Sept. 4, 2009
Every Thursday, check TarHeelBlue.com for the latest edition of the Game Guide, which provides all the information you need to get ready for gameday.
The Basics
Carolina will open the 2009 season on Saturday night at 6:00 PM against the Citadel, under brand new lights and a renovated Kenan Stadium. A win against the Citadel would give Carolina its third straight win in an opener, the longest such streak since the Tar Heels won six straight openers from 1989-94. Carolina's 8-5 record last season after a 4-8 2007 was the sixth-best turnaround in the nation. The Citadel went 4-8 last year.
Game Time: Citadel at North Carolina, 6:00 PM, ESPN360
Carolina's game notes can be found here and the Citadel's official football site is here.
Last Time: Carolina beat the Citadel 45-14 in 1986 in Kenan Stadium. This will be the fourth meeting between the two schools; all four have been in Chapel Hill. Carolina has won all three of the previous meetings, including a 14-7 win in 1915 and a 50-0 win in 1939. Carolina is facing its fifth FCS (formerly Division I-AA) opponent in the last six years. Since Davis' arrival, both opening opponents have been FCS opponents. Carolina is 2-0 against those teams and averaged 36 points per contest.
Gameday Weather: Check the local weather forecast before heading for the game.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 5:00 PM. The radio broadcast is also available on XM Channel 190 at 6:00 PM. Since it's a home game, the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast can be heard on XM.
TV Coverage: The game will be shown on ESPN360.com where available.
Game week TV/radio coverage: "Butch Davis Live", Coach Davis' weekly radio show, will be broadcast live from the Top of the Hill restaurant on Franklin Street every Wednesday at 7:00. Inside Carolina Football with Butch Davis airs Saturday morning at 9 a.m. on FOX Sports South. Inside Carolina Football with Butch Davis will air on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on WTVD ABC 11 in the Triangle and will review Saturday's game. The show will also be available On Demand on Time Warner Cable channel 1234 for free. The Tar Heel Football Review show featuring highlights of the previous week's games will air Tuesday's at 7 p.m. and Thursday's at 8 p.m. in the Triangle and Fayetteville on the local Time Warner Cable station.
Storylines
Building offensive balance: It's a given that the Carolina passing game might struggle early on, considering what it lost. But the Carolina running game needed to get going last season and certainly needs to set the tone in the season-opener for the whole offense. Carolina's offensive line is young and lacks depth, but it is certainly talented. Kyle Jolly's 25 returning starts are tied with three others for the most on the team. He leads all offensive players by a large margin; T.J. Yates' 18 starts are the next-closest. Lowell Dyer and Alan Pelc combined have just 21 starts. "We've been working really hard on our protections all camp and I'm very confident," Yates said. "They're a good group of guys. They work together well. They communicate very, very well. They're very smart, very intelligent. They pick up things on the run."
Inevitably, this team will look somewhat different offensively than last year's team. In a way, however, that's not a bad thing. Carolina's wide receivers accounted for about 62 percent of Carolina's total offense last season. Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster combined for 53% of Carolina's total offense; the trio had 2,213 yards of total offense between them out of Carolina's 4,178 yards. Of Carolina's 41 non-defensive touchdowns, those three had 20. Of receiving yards alone, the three combined to account for 75% of those yards and 17 of the 21 receiving touchdowns, catching 114 of the 182 receptions.
But those three are gone now and as a result, the talented and raw playmakers that remain must carry the load between them. What that also means, however, is that opposing defenses won't necessarily be able to key in on one or two aspects of Carolina's offense. "I want us to be a lot more balanced offense," Davis said. "We had three phenomenally talented wide receivers last year and they deserved all the opportunities to touch the ball. I think it would have made us an even more lethal and a better offense had we been able to incorporate other people besides those three. You're talking about running backs, you're talking about tight ends.
"The best offenses that I had in Dallas or the best offenses in Miami clearly you had talented tight ends, talented running backs, talented wide receivers and you were spreading the ball around. There wasn't just one particular go-to guy."
