Davis' QB change scrambles Heels' vibe

CHAPEL HILL -- It may not have made all that much difference in the long run, but North Carolina football coach Butch Davis started the wrong quarterback on Saturday in Kenan Stadium against N.C. State.

Davis, on Wednesday, elected to go with T.J. Yates over Cameron Sexton. That miscalculation contributed quickly and directly to a stunning 41-10 Wolfpack upset win.

Carolina may have played its way out of Atlanta and into who-knows-where. And UNC wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (4 receptions, 56 yards on Saturday) may have taken himself out of serious contention for ACC offensive player of the year.

Davis didn't say so, of course, but his quarterback decision was one he'll regret for at least the next year, when he gets a third chance to claim a win in the rivalry series.

The bigger factor Saturday was Wolfpack quarterback Russell Wilson. Shortly into the second half on a chilly -- well, downright cold -- afternoon, it was apparent that one Wilson was better on all counts than a combination of Yates and Sexton.

With a game to go against Miami this Saturday in Raleigh, Wilson has emerged as the best quarterback in the ACC. It's that simple.

Given a little more help from his receivers, Wilson and the Pack would have won the game by 40-plus points rather than 31. State coach Tom O'Brien and quarterbacks coach Dana Bible should take a long, sweeping bow for what they've accomplished with Wilson since his early-season injuries and setbacks. With Wilson, a redshirt freshman, the program hasn't had such a promising future since the moment Philip Rivers arrived on campus in January, 2000.

But impressive as Wilson, the State coaches and the Pack defense were Saturday, Davis and his staff charted a direct course into disaster by failing to start Sexton, who had led the team to a 4-2 record in the weeks since Yates was injured late in a 20-17 loss to Virginia Tech on Sept. 20. Davis sent the wrong message to everyone in the locker room, and paid an expensive price for doing so.

The coach's intentions, no doubt, were good. So, perhaps, was his logic. He said Yates was the pick based on a "body of work" that began in 2007. But football is not always a logical game when you're the kids in the uniforms rather than the adults wearing the coaching hats. With Chick-fil-A Bowl scouts watching and just waiting for Carolina to wrap up a bid to Atlanta, the Heels came out flat as a shower shoe.

"We didn't execute at all. I just don't understand it," said defender E.J. Wilson.

By selecting Yates over Sexton, Davis scrambled his team's vibes. State's alert, intense players capitalized on that weakness immediately. In football, the quarterback isn't just another piece of personnel equipment. He's the team's pilot, whether he even watches the defensive unit perform or not. Change the pilot, and everything changes and often for the worse.

"They were arguing on the field sometimes," Wolfpack cornerback DeAndre Morgan said. "There were a lot of misunderstandings and things of that nature."

Sexton, a redshirt junior, handled it all very well.

"I'm in this thing for whatever's best for the team," Sexton said. "I want to win first but of course, I'm upset about not starting. I'm a competitor. I want to play, but I want to win more than anything else. I'll accept the role that's best for the team."

That role now is certain to turn into a lively public debate as the Heels (7-4, 3-4 ACC) prepare for their final game of regular season at Duke. A fat favorite against State (5-6, 3-4), the Heels will be equally favored in Durham.

Now, however, the equation has changed from UNC's perspective, as Davis acknowledged. He said the starter for the Blue Devils game would have been determined based on practice sessions this week. Likely, he'll stick with Yates and it's just as likely that the Heels can be off-key and still win.

But Carolina's chemistry has changed. A team that had been defeated by three points against Virginia Tech, by two against Maryland and by three against Virginia in overtime completely lost its compass against a Wolfpack team that was fully focused on the task at hand.

The potentially lethal backdraft easily could be that Davis no longer can be certain which way to go at quarterback.