Quick Hitters – UNC vs. Syracuse

Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 31-6 home win over Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.

Author:
Isaac Schade
Sep 12, 2020 11:48 PM EDT

Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 31-6 home win over Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.

Highlights:

Condensed Game:

Well it didn’t look the same, but it’s the same game of football. It was sloppy (particularly in the first half), but it was the same game of football. But hey, we’d all rather have sloppy football and a different football experience than no football at all.

As allowed by the NCAA, the Tar Heels have chosen to wear a patch on their jerseys to support a social justice issue. Tomon Fox designed the patch, which has an image of a raised black fist in the middle with the following inscription around the perimeter: “Peace. Justice. Freedom. Equality. Say Their Names.”

The game was a tale of two halves, nearly mirror opposites of one another. The first half began right where the 2019 season left off: a 10-play, 65- yard drive, capped off by a Sam Howell 11-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Walston. The rest of the half was sloppy all the way around; attributed to normal first game jitters, but perhaps more importantly to a complete overhaul of normal preparation for the football season due to COVID-19. Carolina was fortunate to go into the half with a lead.
If the first half began pretty and got ugly, the second half began ugly and got beautiful. Carolina’s first drive ended with an interception, but then Howell and company settled in and scored on four straight possessions for the final 31-6 margin.
Junior running back Javonte Williams came into the season having scored just five touchdowns in his Tar Heel career. Today he added three to that total, all in the fourth quarter and on runs of one, six, and six yards.
While the Carolina offense has been heavily touted, it was the defense that kept the Tar Heels in the game until the points started coming. The Heels recorded seven sacks against Syracuse’s overmatched offensive line. Storm Duck held his own time and time again in one-on-one coverage downfield. For the game, the defense only allowed six points and 202 yards, despite allowing Syracuse to start in Carolina territory three times due to two interceptions and a muffed punt.
More on the defense: By the time the offense found their stride in the second half, the defense was even more locked in. Syracuse had seven second half possessions. Five of those seven were three and outs (including four in a row that bracketed the three Williams touchdowns), one was a 10-play drive following Howell’s second interception, and the seventh was the first interception of the season for Carolina. That’s a dominant second half.
Speaking of the muffed punt, special teams was the area seemingly hit hardest by the lack of spring practice. Mack Brown mentioned multiple times in the preseason that special teams needed more work and we’ve seen that truth play out. Syracuse had several nice returns aided by missed tackles (including a touchdown that was called back), Carolina had a roughing the punter penalty, the Tar Heels missed a field goal (albeit a 50-yarder), and there were multiple other penalties in kicking situations. The Heels will get this ironed though.
If special teams was issue 1A, missed tackles were issue 1B. As many coaches and players around the country have said, the COVID-19 precautions have led to fewer opportunities to tackle in practice for various reasons. That reality reared its head today in the form of missed tackles all over the field. This too will be shored up as the players work their way back to game speed.
The kicker question was answered quickly. Coach Brown had mentioned that Furman grad transfer Grayson Atkins would likely be given the nod over incumbent Noah Ruggles, but now we know for sure. Atkins kicked the point after following the opening drive touchdown and was the kicker throughout.
The refs missed what appeared to be an obvious targeting call at the end of a Sam Howell run. Howell slid to give himself up and the Syracuse player still launched and hit the Tar Heel quarterback helmet-to-helmet, snapping back Howell’s head. The play was flagged, but upon review the Orange defender was not ejected. Judge for yourself:

Syracuse’s new 3-3-5 defense was at least somewhat responsible for the Tar Heels’ first half offensive struggles. Howell had mentioned the importance of in-game adjustments and that reality proved true. It wasn’t until the second drive of the third quarter that Howell really began to pick apart the Orange.
Carolina more than doubled-up Syracuse in total yardage – 463-202.
Phil Longo’s offense ran an extremely balanced attack – 70 total plays divided precisely evenly with 35 runs and 35 pass attempts.
That Carolina offense has so many weapons, from Sam Howell to the receiving core to the two-headed monster of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter in the backfield. Despite that, who should score the first touchdown of the season but tight end Garrett Walston.
It’s great to have Khafre Brown back out on the field with his brother Dyami. The pair combined for nine catches and 129 yards receiving.
As expected, Chazz Surratt led the way on defense with nine total tackles, including two sacks and two tackle-for-losses. He left the field briefly in the first quarter after getting the wind knocked out of him while colliding with a Syracuse player, but came back in on the very next defensive series. Here's the hit:

Perhaps this will set a tone for the season: Mack Brown went for it on 4-and-7 from the Syracuse 40 on the first drive of the game and Sam Howell completed an 18-yard pass to Dazz Newsome.
Men’s basketball coach Roy Williams is known to be an avid supporter of all Tar Heel athletics, both with his wallet and his presence. Coach Williams took in the game from a suite at Kenan Stadium.

Mack Brown postgame press conference:

Players postgame press conference:

Sam Howell

Chazz Surratt

Javonte Williams

Tomari Fox

Remember to check in for Quick Hitters after every North Carolina football game. Next up is a home game against Charlotte on Saturday, September 19. Kickoff is at 3:30ET on Regional Sports Networks.

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking “Follow” on the top right hand corner of the page.

Want to receive an email with Quick Hitters and other articles from Isaac Schade? Click here. Include your name in the text of the email.

Send Isaac Schade an email to talk more about this article.

Please post any comments below!