After the weather delayed the game for over 100 minutes (1 hour and 48 minutes to be exact), North Carolina (1-0) and McNeese State (0-1) finished their game, with the Heels coming in on top by the score of 35 to 27. Most people will say it wasn't pretty, and from what I heard on the radio, I have to agree with them. Some will say that it was McNeese State against senior wide receiver Brandon Tate, who had a record breaking night, and that could be true. But in the end, it was a win, and those you take and build on.
Tate just did it all today, with two great plays: an 82 yard punt return and a 57 yard catch, ending with a school record 397 all purpose yards in the game for his team. How many times do we talk about senior leadership, well, no need to talk about it here, just look at what the Tate did today and you can see what that means. Unfortunately there wasn't much else for the Heels to be happy about. Losing a 14 point lead after the close to two hour delay, and then even going down to a Division IAA team by the score of 20 to 14.
As I said in many blogs before this game, the key for the Heels was to keep the buzz going around this team. Some of the so-called experts believed that North Carolina could be the second best team in their division of the ACC. Some others felt that they could even challenge Virginia Tech for the top spot, and after watching the Hokies go down to ECU, I thought about jumping on the bandwagon. But after the first three drives of the game I changed my mind real quick. A fumble sandwiched in between a three and out series against McNeese State just isn't giving me that confidence I had prior to the game.
So much for my Final Thoughts where I was thinking who head coach Butch Davis would insert for sophomore quarterback T.J. Yates if this game was a blow out. Yates never left the game, as the game was close the whole way, way too close some would say. He went 15 for 26, with two TDs and 1 interception. But there can't be blame on any one player, most of the Heels were just not on their game. The stat that shows the problem the most is this one I would say: Time of possession: McNeese State 35:15, North Carolina 23:45. You cannot have a team manage the time that much and expect to win most games.
Even the other wide receiver, junior Hakeem Nicks, who had 110 yards, never got into the game until late in the ball game. The other player that a lot of the fan base were expecting something from, sophomore running back Greg Little, didn't do a lot in this game, finishing up with just 37 yards (on 14 attempts) and one touchdown. As I said in this blog several times, if not for Brandon Tate, there isn't that much that can be highlighted as positive, with the exception, of course, that the team bent but didn't break, and got the W!
Head coach Butch Davis and his staff now have 12 days before North Carolina meets up with Rutgers on their field. Lots of changes might be made, or just fine adjustments, or maybe other things. Whatever it takes I am sure that coach Davis can find a way to bring out the positives and squash the negatives of this game and set up the squad for their next game.
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