Three things we learned about UNC football in its 41-10 win over Virginia Tech
North Carolina fully believes it can win the ACC’s Coastal Division, despite however it may have looked and how hard it may have stumbled at times during its four non-conference games.
The Tar Heels (4-1, 1-0 ACC) proved in their 41-10 win in the ACC opener against Virginia Tech that they’re not rattled, and their confidence is improving.
“Just seeing the team click and getting a huge dub (win) — and not allowing the game to be close — was a big thing for me,” said receiver Josh Downs. “As was not playing to the level of our competition, but playing to our own level. Doing that was great to see.”
The Hokies (2-3, 1-1) couldn’t muster enough offense to put up much of a fight. Carolina will face a tougher test on the road next week at Miami. But if there’s one thing the Coastal has shown this season, is that no team has emerged as a front-runner.
Here’s what we learned from the Heels’ win:
End of Air Drake
With Carolina ahead 31-10 in the third quarter, quarterback Drake Maye tried to leap into the end zone from the Virginia Tech 7. He’s done it before. He got flipped mid-air in the home opener against Florida A&M, in which he fumbled out of bounds. He tried it again against Appalachian State before scoring on the next play. Neither of those runs hurt him like his attempt against the Hokies.
Maye was shoved out of bounds and came down hard on his head and shoulder. He stayed down on the turf and was attended to before hopping up and running off the field on his own. Maye said he just had the breath knocked out of him.
The play came about because Maye said he’d been getting hit low by Virginia Tech defenders. He told backup quarterback Connor Harrell after a previous possession that the next time they went low, he was going to hurdle them.
“I may have cleared the first one (defender), but I think the second guy got me,” Maye said. “Sometimes being six(-foot-)five, you’re tired of people going low on you. It hurts the shins and stuff, get your ankles rolled up.”
Set aside the fact that he was too far out to reach the end zone before going airborne, Maye has to consider the score and the situation. A promising season had to flash before his eyes.
“He said, ‘Coach I was trying to score,’ so that’s just that’s just Drake,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “We’re gonna have to live with some of that. But I did think he slid better. He got out of bounds a little bit better. But that one we didn’t need to do.”
Limiting the big play
Carolina’s defense had allowed an average of nearly seven runs for more than 10 yards per game entering Saturday. Its first four opponents all had at least one run of more than 20 yards, as well.
The Heels weren’t any better preventing big plays in the passing game. Each of their first four games, they gave up at least three receptions for more than 20 yards. They averaged nearly eight passes per game for 15 yards or more.
That all changed against the Hokies.
One pass play went for 34 yards in the first quarter, in which cornerback Storm Duck stumbled while breaking on the ball. One run went for 25 yards in the second quarter. And that was it for big plays.
“We had a whole mood shift this week,” linebacker Cedric Gray said. “We were very upset of the product that we put on the field last week. So like Kaimon (Rucker) said, there was definitely some pent up frustration that we were ready to let out this week.”
Gray said the Tar Heels simply executed their game plan better this week than they did in last week’s 45-32 loss to Notre Dame.
Brown said on most of the big plays in past games, the defense would just have one or two players out of position that led to big gains.
“We’ve played where nine people were playing together and somebody messing up,” Brown said. “And we’d sit there and say, ‘This is so close,’ but we just messed it up and it might be part of the call or it might be too wide. But that was the biggest thing. I think that’s what frustrated us so much.”
For at least one game, their frustrations are over.
Fourth down as a weapon
UNC went 3-for-3 on fourth down conversions against the Hokies, including a fourth-and-7 in the second quarter. Brown even lamented not going for it on their opening drive of the game, but at the time, he felt the offense was ‘out of sync.’
It adds an extra burden for opposing defenses in trying to keep Carolina’s high-powered offense off the field.
“We’re pretty hard to stop on fourth downs and I like that, I think it sends a great message to our offensive coaches and players that I have confidence in them,” Brown said. “And at the same time we’ve talked to coach (Gene) Chizik and the defense enough that it should show some confidence in them that when you go for it man, you got to stop them. This is modern day football. This is what’s happening.”
On its second drive of the game, Carolina faced a fourth-and-1 from the Virginia Tech 7. Omarion Hampton converted with a 1-yard run. But with a running game that was stagnant, save for two big runs, the Heels just managed to advance to the 3 on their next three plays.
That set up a fourth and goal on which Kamari Morales caught a touchdown pass from Maye. Morales said the offense has gotten used to going for it on fourth downs to the point where he said he knew what the play call was going to be on his scoring play.
“We just all understand you know that this is a very important play, these are the plays that lead to wins and ultimately, if you want to be a great team, you got to convert on fourth down,” Morales said. “I give a lot of credit to coach Brown as well. He has a lot of faith in the offense. On fourth down, like I can tell like he hates when we have to punt the ball.”
Carolina is now 9-for-12 on the season in fourth down conversions.
This story was originally published October 2, 2022 at 6:35 AM with the headline "Three things we learned about UNC football in its 41-10 win over Virginia Tech."