Quick Preview - Game vs FSU

The most important part of this game is our offensive development. Despite the woeful performance against Virginia (who is looking pretty good since they beat us, FYI) - we showed some improvement against Georgia Southern and we had a bye week to get healthy and practice our youngins.

The good news is that Jonathan Cooper and Kyle Jolly are both back and ready to play. They should both be starting on the offensive line, and that means a lot for our running game and our passing game.

Unfortunately, Pianalto still isn't 100%, but might be used in a limited basis. He would have been a great guy to get back.

Dwight Jones has also had 2 weeks of being healthy to integrate into the passing corps, so expect him to get some passes thrown his way - here's to hoping he lives up to his potential.

On the injury front - Jamal Womble had a fracture on his wrist that required surgery a week ago - he should be gone for a good part of the rest of the season. AJ Blue had a very serious injury - similar to Brandon Tate's a year ago - and will almost definitely miss the rest of the season. It's very disappointing, but these guys are young, and they were our #3 & #4 RBs, so we'll be okay. I would expect Anthony Elzy and Johnny White to be the backup RBs behind Draughn and Houston now. We'll miss that AJ Blue wildcat/QB look though. Heal up buddy.

I think we can beat FSU - I wouldn't predict us to win necessarily, because of how disappointed I've been by UNC. But FSU is a plenty disappointing team in it's own right. The question is - which FSU team will show up? The one that trounced top-10 at the time BYU? Or the one that has struggled mightily since?

They have some speed on defense, there's no question there. Here's to hoping we've gotten enough practice in on the young O-Line that, along with the new additions, that we can pound the ball downhill some and get some momentum on offense. Our defense should be able to keep FSU from scoring more than 17 points or so.

My prediction: FSU - 17 UNC - 10.

Here's to hoping I'm wrong!

David

Fish Communicate By Farting

Talking Fish Farts

Glad I'm not the only one anymore

Percy Harvin Scores a TD!

Excellent! And we never even used him on Kickoff Return!!

Bubba wins one in the NFL

Former Florida WR extraordinaire Andre "Bubba" Caldwell wins one for the Bengals.

Go Gators!

Gerald Henderson Getting Hazed

I'm pretty sure that's Raymond Felton's signature.

Assasin's Creed 2 - New Trailer

I couldn't be much more excited...Christmas present, anyone??

The Reason UNC is Really Really Bad Right Now

I keep telling people this year that UNC's offensive line is heavily injured - but I'm not sure if I've really sat back and counted the injuries/losses.

Let's begin:

Garrett Reynolds - Graduated - Drafted by NFL
Calvin Darity - Graduated
Aaron Stahl - Opted to forgo final year of eligibility
Kevin Bryant - Kicked off team for misdemeanor assault
Carl Gaskins - tore ligament in knee - out for season
Jonathan Cooper - high ankle sprain - still limited
Lowell Dyer - strained muscle in shoulder - still out
Kyle Jolly - sprained ankle last week - status unknown (our only remaining original starter)

And that's not to mention the loss of H-Back Ryan Taylor - who serves as an extra blocker in run formations - to injury. Last year, we had TE Richard Quinn, who was drafted in the 2nd round because of his spectacular blocking ability. We also lost Zack Pianalto - our starting TE this year, who blocks with the line.

That's ELEVEN blockers missing on the line. ELEVEN!! I've never heard of an O-Line this depleted. We're playing with some guys who have no idea what they're doing. Greg Elleby switched from the D-Line to play as a backup, and is now STARTING!

This, my friends, is why UNC has gotten off to the abysmal start. A strong O-Line, and I strongly believe UNC would be 5-0, and on their way to 6-0 right now. Yes, Yates isn't great - and out WRs suffered unprecedented defection from last year (Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate, Brooks Foster, Cooter Arnold, and sort of Richard Quinn). Our offense would not be great with an offensive line, but it would be serviceable. Don't forget that UNC has 3 really good running backs (freshman Jamal Womble is the other one, if you are confused). Our running game last year was very good because of the O-Line strength we no longer have.

The scary thing is that considering how miserable our run blocking has been this year, our pass protection has been okay at times. I will tell you why - Kyle Jolly. He's was our starting left tackle, which is by and far the most important position for protecting the passer. If he can't play, expect Georgia Southern to get some serious pressure. And don't get me started on what Virginia Tech will do.

Luckily, if UNC can get through the GA Southern game (which I believe they will), we should have Cooper, Dyer, Jolly, and Ryan Taylor back blocking for us. That infusion of depth, along with the continued development of the younger guys, should make for a better offense. And Dwight Jones could emerge as another receiving option for us since he's just recovered from injury. However, this improvement might not be apparent against Virginia Tech, who will probably offset this advantage with their talented and speedy defense. Our schedule gets a lot harder from here on out. UNC will have to really fight to be bowl eligible. We need 7 wins this year due to our two FCS opponents. That means out of Virginia Tech, FSU, Boston College, Miami, NC State, and Duke - UNC needs 3 wins. Every game is losable, but every game is winnable (though I wouldn't count on beating Miami or Virginia Tech, no matter our improvement).

UNC's defense has shown that it can keep us in games. On that note, Robert Quinn is a freaking beast - just wanted to make that known. I see him going in the first round of the draft a few years down the road. FYI.

I say UNC should beat Duke. Let's say we lose to Miami and VT. That means we need to beat either BC or NC State. If our offense gets to maybe just below my relatively meager expectations before the season, I'd say we win at least one of those games. If it stays how it was against Virginia, I'm not so sure if we even beat Duke - much less BC or NCSU.