While an offense with more balance is a priority, it was still nice to have a security blanket like Hakeem Nicks on a third-and-long. All of Carolina's wide receivers are unproven. When Davis is referring to Greg Little, Johnny White and Dwight Jones as "known commodities", that speaks volumes as to how much is really unknown at the position. But Yates insists that nothing has changed for Carolina schematically. "There are more things we have to do offensively in terms of spreading the ball out and being more efficient situationally," Yates said. "We're just becoming a smarter football team, which is definitely helping us going into this season. But I don't think anything has changed offensively as far as scheme-wise."
In his Carolina career, he has completed 61% of his passes to either Nicks, Foster or Tate. In 2008, that number was 63 percent. In the first five games he played in last season, 40 of Yates' 51 completions (78%) were to one of the Big Three. But here's the interesting part - in Yates' final two games, he was beginning to find other receivers, most of which are still on the team. Of the 30 passes he completed in Carolina's final two games, 16 were to Shaun Draughn, Greg Little and Bobby Rome.
Some good news is that in the Tar Heel backfield and receiving corps, there are still six players left who have caught at least one T.J. Yates pass in their careers. Zack Pianalto has caught 25 (23 in Yates' freshman season), Little has caught 21 (including six in the final two games last season) and Johnny White has caught 15 (all in 2007). That's not even counting fullbacks Bobby Rome (21) and Anthony Elzy (11). Shaun Draughn caught 16 balls last season and 11 were from Yates, including nine in Carolina's last three games and seven in the final two.
The freshmen wide receivers have been impressive, but only one made the two-deep depth chart - Joshua Adams, the spring arrival, behind sophomore Dwight Jones. Jones will miss Saturday's game. Teammates have spoken highly of redshirt freshman Todd Harrelson and true freshmen Erik Highsmith and Jheranie Boyd. Adams has been wowing teammates with his work ethic and talent since the spring, Jones has progressed well and Highsmith has been mentioned repeatedly by teammates as a training-camp star. Davis said that at times, the freshmen look fantastic in practice. Other times, they look "deer in the headlights" when offensive coordinator John Shoop starts yelling out plays and formations in his typical rapid-fire style. Once this group gets some action, however, he thinks the raw talent will begin to either translate - or not translate - into on-the-field ability.
"With the number of young wide receivers, we'd be foolish to say we've got guys that are going to start the first play of the game but we're going to try to play maybe 3-4 guys throughout the game and try to find out who really truly deserves to be the starter," Davis said. "This game hopefully will be a great measuring stick as to who are going to be the playmakers? Who's going to be dependable? Who's going to be accountable? Who can you count on every single play to be in the right spot, make plays and catch the football?"
60 Minutes of Defense: Carolina's defense returns nine out of its 11 starters and is loaded with young and old talent, speed and athleticism. All but one starter and even quite a few second-stringers have significant game experience. Carolina's defense averages 15 career starts, including Zach Brown who has never started. Without Brown or Da'Norris Searcy, who has just one start, the other nine have averaged 18.2 starts, or nearly two seasons of starting experience. The defensive line starters have 67 starts between them and many of the backups have started at least one game. And with that experience comes newfound responsibility. There are no more excuses for missed assignments, lapses in judgment or a poor tackle.
Carolina was able to disguise some of its defensive deficiencies last season with an opportunistic secondary, one smart linebacker paired with two freak athletes and a young defensive line that played up-and-down. Carolina was able to pick off 20 passes but recovered just nine fumbles even though Carolina's opponents committed 22 fumbles. So this is a group that did a fantastic job of capitalizing on mistakes of its opponents and now wants to take the next step and force more of those mistakes. Even if the defense doesn't force as many turnovers this season, it wants to make its presence known on every single play.
"When you see a big defensive lineman coming at you, he nails you. The next time that pass comes across the middle for a wide receiver, you might think twice about catching that," senior defensive end E.J. Wilson said. "It might bobble off your hands and that might cause an interception, or he could not be expecting it and that could cause a fumble by jarring the ball loose."
