Coach Johnson won this game

[DWTR&B]

Yes, the players made the plays and there were many gutsy efforts today. But we don't win this game if we don't hold on to the ball for 40 minutes. CPJ made adjustments that allowed us to grind it out and keep their fast paced offense on the sidelines. It was masterful to see how we were getting stopped early and then things began to loosen up enough so we could get the W. CPJ earned his money today. He plays chess while they were playing checkers.

 

[John]

I think the TOP stat just jumps out at you. As CPJ said before, doesn't matter if your offense runs a hurry up offense if you can't convert the 3rd/4th downs. UNC was 4 for 10 on 3rd/4th down conversions while GT was 10 for 17.

A lot of our guys made plays/blocks when we really needed it to get those conversions too.

 

[DWTR&B]

UNC staters the game 3 for 3 I think on 3rd down. It is huge that we improved so much in that area.

 

[poodleface]

The clock management at the end of the first half was perfect.

If we lost the game, it wouldn't have been because of the game plan. There were a lot of places where players were in the position to make a play but couldn't get there (and some of those UNC receptions were just amazing catches and throws). I loved seeing the team pull themselves out of that hole.

 

[IronJacket7]

Imo CTR was the difference. UNC was scoreless in the 2nd half.

 

[DWTR&B]

They were scoreless because the offense held on to the ball so long and gave UNC fewer chances to score. And when they did, our D stepped up big time.

 

[AE 87]

They were scoreless because the offense held on to the ball so long and gave UNC fewer chances to score. And when they did, our D stepped up big time.

It was a one score game. We reportedly gave up only 58 yds and had 2 3 and outs. D stepped up big without our 3 best safeties,

 

[IronJacket7]

They were scoreless because the offense held on to the ball so long and gave UNC fewer chances to score. And when they did, our D stepped up big time.

First drive of the 2nd half was a 3 and out for us. Look I love CPJ as much as you do. Maybe more. But its just a matter of opinion. The offense is what it is. It is a ball control offense by nature. But imo the offense looked rough on several drives today. We will need to be much more polished all around when facing better teams than UNC.

 

[Eric]

It was a team win...Great job by CPJ and CTR.

 

[forensicbuzz]

First drive of the 2nd half was a 3 and out for us. Look I love CPJ as much as you do. Maybe more. But its just a matter of opinion. The offense is what it is. It is a ball control offense by nature. But imo the offense looked rough on several drives today. We will need to be much more polished all around when facing better teams than UNC.

We have a RS Sophomore QB who was starting his third game. The first two were Elon and Duke. UNC's a decent team (we'll see if they're actually good as the year progresses). Vad made mistakes that were serious (3 fumbles, 1 lost) and a ton of bad reads, but did enough to get us in the end zone four times, and maintained possession for 40 minutes yesterday.

We have a defense that was built around a totally different scheme and philosophy until about half way through last year. We've been through one Spring and one Fall camp relearning how to play football instead of whatever it was Groh was trying to do. We are light years ahead of where we were this time last year defensively. We still have holes and we still are making a ton of mistakes. But we also made a ton of plays yesterday and they are flying to the ball. I don't think this defense would allow the two collapses we saw against Miami and VPI last year.

The next two games will tell us whether we're for real or not. I think Vad will get better with each game we play, which is perfect because I think we are going to see progressively better defenses through Miami for sure and maybe through BYU.

 

[AE 87]

VPI's D will be the best D we face imo. This could be 6-3 game CPJ talks about

 

[IronJacket7]

It was a team win...Great job by CPJ and CTR.

+1

 

[heeled soul]

as i mentioned elsewhere, i admire PJ's ability to adapt. he definitely came up huge in the second half, and contributed to the win on game day. but as a heel fan, i also feel like LF was not exactly outcoached. easy for me to play monday morning QB but with if we made the routine two point conversion (open guy, bad throw) and if there was no hold on the 82-yarder, then UNC would be up 1 even with the same ToP. Granted, GT would've played the game differently but that would only make the ToP less favorable to GT.

and re: comment about vad's fumbles... i seem to remember that there were a lot of fumbles during the first PJ years with nesbitt and then again when tevin took over. similar to how unfavorable ToP is built in to UNC's O, i think high number of fumbles is built in to breaking a new full time QB in PJ's offense.

back to PJ... if football were entirely a thinking man's game, he'd be an elite. in the acc, there is no team that i dread more for UNC to play purely due to the opposing coach.

 

[AE 87]

If there was no holding on that play, 45 would have sacked Renner, forcing a fumble returned for a TD. We win by more,

 

[heeled soul]

If there was no holding on that play, 45 would have sacked Renner, forcing a fumble returned for a TD. We win by more,

you may be right. well, what's done is done.
the other thing i forgot to mention was that UNC had a case of missed tackles again in the second half. probably due to defenders getting tired. but at least our coaches put them in the right spots to have a chance of making plays. at the very least, this game has made me look forward to next year's game vs. GT at kenan. another year in the system for both the O and the D, and with a legit dual threat QB (marquise or trubisky), it should be another good one.

 

[IronJacket7]

I said earlier in the week. The hurry up offense would benefit GT in TOP. And thus would wear down UNC's defense by the 4th quarter.

 

[DTGT]

If there was no holding on that play, 45 would have sacked Renner, forcing a fumble returned for a TD. We win by more,

The O-Line hold on that play stopped Renner from being reduced to a grease spot on the field. He was gonna get ESPN-highlight hammered.

 

[GTJason]

Heeled, the ball certainly bounced our way a bunch, sometimes literally. I think UNC came out with the knockout punch early and we bounced back. UNC was clearly the better team in the 1st quarter, 2nd quarter it was about even and the whole 2nd half GT controlled the game. There were a few calls that, had they gone your way instead of ours, would have changed the game. I think the holding call was legit, but how many times does holding go unnoticed? Sims' first TD could have easily stood as a fumble had it been called that way (the way he carries the ball is going to lose us a game if he keeps it up.) Also most of our fumbles seemed to bounce to someone in a white jersey. On the flip side there is a UNC defender who owes Corey Dennis a nice night out on the town after how he handled him on the last play of our first drive - there was a whole lot of nothing out in front of Dennis if he caught that ball in stride iirc. Such is college football

 

[heeled soul]

The O-Line hold on that play stopped Renner from being reduced to a grease spot on the field. He was gonna get ESPN-highlight hammered.

to be clear, i didn't mean that it was a dubious call. all i was saying is that if heck was able to take care of his assignment, the play would've been a difference maker. i don't disagree that attaochu's outstanding play forced heck to hold there... attaochu even thought it was the biggest play of the game. instead of it being a difference maker for UNC, it ended up being a back breaker of morale.

 

[Goldisbest]

Sims' first TD could have easily stood as a fumble had it been called that way (the way he carries the ball is going to lose us a game if he keeps it up.)
CPJ was not happy with his ball security after Elon game.