him get more snaps. The defense as a whole has done a better job of creating turnovers this year compared to last. They got a fumble recovery and an INT against UVA. Someone else in the secondary needs to step up to help Grimes out though. He did get beat on a touchdown, but that ball was thrown damn near perfectly. Opposing offenses aren’t going to line their best receiver up against Grimes, so someone else is going to have to step up.
Just a sidebar… the refs haven’t been good as a whole this year. Every single game I have watched I have thought that. It’s not me just thinking the refs are out to get Carolina, they just haven’t been good this year. And shoutout to Hasselbeck for maybe being the ACC network’s only not terrible commentator.
What else did we learn this weekend? ACC football is bad this year. Like really bad. Like we will not have a team in the college football playoff bad. Virginia Tech lost to WVU in a game that was only really close in the final minutes when Viriginia Tech was at WVU’s 4 yard line and failed to score. They would have tied the game with a touchdown and won it with the extra point. Miami lost to Michigan St as it would now appear that Manny Diaz may be on the hot seat. Pitt went from beating Tennessee to losing to Western Michigan. FSU is 0-3 and Clemson barely escaped Georgia Tech (who we play next week). Clemson’s offense has some serious issues to work out and unless they start just absolutely steamrolling teams starting this upcoming Saturday then they are out of the College Football Playoff. Not that Notre Dame football counts as the ACC but they need a late long run from their RB to put Purdue away.
The only thing impressive about Oklahoma’s victory over Nebraska was that INT. Rattler has been solid, but not Heisman worthy. Alabama beat Florida in Gainesville. Alabama jumped out to an 18 point lead but got out of the swamp with a 31-29 victory. This may have been Alabama’s biggest test as Texas A&M’s QB has a broken Tibia. Auburn was tough in their 20-28 loss to Penn St. in Happy Valley. They will be a tough out for both Alabama and Georgia. Fun fact… Oregon is 3-0 with a win against Ohio State. The CFP selection this year may be interesting. It is Alabama, Georgia and then everyone else. In my eyes, Clemson is out. The gap between the ACC and SEC, Big 10 and Big 12 is on full display this year. Those 3 leagues are faster, bigger, and more physical than any team in the ACC.
I appreciate Adam Lucas and some other writers and even UNC players throwing some shade Alonso’s way. Alonso tried to say that UVA was a physically superior team to UNC. Interesting take considering there were a lot of UVA defenders laying on the field on a rather mild night in Chapel Hill. Might wanna keep your mouth shut the rest of the season Alonso. UVAs players seemed to conveniently “get hurt” after we had a big play or when our offense had gotten in a rhythm. Gave me flashbacks to the last time App State came to Chapel Hill. I am not saying some of these injury timeouts weren't legit but the amount was suspicious. At a certain point I think the injury prone team should be forced to use timeouts. Hot take, but college football is better than pro football. College towns are special. Morgantown was a cool experience and singing “Country roads, take me home” with 60k people was an all time experience. I don’t know it’s just something about watching guys that will only be at a program for a short period of time, and the passion that comes along with that. Add in the student aspect and it is just a completely different atmosphere than the NFL. It got me super hype to be back in Chapel Hill for the Miami game.
Shoutout to the Panthers for starting the season 2-0 though. And shoutout to Derrick Henry for finally waking up for my fantasy team.
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