This was a defense that struggled to find consistency, shutting down the lethal option attack of Georgia Tech but allowing an NC State rushing offense that had been ranked last in the league to run roughshod all over Kenan Stadium. Talent and experience appear to have finally merged, however, and with that newfound maturity comes an ability to get past a bad play here or there. "If you're out there hustling and running around, one mistake doesn't seem as bad," Wilson said. "If you make a mistake and you get down on yourself and you're pouting, that's going to cause and effect, every play after that is probably going to be bad. So we've just been working on that, trying not to get down on ourselves and running to the ball."
Carolina got itself into a hole early in most drives. Over one-fourth of Carolina's first downs allowed were allowed on first down. That means that teams did not have to waste time trying to slowly convert, thus wasting plays, and moved down the field quickly. In three of Carolina's best defensive games of the year - Virginia, Boston College and Georgia Tech - just ten of 48 first downs allowed came on first down.
The Tar Heels were just as inconsistent on third down. After allowing McNeese State to convert 9-of-19 third downs, it held Rutgers to 0-of-9. In the last three losses of the season, Carolina's opponents converted on 29-of-54 third downs, a ridiculous 53.7 percent. In the other ten games of the season, opponents converted just 39.5 percent. "Down and distance dictates a lot of times how successful you should be. We want to try to stay out of all those third down and 1, 2, 3, 4's and 5's. You're going to make about 65-70% of those; teams are going to convert them because they're not very far," Davis said. "We've got to do a much better job on first and second down to try to create more third and 7's and longer situations."
Carolina's biggest defensive problem was pass defense, an area where Carolina ranked second to last in the league, allowing 226 yards per game. It picked off 20 passes, but it allowed 15 passing touchdowns and allowed 10.2 yards per catch. That might seem like a problem of the secondary, but the lack of a pass rush had just as much to do with it. Carolina had just 22 sacks last season and nine were by linebackers. Defensive back Da'Norris Searcy even had two in his only start last season against West Virginia.
Carolina did have 38 quarterback hurries but the defense wasn't getting to the quarterback enough to make him uncomfortable. Even when the quarterback escaped the pocket, it often wasn't because of the Carolina pass rush, but rather to bide time for his receivers to get downfield and throw them the ball. The secondary can't be expected to maintain coverage for as long as they were forced to at times last season.
"If we choose to decide to rush four people, we've got to do a great job of our four people have got to break down the protections and they've got to put pressure on the quarterback," Davis said. "One of the things that really hurt us was the ability of a quarterback to get outside the pocket and make plays, big plays, down the field where they didn't get outside the pocket just with the intent of scrambling. They got outside the pocket and it usually resulted in a big throw down the field. So we've got to do a much better job containing the quarterback and keeping him in the pocket."
Special Teams: The Tar Heels have been fortunate enough to have a proven player at either kicker or punter the last three years. Now, it has neither as kicker Casey Barth is still trying to find consistency and junior punter Grant Schallock has never played a college snap at the position. Freshman C.J. Feagles, son of current Giants' punter Jeff Feagles, is starting to level the playing field.
"I think it's close to call," Davis said. "Grant Shallock, he clearly had the edge for having had been here but I think that C.J. Feagles has come in and over the last two weeks, his mechanics and he's kind of cleaned up some issues. He's starting to understand that in high school, you may have a little bit longer time to kick the football than you have in college. You're going to get about 2.2 seconds at best to be able to get the ball off your foot. The faster he's gotten, ironically, even sometimes the better he's gotten.
"I'm not going to say that we're going to alternate kickers, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that we might actually kick both of them in this particular game."
With the transfer of Jay Wooten, Casey Barth is now Carolina's sole place-kicker. Wooten did most of the kicking off last season, so Barth has been working on that in the off-season and Davis has been pleased with his hang-time and distance. Still, there is a reason he wasn't handling kickoffs and field goals last season and he needs to prove he can be an effective kickoff man. Davis was very positive on Barth's camp overall. He said that during a mock game last weekend, Barth successfully got the field goal team on the field, lined up and nailed a 52-yard field goal - all in 11 seconds with no timeouts or time to spike the ball.
