UNC: 14 penalties for 121 yards. I could really stop right there and the analysis of this game would be pretty much done.
You know what happened? The same thing that always happens when you play Virginia Tech. Ugly happened. This has been the hallmark of Virginia Tech under Frank Beamer and that is somehow getting the opposing team to play downright ugly football. So screw the fact the Hokies have a horrid offense, when you get the other team to repeatedly impale themselves with penalties and turnovers, a proficient offense is not needed. The best way to describe Frank Beamer is the same way Iceman in Top Gun was described by Goose:
Wears you down. You get bored, do something stupid, and he’s got you
Call Frank Beamer the Iceman because that is exactly what happened to UNC today. Playing Virginia Tech means you have to be able to hold your own while maintaining an incredibly wide margin of error. The Heels went up 17-3 and along the way still made some pretty crucial mistakes. Despite missing a FG and having a couple of penalties at the wrong time, UNC had a two touchdown lead. And given the atrocious nature of the Hokie offense, it was pretty clear that the VT points ceiling was 15-20 points. So all UNC had to do was play good defense and maybe post a few more points to take care of business. Neither happened.
The defense lost much of the discipline they had played with most of the game, committed a number of penalties to keep a VT touchdown drive moving despite stopping them twice on 3rd down and eventually wore down to the point the Hokies started popping off ten yard runs at will. However, even all of that was factored into playing Virginia Tech and still UNC was in position to still win the game, that is until TJ Yates got hurt. Now, losing Yates was not the sole reason the Heels could not close the deal but it seriously reduced the margin of error UNC was working in. In fact it was wiped out completely since it changed the dynamics of the UNC offense and not in a good way. Mike Paulus did the best he could but even when he managed to get the Heels down to the 24 with a chance to at least tie, he blew it by trying to do too much resulting in an interception. I question whether John Shoop should have called a few more short pass plays just to get Paulus comfortable however, those kind of plays may have been unavailable.
So where do we go from here? In a way this is progress being in position to win a game like this. UNC was generally very good for most of the game, showed a lot of confidence and played at a high level on defense. It turned out to be a bit short of what they needed to overcome the general ugliness that beleagures a team that lines up opposite the Hokies. UNC is still coming together as a football program and while the media was touting that UNC would make a major leap forward, it seems it will be a smaller step instead. This is not a problem in my mind after all, progress is still progress no matter how you slice it.
Exit Question
I never blame the officials for a loss and Virginia Tech has been very sucessful for many years playing football this way. That being said, are there any conclusions to be drawn from the fact VT enjoyed a huge penalty advatnage in this game? What is it about the way Virgnia Tech plays that causes the opposing team to get neck deep various penalties while somehow avoiding them on their side?
![[Bloglines]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Technorati]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.tarheelblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
#1) where the hell was the intermediate passing game? As far as wide receivers go, it was either hand off on end around or throw deep. Given our receivers, short or middle routes were not to be found today? Shoop didn’t even have any of those plays in the game plan? Especially given the speed of the VT front four, we didn’t adjust to the short passing game?
#2) run middle x20 for NOTHING, run middle x1 for a touchdown. Run wide receivers on end arounds x5 for positive yards. Hey, maybe run a running back off tackle once or twice????? Is that too much to ask?
#3) We did NOT lose due to penalties……. but 2 times on third down plays where we stopped the VT offense, penalties were called that gave them first downs. Those drives ended up with them scoring 10 points. We lose by 3. Do the math.
#3 p.s.) If there is a penalty on the 3rd quarter pass play, it HAS to be pass interference. Holding CANNOT be called once the ball is in the air. Our guy was not within 10 yards of the Hokie when the ball was thrown. The refs did NOT cost us the game today, as we made plenty of mistakes. But they certainly did not give the home team any advantage, either. Just saying…
Well the penalties cut you off at the knees but at the same time I still think it is the cost of doing business in a game with VT. It was not only those two plays but UNC had a couple of offensive plays canceled out due to holds on the line. The late hit gave VT excellent field position. The penalty on the last VT punt put UNC at the 10 instead of the 30. Just too many to deal with.
I am not sure why we kept trying to run the ball into their line when it produced one big play and that was it. Bounce it outside…please…I am begging you.
The lack of short passes, especially when Paulus was in, was troublesome. Shoop needed to limit his ability to make mistakes and using short passes would have helped. Deep passes are not going to work on VT given their speed.
Thanks for your post, THF. It reminded me of something I missed.
#4) I was reading the football season preview, and they made a point of how our Offensive Line was the most experienced unit on the team. Well, I wish that was something to have in our favor today, but alas… They got their collective butts handed to them today.
Perhaps experience is not the penultimate trait to have on an offensive line? I sure wish we had skill there, instead of experience.
I thought they played decently until the 2nd half when it was apparent they were wearing down. I did not mention the sack that knocked Yates out of the game was another miscue on the Heels part. They were deep in VT territory then took a sack back at the 47 which killed another scoring opportunity.
Carolina had a chance to put their foot on Tech’s throat when the score was 17-3 and they didn’t do it. One stop would have won the game and the Heels were unable to stop VPI from that point on. As much as I hate the Patriots, they would have applied some killer instinct. Carolina seemed to have the better of play most of the afternoon but just couldn’t apply the coup de grace.
One things that bugs me is that last year, quick, short passes to the outside were among our bread and butter plays. We could consistently rely on Yates to take one step back, fire it to Nicks or Tate, and get 5-10 yards.
The offense seems to have abandoned that this year. Maybe it’s time to bring it back into the playbook, especially since it looks like we’re going to have at least 1-2 games with Paulus under center (the minimum time to properly recover from an ankle sprain).
They need to build Paulus’ confidence up and give him a doable offensive game plan. Davis said as much yesterday when he said they needed to look at what Paulus could do and plan accordingly. Of course the Heels gauntlet-like schedule does not make these kinds of changes conducive. Miami-UConn-Notre Dame in succession is not much of a chance to breathe.
To me, every game is still a toss-up. I’d be lying to myself if I thought any of the nine games on our schedule were a surefire win or loss.
I think they are a year away from being anything special.
Darn media hype.
Less than 2 months until something really special?