bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
CHAPEL HILL -- In North Carolina's win over East Carolina on Saturday, the Tar Heels dominated every statistical category except one -- punting.
UNC Grant Schallock's four punts averaged just 31.2 yards against ECU, and his short punts were especially noticeable since the Pirates' Matt Dodge was boom- ing 48.8-yard punts on average. Through three games this season, Schallock is averaging 37.8 yards a kick while the Tar Heels' opponents are averaging 44.6 yards.
Those are numbers that make UNC coach Butch Davis uneasy since it is placing his team in less than desirable field position.
"We want to be as good as we possibly can in the kicking game," Davis said Wednesday. "I think [Schallock] knows that he needs to punt better. He's got to be a lot more consistent, and it's something we are concerned about."
Schallock admitted that the game against ECU wasn't his best. His goal is to be longer than 42 yards per punt, but Saturday his punts went 32, 37, 38 and 18 yards. The last one, however, was partially blocked.
"I have to forget about that game and move on to this next game," the 6-7 junior said.
But Schallock could have an excuse for the ECU performance since he was working with a new deep snapper. Trevor Stuart tore the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee in the first series of the game, and Mark House had to step in. Although House was the deep snapper for six games of the 2008 season before fracturing his finger, he and Schallock never had been on the field in a game situation before, only practice.
"It definitely caught me off guard," House said. "I guess you kind of go into a game thinking you might play, but you never think that's actually going to happen."
House said Saturday's game went "OK," but he took responsibility for the 18-yard punt since the snap was a little low. He said snapping to Schallock is different than snapping to anyone else because of his height.
"It's kind of great snapping to Grant because he's such a big target," House said. "It's pretty hard to miss on Grant."
House also took over the snapping duties on field goals, which he said was a little nerve-racking since never had snapped for a field goal during a collegiate game. But House snapped for kicker Casey Barth at Wilmington Hoggard High, so he said that familiarity helped.
House said a full week of practice with the kickers and punters has made everyone more comfortable, and he expects to be better against Georgia Tech.
"I think timing and everything like that will be on," House said.
And if Schallock's punting doesn't become more consistent, the Tar Heels have other options. Waiting in the wings is freshman C.J. Feagles, the son of New York Giants punter and 21-year NFL veteran Jeff Feagles. Davis said Feagles has good mechanics but, like most freshmen, it has taken some time for him to adjust to the speed of the college game.
"His father has trained him really well, and he's gone to a lot of kicking camps so he was probably ahead of the curve coming in here," Davis said. "Most of his get-offs are under 2.1 [seconds], which is clearly acceptable. You'd like them to be at 2, but 2.1 is good enough. I think he's going to have a really good future as a kicker."