Last year, Carolina missed three field goals in the red zone, including a costly miss in the two-point Maryland loss. But Barth made all 33 of his extra point attempts and there were some games where he carried the Tar Heels, including making 5-of-6 in back-to-back games against Notre Dame and Virginia. His only miss was against Notre Dame and it was 52 yards. But his other four misses were from 28 yards (Maryland), 30 yards (UConn), 37 yards (McNeese State) and 43 yards (Duke).
Even an experienced punter last season - and the threat of punt pressure men like Bruce Carter, who blocked four punts - Carolina was ninth in the ACC in punt coverage, netting just 34 yards per punt. Carolina was fourth in kickoff coverage, netting 42.8 yards per kickoff. Wooten averaged just 58.5 yards per kickoff, second-lowest in the league. Carolina also had just two touchbacks, also tied for the second-fewest in the ACC. Barth will need to drastically increase that average.
Carolina's return game was in question when Brandon Tate went down against Notre Dame. Greg Little has experience returning kicks and will likely be back there, but Johnny White will continue the role he began last season after Tate's injury. Tate averaged 27.7 yards on 11 returns with a long of 56 yards. Even without Tate, Carolina still finished the season fourth in the league in kickoff returns and second in punt returns.
Punt return is no easy task, either. Kendric Burney did a good job of that last season with Tate going out; he returned six punts for 37 yards (6.2 per return). Davis didn't want him to carry that burden exclusively, however. The situation was so dire last season that holder Trase Jones was returning punts, just to make sure Carolina had a reliable player that could literally catch the ball and make forward progress. Jones did a solid job as well and returned five punts for 36 yards.
Now that Carolina has had a chance in the preseason to groom possible punt returners, it will be expecting big returns from time to time along the lines of Tate. Burney is too important to the defense to have him handle the duties exclusively and right now, starting safety Da'Norris Searcy is ahead of him on the depth chart as the starting punt returner. Searcy is a possible answer but dynamic freshman A.J. Blue will get at least a few tries at some point this season.
The Citadel will actually provide Carolina with a stiff special teams test, which is good for a unit that needs to get better, and fast, considering this team doesn't have nearly the margin for error it did last year in terms of playing catch-up on the scoreboard. Citadel linebacker Mel Capers blocked four punts last season and nine in his career. Wide receiver standout Andre Roberts led the nation in punt returns last season, averaging 19.2 yards per return and scoring three touchdowns.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: WCHL 1360 is the local affiliate.
Parking/construction update: For the latest information, click here.
Pregame activities: Tar Heel Town will open at 3:00 PM on Saturday and the Countdown to Kickoff radio show will broadcast live there beginning at 4:00. The Old Well Walk will be at 3:45 and then the Marching Tar Heels will perform on the steps of Wilson Library at 5:00 before heading to the stadium. Then at 5:15, start making your way to Kenan Stadium and make sure you're in your seats early. For more information, see the website for Tar Heel Town on TarHeelBlue.com.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
ESPN360 coverage: The game will be shown on ESPN360.com, where available.
Names To Know
Shaun Draughn: Ever since his first extended action, the junior running back has been impressing teammates, coaches and fans alike with his instincts. He has been dubbed by many as the next great hope for that elusive 1,000-yard rusher. He is certainly capable of it and arguably, had he been the starter all of last season, he would have reached that mark easily. If he had received all of Greg Little's attempts in Carolina's first four games, he would have ended up with 1,148 yards (assuming his 4.4 yards per carry average).
But Draughn's situation this year is almost exactly the opposite of last year, when he ran behind an experienced offensive line and he was still sort of feeling his way as a newly-converted tailback. This season, his offensive line lacks the kind of experience he ran behind last season, but he has said on more than one occasion he feels his own improvement will balance that out somewhat.
One of his only remaining veteran offensive linemen, Kyle Jolly, has remarked more than once on how much Draughn has improved on his patience. His head coach agreed. "Sometimes you're in such a rush to get to the intended hole that sometimes you don't allow things to develop," Davis said. "You don't let blocks occur and set up, especially if you're playing behind linemen and fullbacks that are pulling in front of you. Sometimes patience is something that's very difficult for a young kid to learn, but he's made some strides in that area." Davis also said that Draughn has a much better understanding of the entire offense, including pass protections and running routes.
