UNC 21, William & Mary 17

Tribe vs Tar Heels boxscore

So it appears the Carolina offense is somewhat broken. That's the easiest explanation for the first three quarters of play yesterday, where UNC produced all of one scoring drive, turned the ball over twice inside their own 35, and missed a field goal on their way to a 17-7 deficit. By the time the fifteen minutes had been put on the clock to start the fourth, Carolina had managed 84 yards rushing and 165 through the air, and looked as discombobulated as they had against Miami. All while facing an FCS school.

The Heels finally found a way to win, first with a six and a half minute, ninety-yard drive that had as many fourth down conversions as third; and the second with a quick, 67 yard touchdown run from Johnny White blazing past a tired defense on the second play from scrimmage. After that, the defense, who had only let the Tribe cross the UNC 40 twice all game took over, guaranteeing that Carolina would avoid the mockery heaped on Virginia Tech earlier this season.

But, oh that offense. Struggling against Miami was understandable, although less so in the light that the Hurricanes just lost to Virginia; putting up only a touchdown through three quarters against William & Mary is inexcusable. T.J. Yates sorely misses Zach Pianalto as an outlet, trying nine different receivers but only consistently hitting Dwight Jones, who finished with 9 catches for 107 yards. Ed Barham and Ryan Taylor, both at tight end, had three catches a piece, but didn't garner very many yards. UNC's next three games are against teams currently or soon to be ranked opponents, and instead of smoothing out the kinks against what should have been an outmanned opponent, they faltered, and created more problems than they solved. Florida State has the best scoring defense in the country, and if three teams that will make or break the Heels' season have any weaknesses, it's in their passing defense. So now is a really bad time for T.J. Yates to slip back into old performances. 

Not that there's any pressure or anything.