So keep an eye on this line.

Please, please get healthy everyone!!

Go heels....

Excellent

Ignore the ad before the real video starts...

Tar Heels and Gators in the NFL Draft

According to Mel Kiper, NFL Draft guru (I like Todd McShay better, but Kiper is might be a better draft analyst - even if he's always chillin' at ESPNzone). He ranked all of the best players by position - divided it by junior and senior, and some UNC and UF names came up - thought I might share:

important note: The #1 player is the number one Junior (or Senior) player - not the #1 in the country. Divided into two groups...

Juniors:

I think he'll be a beast in the NFL
Tight Ends: #2 - Aaron Hernandez - UF

Offensive Guard: #2 - Mike Pouncey - UF

Center: #3 - Maurkice Pouncey - UF

Can he live up to the hype already?
Defensive Tackles: #3 - Marvin Austin - UNC

I love seeing Crompton get nailed
Defensive Ends: #1 - Carlos Dunlap - UF (he's projected to be a top-5 pick)


Inside Linebackers: #2 - Quan Sturdivant - UNC (this is very cool - I didn't realize he was as valued of an NFL commodity)

What UNC fans know Bruce better as - Punt Blocker Extraordinaire
Outside Linebacker: #3 - Bruce Carter - UNC (also surprising! Go BRUUUUUCE!)


Ironically - our secondary got torched in this game
Defensive Ends: #1 - Joe Haden - UF


My favorite play of the BCS Championship game (close second - other starting safety Ahmad Black making that amazing pick to seal the game)
Safeties: #3 - Major Wright - UF



Punters: #4 - Chas Henry - UF


And now the only two seniors:



Quarterbacks: #3 - Tim Tebow - UF

My favorite Spikes play - showing excellent RB Moreno who was going to own that game...
Inside Linebackers: #1 - Brandon Spikes - UF (Mel has him going at the end of the first round)

Flying Elephant

This just makes my day

WhyHunger - Desperate

This spot really made me think - interesting... (not me thinking - the spot)

Hakeem Nicks Scores First NFL TD

Alright! Some positive UNC football news (sort of). I guess this can remind us of better times past...



Though that "celebration" of dialing the football was totally wack.

UNC vs. Virginia Preview

Can UNC fare better this year than last year against Virginia?

On Saturday, at noon (again??), UNC faces off against 0-3 Virginia. This is just what UNC needs, after an offensive performance (in the bad way, not at all in the good way) against Georgia Tech, losing 24-7.

The loss is completely on the offense. The fact that UNC was even in the game at all at halftime was because of the play of the defense. Don't get me wrong, they missed some plays in the 2nd half, but you cannot place the blame on the defense for that loss. Georgia Tech had possession for an ENTIRE HALF longer than UNC. No defense in the country has the depth to fight fatigue with that kind of time of possession differential. They were tired - and Georgia Tech just needed a few missed tackles to rack up a lot of yardage and get the win.

I should have stuck with my gut instinct of not trusting the hype that UNC might have a moderately function offense. That was clearly not the case - and ECU was a mirage.

The culprit is still the offensive line. However, Yates had a very poor game as well. He missed several receivers on some painfully easy opportunities. If UNC had a viable backup at QB, he might be getting some reps this weekend.

But we don't, and Yates has proven in the past that while he may be inconsistent, he has some hidden talent (in this case, hidden deep deep deep down). Let's hope that's the case.

Luckily, UNC faces 0-3 Virginia this weekend, fresh of a loss to Southern Miss (not to mention they lost their first game of the year to William & Mary - a good FCS, but an FCS team nonetheless). Virginia's offense showed some life in their matchup against S. Miss, but it would need a serious jump start to fare well against UNC's talented defense. Head coach Al Groh is apparently tweaking his offense for this game, so expect less of the spread they've been trying to implement and more of a conventional look.

Also, expect UNC to have some more success against Virginia on offense. This will probably look more like our game against ECU. Which is good, because H-back Ryan Taylor, WR Dwight Jones, and OG Jonathan Cooper are all still probably a week away from being healthy (and our offense needs them). It'd be nice if Dwight Jones had some production this weekend - but I doubt we'll see him grab more than 1-2 catches. Until he gets up to speed, expect us to continue going to Highsmith - the only bright spot in UNC's arsenal so far.

Offensive Key to the Game: The Offensive Line - we need the push we had last year to get our ground game going. In our two away games this year (vs. UConn and Georgia Tech), we've rushed 56 times for 52 yards. That hurts to even say...Draughn needs to work on running a bit more north to south, but the rushing woes are not his fault.

Defensive Key to the Game: Our secondary - Virgina QB Jameel Sewell passed for 300+ yards last week as the Cavaliers scored 34 points against an always-talented Southern Miss program. The yardage won't be as easy to come by against UNC - but I doubt Virginia will be able to run the ball effectively against the Heels, so if Virginia's going to challenge UNC, it'll be through the air. note: Kendric Burney needs to improve his play to help us get our first ACC win.

Summary - Virginia will not be a pushover of a game. While their FCS loss was a bad one - no one can fault them losing to nationally-ranked TCU - and they showed a lot of improvement in their loss to Southern Miss. With UNC's anemic offense, anything can happen. But expect the Heels to get some much-needed traction on offense against a weaker ACC defense - enough to win the game. Virginia scored 14 points against TCU, one of the best defenses in the nation. I'd expect them to do the same to us - as the Heels have one of the better defenses in the nation themselves. Home advantage will be key here...

My prediction: UNC wins 27-14.

Go Heels!