Time to get ready for UNC

[Wrecker]

Disappointing loss yesterday, but time to move ahead. In pre-season, think most had Duke and UNC chalked up as wins, duh U and the chokies as losses or toss ups. The season for us is definitely not over and the next 2 weeks are going to make or break us in the Coastal standings, both road games. We played a very sound and methodical game to beat duh U and we are going to have to do the same to beat UNC at Chapel Hill. They are getting better, like last year, heading later into the season. Look at the box score against ND from yesterday. They took the lead only once in the game during the 3rd quarter but hung tough in South Bend. Their defense doesn't look impressive so far and they definitely rely on their offensive scheme to win. Think the Miami game plan will work against them and I hope we don't get into a high scoring shoot out there as we did in 2012.
Feel good about our chances. We will fall out of the rankings, get back under the radar, work on the fundamentals that got us ranked (few turnovers and limited penalties) and have a better than even chance of winning this next game. Slow it down, limit UNC possessions, play opportunistic defense and score against a poor defense when we have the chance. Go get 'em Jackets!!!

 

[Eric]

Gonna be a big challenge for our defense.

Offense will have to score a lot to win.

 

[SwarmArmy]

Seems like the theme for this season is 'snapping losing streaks'. We ended losing streaks vs VT and Miami. Duke ended a losing streak against us. UNC has a losing streak against us that they desperately want to end. Hope this game will be an exception, but as the OP says, they are getting better and we need to play a clean game for us to get out of Chapel Hill with a W.

 

[SwarmArmy]

Duke had an extra week to prepare for us, and I'm sure that helped. Tulane had 2 extra days to prepare for our game. The only other teams with more prep. time for us are Pitt and Clemson. Both play Thursday night before our game. This might be crucial in the outcome of those games... We have a week off before we play the mutts. Go Jackets!

 

[jeffgt14]

We're just going to have to put up points. I think UNC will commit some turnovers so as long as we don't we'll be alright.

 

[OldJacketFan]

How does NC bounce back from a hugely emotional and draining game against ND? They laid everything on the line yesterday and came away with another L. Tech will obviously need to play a clean, sharp game and if they do I, for one, like Tech's chances. These young men now know what it takes to get the W, the coaches will reinforce on the file and the film room. How the players respond will tell us a lot on where the season's last half will go.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I look at Coastal as a double elimination year long tournament. Lose two Coastal games and you are out (most likely and may be out with only one loss like Clemson in Atlantic).

We now have no room for another loss against any Coastal Teams since Miami, VT and UVa may only end up with one Coastal loss.

I watched a good bit of the UNC / ND game and UNC is very talented. They have lost to Clemson (duh) and VT so they are beatable. But to have played as well as they did @ND has to give them a lot of confidence. But last year they turned it on in the second half and went 6 for 7 including the bowl win. I think a large part of that is UNC talent and depth that can absorb injuries. Their back is against the wall; 7 PM game at home and the fans will be stoked.

Last year in the fourth week, we got down two scores to UNC, the heavens opened up and we answered with a score and kept the game to a one score event till the second half. In the second half, we scored twice and shut out UNC in awful conditions which greatly favored a run game. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/playbyplay?gameId=332640059&period=0

We have to win the turnover battle against UNC and hope that a bunch of our injured players can come back @100%, Smelter, Golden, JT, Chamberlain, etc. There's a lot of parity Coastal and it'll be a fun game to watch.

 

[gtg936g]

I think Miami and UNC are out of the coastal race. Miami already has 2 losses and has to play FSU. We need to win out and get a little help with a Duke loss to give them 2 losses. It all starts next week. I think we can score, but we will need to limit there possessions like we did Miami.

 

[swampsting]

Gonna be a big challenge for our defense.

Offense will have to score a lot to win.

Soak. Rinse. Repeat.
Isn't it like that every week, though?

 

[Eric]

Soak. Rinse. Repeat.
Isn't it like that every week, though?

Every week is a challenge, but this is a bigger one IMO.

UNC is putting up 37.2 a game on offense.

 

[Ash]

As with Duke, UNC is one team I feel is due for a win against us. I didn't think Duke would be this year, and I hope UNC isn't either.

Doesn't UNC run a lot of zone read too? We have no answer for it.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

We will play that zone read better vs unc. Guaranteed.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

How stout is UNC's interior OL? The reason I ask is if they're stout, all they have to do is run the ball inside all day and all night and we can't do anything about it.

 

[Boomergump]

Our defense was far from shutting down DUKE, but we have to remember that we actually got plenty enough stops to win the game. In the first half we got them stopped only to extend their drives and drastically shorten their field for them with penalties. In the second half we kept handing them the ball back. Our defense is far from a team strength, but it is capable of doing enough to win games, even against good opponents. We don't have a large roster of guys who can dominate the action and repeatedly make up for TOs and poor field position. We have to play clean and cherish every stop. We simply cannot keep handing the ball back so casually.

 

[Yaller Jacket]

As is the case with a lot of us, I await Boomer's close analysis of the defense from Saturday. To my untrained eye, at times it looked like we were manhandled in the interior then couldn't tackle the dang ball carrier until he dragged us another couple of yards. Adam Gotsis was quoted somewhere as saying the zone read was faking them into taking the wrong gap, or something close to that. I don't know if either makes it any better, but it is a little less unsettling to think that they were faked as opposed to just not being big and strong enough to do the job.

 

[Ash]

I think we are really going to see what this team is made of this weekend. How do they respond to a loss like that? Do they go into a hostile environment and lay down or do they pick up and fight? There has been a lot of talk about team chemistry, I think we are going to know if it is for real after Saturday.

 

[AE 87]

Our defense was far from shutting down DUKE, but we have to remember that we actually got plenty enough stops to win the game. In the first half we got them stopped only to extend their drives and drastically shorten their field for them with penalties. In the second half we kept handing them the ball back. Our defense is far from a team strength, but it is capable of doing enough to win games, even against good opponents. We don't have a large roster of guys who can dominate the action and repeatedly make up for TOs and poor field position. We have to play clean and cherish every stop. We simply cannot keep handing the ball back so casually.

FWIW, I disagree that we got "plenty enough stops to win the game." While an offsides on a punt is unforgivable, it's not a get into the endzone free card. The only real opponent they faced before us was Miami, and they were held to ~.6 points/drive. They scored ~3.7 points/drive against us.

Our offense is very good and if it played without some bad mistakes, it would have scored more than Duke. So to that extent, what you say is true. However, imo, it's unrealistic to think that our O is going to be mistake free and score over 3.5 points/drive every week, especially against good defenses. Our Defense has to get better and is not yet performing to potential imo.

I fear that we're going to get whooped pretty good this week.