Ball security was an issue for him at times last season, however, particularly late. He lost five fumbles last season; he had at least one lost fumble in three of Carolina's five losses. He fumbled on one of his five carries against Virginia Tech on Carolina's six-yard line; the Hokies managed only a field goal. He had two fumbles lost against NC State - both in the first quarter and on back-to-back plays - and only one resulted in a score, a State field goal. Duke returned his fumble for a touchdown. His fumble against West Virginia was the most costly; though it occurred in West Virginia territory at the 30-yard line, the Mountaineers scored a touchdown three plays later to go ahead 31-30 with 7:14 to go in the fourth quarter.
Carolina's defense is better but it will need a rest. The Tar Heels need Draughn, particularly early on while the young wide receivers adjust, to carry the offense. They need him to keep drives alive, keep the chains moving and to hang on to the football. Draughn has worked hard to improve on all aspects of his game and appears ready to carry that load. If he and his new line can mesh, that should happen.
Zach Brown/Kevin Reddick: Mark Paschal did not fit into the current group of linebackers in terms of speed or athleticism, but his intelligence, leadership and instincts provided a great example for now-juniors Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter to follow. Middle linebacker is almost like the quarterback of a defense and Sturdivant has been moved there from the weak side. Sturdivant called the weak-side spot the "glamour" spot, a position that makes it easier to make tackles and fly to the ball instinctually (evidenced by Sturdivant's nation-leading 87 solo tackles). At middle linebacker or strong-side linebacker, the two veterans in Sturdivant and Carter will have to make a few more reads - and quickly - before they fly in at full-speed.
Now, one of the most intriguing battles of training camp comes to a head as sophomore Zach Brown and freshman Kevin Reddick. Brown actually had some playing experience, though limited, last season, logging six tackles and playing primarily on special teams. He certainly fits into the linebacker unit in terms of his athleticism, earning the No. 5 spot on ESPN.com's workout warrior list and running his now-famous 4.28 40. Brown missed the first few days of camp to attend his sister's wedding and that gave Reddick a chance to leap-frog him temporarily, even taking the majority of first-team reps at the beginning of camp.
Reddick was one of Carolina's January enrollees, giving him on college life but not football. A case of mono kept him out of spring practice, but he has still had time to get a mental jump on learning the defense. He wasn't a super high-profile recruit nationally - Scout.com had him slotted at 33rd among outside linebackers - but the New Bern native was a North Carolina standout and has impressed teammates and coaches with his solid preseason play.
The battle between the two of them was still "too close to call" according to Davis on Monday, despite Zach Brown being listed ahead of Reddick on the depth chart without the normal qualifying "OR" between two such close players. Each will have significant opportunities to impress the coaches and perhaps solidify a starting role. With Matt Merletti out for the season and Ryan Taylor out temporarily, the two will also be called upon by the special teams to step up, possibly in all four phases.
Johnny White: While he is not necessarily in a position battle (yet) with Greg Little, those two are the leading returning pass-catchers. Both caught the majority of their passes during their respective stints at running back. Both are on their third position switch. White is on his third new position in three years, switching from defensive back last season. The speedy junior is one of the fastest players on the team and could be a valuable weapon.
"We're definitely going to use that speed as much as we can on offense," Yates said. "He used to be a running back so he's a powerful kid. It's not like he's just a fast, little quick guy. He's a big, muscular guy. So we're definitely going to get the ball in his hands and see what he can do with it.
"He's working his craft. He's been switching around positions a lot and it's kind of hard - especially moving from offense to defense - it's two completely different things. He's just working on making everything consistent and running crisp routes, working on his hands and just getting his total game together."
At just 5-10, White is easily the smallest of Carolina's wide receivers. But like Yates, all of his teammates insist that White just needs the chance to prove what kind of playmaker he can be. He will have a few more opportunities as the primary kickoff returner this season. When Tate went down with an injury, everyone assumed the kickoff returns would suffer. White actually averaged 25.3 yards per return on 15 returns with a long of 50 yards. So while Tate might have scared more kickers, White proved he can be dangerous as well; his 50-yard return came in the last game of the season at Duke and set up a Carolina touchdown drive that tied the score at 14.
