They're showing signs of improvement, still a long ways off for competing with the ACC, much less national contenders, but progress is being made. Most Hurricane fans, and players, are probably thanking their respective football goods for these scheduled games, but something must be pointed out. Only four top 25 teams were facing off in week one, and the other two were Tennessee and California, and we all know what happened there (can anyone now say the Pac Ten is a legit conference, especially now if Cal beats USC), and then we go on to face Louisville, making 2 of our first 3 games against ranked opponents.
Now obviously if we had been a much better team, like the 2001 squad, this would have been a moot point, but fact of the matter is, this is a brand new offense. If this offense had been given more of an opportunity to discover itself (more games against UNC and FAMU), before facing not only a ranked opponent, but an ACC rival with an intimidating defense, things may have turned out differently.
Alright, enough whining and moaning, I've got an article to write. First off, back to my original point, the offense is finally showing signs of improvement, albeit against UNC. This was actually a very hard fought game for the first 2 quarters, but only one sided. The Tar Heels offense couldn't get anything going. Their only touchdown, in fact, was only possible by virtue of some huge blunders. Brian kicked off out of bounds, starting them at the 35. They, UNC, were then moved up to the 50 on a personal foul face mask, a 15 yard penalty. Two passes and a 2 yard dash later and UNC had it's first, and only, score of them game.
As is evident, the defense was once again brilliant, although a little work in the secondary couldn't hurt. With a total of 250 yards, 64 on the ground, though, there really isn't too much to complain about. With that number, Miami continues to hold it's sub 65 yards per game average, far and above the best in the NCAA, yes even better then LSU.
Although the penalties were worrisome, the lack of a turnover really impressed me. Mistake free football wins games, and without the 7 penalties for 90 yards (including kicking the ball out of bounds and pulling at someones face mask) this game could easily have been a shutout. Like I said though, the lack of a turnover is a step in the right direction, and causing three doesn't hurt much either.
The offense, although not the big play threat we were expecting, is starting to show signs of shrugging off the rust. A consistent play maker in Javarris James has emerged, and a few more trick plays like the one Lovon Ponder pulled off will go a long way to sparking this offense. I can foresee an offense, lead by James and Moss, finally finding its feet just in time for the meat of it's ACC schedule.
Anyway, here's the final box score:
Box Score (Final) NC vs UM (Oct 07, 2006 at Miami, Fla.)
Scoring Summary: 1st 04:05 UM - Sam Shields 37 yd pass from Lovon Ponder (Jon Peattie kick), 1-37 0:23, NC 0 - UM 7 2nd 07:42 UM - Jon Peattie 39 yd field goal, 8-36 2:25, NC 0 - UM 10 05:38 NC - McGill, R 2 yd run (Barth, C kick), 4-65 2:04, NC 7 - UM 10 00:08 UM - Charlie Jones 1 yd run (Jon Peattie kick), 7-56 1:21, NC 7 - UM 17 3rd 09:27 UM - Javarris James 62 yd run (Jon Peattie kick), 4-83 2:25, NC 7 - UM 24 02:41 UM - Jon Peattie 40 yd field goal, 6-33 1:54, NC 7 - UM 27
NC UM FIRST DOWNS................... 17 14 RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 28-58 31-144 PASSING YDS (NET)............. 186 180 Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 36-13-2 26-15-0 TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 64-244 57-324 Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0 Punt Returns-Yards............ 4-26 4-9 Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-97 1-18 Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 2-19 Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-41.5 7-49.3 Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-1 1-0 Penalties-Yards............... 5-45 6-72 Possession Time............... 30:21 29:39 Third-Down Conversions........ 5 of 14 4 of 14 Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 0 of 0 Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-1 2-2 Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-1 3-27
RUSHING: NC-Edwards, B 10-37; Sexton, C 6-11; Dailey, J 4-5; McGill, R 7-3; Edwards, L 1-2. UM-Javarris James 16-111; Kyle Wright 5-23; Kirby Freeman 2-9; Charlie Jones 5-4; Derron Thomas 3-minus 3.
RECEIVING: NC-Holley, J 4-61; Foster, B 3-35; Hamlett, J 2-25; Rich, R 2-24; Nicks, H 1-37; Tate, B 1-4. UM-Greg Olsen 8-95; Ryan Hill 2-27; Lance Leggett 2-9; Sam Shields 1-37; Javarris James 1-8; Charlie Jones 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS: NC-None. UM-Randy Phillips 1-15; Jon Beason 1-4.
FUMBLES: NC-Sexton, C 1-0; Dailey, J 1-1. UM-Bruce Johnson 1-0.
