bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
ATLANTA -- North Carolina coach Butch Davis and his players couldn't hide their disappointment of their 24-7 loss at Georgia Tech during the postgame press conferences Saturday. And most of that disappointment was directed at the Tar Heels' offense -- or lack thereof.
UNC managed just 154 yards of offense in the loss and scored the fewest points in the Butch Davis era. The Tar Heels turned the ball over three times -- two interceptions and a fumble -- and missed a field goal.
While some players said the Tar Heels came out flat and were outhustled in their ACC opener, UNC coach Butch Davis was clear after the game about what he saw.
"I didn't notice any lack of intensity, I just noticed a lack of execution," Davis said. "We didn't execute as well as we needed to."
The Tar Heels didn't complete a first down until the second quarter and finished the game with eight first downs compared to Georgia Tech's 24. UNC also finished 1-of-11 on third down conversions.
"Our effectiveness on offense on first-and-10 was disastrous," Davis said. "It seemed like every possession we had second down and 9, 10, 11. Then, ultimately, it was third down and long, and that's no recipe to play well offensively."
UNC's offense also failed to make a strong statement at the start of the game, and it set the tone for the rest of the day. After winning the coin toss before kickoff, the Tar Heels elected to receive the ball first but went three and out on its first possession. The Yellow Jackets then turned around and marched the length of the field to take the early lead.
"That was one of our goals coming into this week was coming out strong, putting some points on the board, letting our defense play with a lead but we sort of did the opposite of that," UNC quarterback T.J. Yates said. "We didn't score until the fourth quarter so we just didn't have anything going in the game."
Yates had one of his worst games in a UNC uniform, but he wasn't the only one. The Tar Heels could never get its running game going and finished with just 17 yards on 18 rushing attempts. Yates said he was surprised at how badly the offense played, especially since it recorded 433 yards of offense a week earlier in a win over East Carolina. The junior said he never got in a rhythm and everything just seemed off against Georgia Tech.
"We had a good week of practice, we thought we were prepared enough to take on these guys," Yates said. "But you have to give all credit to Georgia Tech, they did an amazing job defensively of shutting us down in every aspect of our offense."
As expected, UNC dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, and it's the first time this season it hasn't been ranked. Georgia Tech, on the other hand, is now ranked 25th, a week after dropping out of the poll.
Davis said the Tar Heels will spend the week examining its offense and seeing if they're using their players effectively. UNC hosts winless Virginia on Saturday and needs to rebound with a productive game from its offense to stay in the hunt for an ACC title.
"We've got to take a long look at ourselves," Davis said.