"Speed is like power," safety and fellow special-teamer Melvin Williams said. "If you have speed, you can do anything and Johnny does. Johnny runs a 4.2. If you have speed, you can take over that game that quick. Johnny also has the ability and the cuts, but he just had to touch the ball the first time. Once he felt that ball, Johnny was elusive with it."
"I could see Johnny White being like the next Brandon Tate."
Andre Roberts: Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State might be the most famous FCS player in the nation - partly because of his role in the upset win over Michigan two years ago - but Andre Roberts arguably is the most accomplished offensive player. The senior wide receiver already broke almost every Citadel receiving career record as a junior and is still going strong. He had 95 catches last season for 1,334 yards (both Citadel single-season records) and scored 14 touchdowns, averaging a ridiculous 111.2 yards per game and 14 yards per catch. He was a consensus FCS All-America pick last year.
But his talents don't end there. He returns punts for the Citadel as well; last season, he returned 24 punts for 461 yards (an insane 19.2 yards per return) and scored three punt-return touchdowns. He led the nation in punt return average. He also had 24 rushing attempts for 94 yards and a touchdown. His 18 touchdowns led the team by a wide margin; the next-closest Bulldog had four touchdowns.
Roberts finished the season in the top ten in the nation in five different categories and in the top five in four areas. He was No. 1 in punt return yards, No. 2 in receptions per game and receiving yards, No. 4 in receiving yards per game and No. 9 in scoring. He led the Southern Conference in all of those categories. He had seven 100-yard games and three of 150 yards or more. He caught double-digit passes three times and eight or more in eight games. At Clemson last season, Roberts had nine catches for 153 yards and a touchdown. He also returned one punt for 33 yards.
"He's got a wealth of talent, a wealth of experience," Davis said of his work at wide receiver. "But the most dangerous part about his game is the fact that he averaged over 19 yards per punt return last year, which led the nation. So our special teams, we've tried to spend a significant amount of time and we will continue throughout this week emphasizing how important it is to do a great job on covering kicks. He's an electrifying returner. You just can't give him that kind of an opportunity."
Bart Blanchard: The 6-2 redshirt junior is a very experienced quarterback, starting 11 of 12 games last season. He still has his No. 1 target in Roberts and he found him - and others - quite a bit last season, passing for 2,436 yards. He completed 205-of-345 passes (59.4%) and threw 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, notching a 130.5 efficiency rating. His 19 touchdowns were the second-most in a season in Citadel history and his 2,609 yards of total offense did set a single-season school record. He also carried the ball 100 times for 173 yards and scored two touchdowns, both against Western Carolina; he rushed for 85 yards on 11 carries in that game.
"They've got a veteran returning starter at quarterback," Davis said of Blanchard. "You want to find out how will he play against a Division-I school? Last year, he threw for just a little under 300 yards against Clemson." He actually had 279 yards and completed 22-of-36 passes, one for a touchdown. That's something not easy to do for any quarterback on any level in Death Valley. He broke the 200-yard mark in six games last season and averaged 203 yards passing. He is a capable and efficient quarterback that, along with Roberts, will provide the UNC secondary with an early test.
Terrence Reese and DeWitt Jones: The Bulldogs' two senior defensive linemen anchor perhaps its most talented position group on defense. Reese is a 6-0, 286-pound nose tackle, a player that made the coaches' version of the All-Southern Conference first team. He started 11 of 12 games last season, missing only the Clemson game due to an injury. He still managed to be the sixth-leading tackler on the team with 49 and added 8.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. He will be a challenge for Carolina's interior line to deal with. DeWitt Jones is a 6-3, 231-pound defensive end who started all 12 games last season and made second-team All-Southern Conference. He was second on the team with 66 tackles, adding four sacks and two forced fumbles. The Citadel defensive line is significantly smaller than the Carolina o-line overall, but players like Reese and Jones will test the Tar Heels with their experience and quickness.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
