UNC football: UVA loss shows offense can’t overcome flaws
The past five seasons North Carolina held a 17-0 record when scoring 40 or more points in regulation. Since UNC coach Mack Brown’s first tenure began in 1988, they were 70-2 when reaching the mark. None of that mattered at Virginia. Nor did the fact that the Tar Heels ripped off their fourth consecutive game with more than 500 yards total offense, which is the longest streak according to the school’s existing records that date back to 1971.
Despite all the historic levels of offense, the No. 15 Tar Heels (4-2, 4-2 ACC) lost for the second time this season on the road to a previously one-win team. Carolina’s 44-41 defeat at Virginia (2-4, 2-4) on Saturday proved its offense has to be virtually flawlessly to compensate for the team’s flaws.
UNC sophomore quarterback Sam Howell completed 23 of 28 passes for a career-high 443 passing yards — and the third highest single-game total in program history. His four touchdown passes was the most he’s had in a game this season and the fourth time in his career he’s had four or more.
“We saw one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from a quarterback so it’s a shame that nobody will be talking about that tomorrow because the game didn’t end up like we wanted it to,” Brown said. “But I’ll be talking about it because it bodes great for the future for us.”
It was about as complete a game as a quarterback could play, leading Brown to call Howell’s performance “unbelievable.” But Howell’s game wasn’t without criticism and self-reflection.
He still has a tendency to not throw the ball away when he’s facing pressure or doesn’t have an open target. UVA tied its season-high with five sacks and a few were because Howell held the ball too long. His attempt to extend a play while being chased from the pocket led to his third quarter fumble, which the Cavaliers converted into a touchdown and a 41-20 lead.
“I got out of the pocket and I should just have just thrown the ball away,” Howell told reporters on a postgame video call. “I held on to it a little too long, at that point, it’s too late to throw it away. I just got to hold on to the ball (and not fumble.) I can’t let my team down like that.”
A play here or there on offense and the Heels leave Charlottesville with a win despite their defense allowing more than 200 yards rushing for a third time this season and allowing Virginia to score its season-high for points.
There weren’t many times it happened, but the offense sputtered several first-half drives when it could have produced more. A bad snap and a Howell sack stopped a drive that reached the UVA 21 and led to a Grayson Atkins’ 51-yard field goal. Another sack pushed Atkins’ third field goal attempt to 52 yards, which he missed to the left.
And just before the half ended, Carolina reached the UVA 2 with no timeouts, but Howell’s lateral pass to Dazz Newsome was errant leading to a loose ball. Although Carolina recovered, it could not prevent the clock from running out to end the half. Those missed opportunities hurt in a game that had to be won by the offense.
Brown said Howell and receiver Dyami Brown were the main reasons Carolina climbed back from its 21-point deficit to get back in the game. He labeled Dyami Brown a “superstar” after posting career highs with 11 catches for 240 yards — the second most in program history — and three touchdowns. He was just eight yards shy of breaking Randy Marriott’s program record of 247 yards set in 1987.
“If he (Howell) finds me and I’m the target that he wants, I have to make a play,” Dyami Brown said on his postgame video call. “And that goes for any receiver that we have any anybody that the ball goes to, we have to make that play.”
Too many times , the Heels aren’t making plays to help their offense.
An aspect of special teams again left them wanting. In their loss to Florida State, the Heels allowed two blocked punts and missed a field goal. Against the Cavaliers, they were hurt by their punt return unit.
A muffed punt by Rontavius Groves just before halftime allowed UVA to take the lead for good. Groves replaced Newsome to field the punt because Virginia was punting from its own 46 and Brown expected a kick that could possibly pin the Heels near the goal line.
“Toe is one of the more sure handed players on our team and he also makes really good decisions around the 10,” Brown said.
Carolina couldn’t stop a fake punt on Virginia’s final drive, which allowed it run out the game clock. The Heels appeared poised to stop the intended play, which was a run to the right side of the line. But when Keytaon Thompson cut back to the left, no one was was positioned to tackle him short of the first down.
“When the punt return team just ran out there, I think they were just thinking punt, I don’t think they were really thinking fake,” UNC linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel told reporters in a postgame video conference. “Because in practice, I was watching all week, and we were making sure that we were going to be aware of fakes all week.”
Carolina entered the game as the second most penalized team in the ACC, averaging nine per game for 78.8 yards. The Heels’ six penalties against UVA were actually the fewest they’ve had this season. But the timing of two in particular still proved critical.
Tight end Kamari Morales’ holding penalty wiped out Howell’s second quarter touchdown run and the Heels ended up settling for a field goal.
With the Heels about to force only their second three-and-out series on defense, safety Trey Morrison was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after Tomon Fox and Raymond Vahosek’s combined for a sack.
With all the areas of concern the loss presented, Mack Brown said the Heels were still in better shape than they were a year ago as they turn their focus to rival Duke next week.
“We know that so we’ve got to build on what we’ve done and move forward,” Brown said. “... There’s a lot of really good things that that we can take out of the night that will help us grow as a team.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2020 at 9:43 AM.