Thoughts on the bowl game

[gunslingerdick]

It sucked. In a lot of ways. I will use this thread to chronicle the sucktitude and rank the suckiness of each talking point.

1 - Our defense - level 10 sucktitude - Let's start at the top. Of all the things that sucked, this was the suckiest. We were absolutely carved up by pretty much anyone that wanted to run the ball for Baylor. I'm not sure what Chizik thought he was going to see. If he knew their gameplan was to run like they did, he did a miserable job of stopping it. I don't know why we didn't put 9 in the box and just dare them to throw it. If we were beaten, at least it would have been a change from what happened all game long. But I'm not sure it would have mattered. The Baylor O-line toyed with our defense. Jones being out hurt, but there's no way his presence makes that much of a difference.

2 - The officiating - level 8 sucktitude - The officiating was bad. We were the victim and the beneficiary of some pretty horrible calls last night. First of all, two plays in particular went against us and were pivotal. The first was the phantom roughing the kicker call. Replay showed that the kicker wasn't even touched, let alone roughed. But the punter did an amazing job of selling it. Flopped like a fish out of water. And of course, the penalty allowed Baylor to continue the drive - on which they scored a TD. The second was the 3rd down completion of about 7 yards where the Baylor receiver caught the ball in the air and then landed out of bounds. The refs called it a catch. And then Baylor lined up really quickly, got the play off and converted on 4th down...keeping the drive alive - on which they eventually scored another TD. Not sure why Fedora didn't challenge the play. Baylor acted fast to prevent a review. But I thought there was still time to challenge it. But what's worse is that the refs called it a catch initially which meant it most likely would have stood. But replay showed that the first thing to touch (almost simultaneously with the foot in bounds) was his shoulder touching out of bounds. Both of those calls were huge and went against us. The refs got many other calls wrong - too many to cite here. But to show I'm not a homer, I'll admit that our score in the 3rd quarter doesn't happen without some super favorable calls - the sideline infraction on Baylor most notably. With all that said, I thought they got both targeting reviews correct. Switzer got lit up but I didn't think it was targeting. And Mack certainly went head to head on his targeting call. It wasn't malicious and I don't think Mack meant any harm. But it was the right call and it hurt badly. When he went out, I knew we were going to need a deep threat to come back and it showed later when we had to send other guys deep who aren't as capable of making the play. Marquise didn't help them though. And that's a good segue to...

3 - Marquise Williams - level 6.5 sucktitude - I said to my son in the first quarter, "oh no...looks like we got the bad Marquise tonight." He missed a lot of throws yet again. And when Williams starts missing throws, he starts making poor decisions and hangs onto the ball way too long which only compounds his poor play. Granted, he made some great runs - drive saving and even game saving runs. But his inability to hit open men killed us early and really put us in a bad spot. We've all known that Williams has an uncanny ability to look like a Heisman candidate on one series and then a high school QB on the next. I was hoping it wouldn't happen last night but it did. But he's not totally to blame because ...(another segue)...

4 - offensive playcalling - level 9 sucktitude - the playcalling didn't help Williams. Or maybe it was just Williams' reads, but we certainly forced the ball downfield a lot last night when I thought we could have methodically dinked and dunked our way downfield. We kept going for the homerun ball which I thought was stupid - not only because Williams wasn't throwing it well but also because "why?" Why would we want to score quickly and then trot our overworked defense back onto the field for them to get more pummeling? We should have run the ball more. We should have run Hood more. We should have run Logan more. We should have called more designed QB runs up the middle. We should have thrown more screens to Switzer. We should have thrown on first down and run on second down instead of the other way around. We needed to control the ball better. The time of possession last night was a joke.

5 - The atmosphere/environment/team attitude - level 7 sucktitude - I don't know about y'all, but to me, it looked like we had a team that regularly competes for national titles and we were put off by having to play in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The team didn't seem to be as hyped up as I thought they'd be to playing in their best bowl game in over a decade and to finish off our best season in half a century. It was weird. We started off kind of hyped and we were delivering some hits on defense early. But that quickly subsided and we then looked like we were going through the motions.

**BONUS** - Future outlook - level 1 sucktitude - One of the few things that doesn't suck is our immediate future and outlook for next year. And I was happy that the commentators touched on that several times throughout the game. Because I believe, like many of us have stated time and again here at this board - that our opportunity for a "special" season is next year. The Trubisky era begins. And if used correctly, the Hood for Heisman era begins as well. Because Trubisky is a far better thrower of the football and a less capable runner, I would hope that next year we will lean on Hood and Logan to do our running and leave Trubisky to throw the ball. If Mack returns (isn't that still in question?), we'll be every bit as dynamic offensively as we were this season and probably more efficient as Williams often struggled throwing passes.

So all in all, last night sucked. But I won't let it ruin my excitement for next year. Go Heels.

 

[Realfreedom]

I am excited about this - The Trubisky era begins. I think his accuracy will make a huge difference in our offense.

I do appreciate everything that Williams has done for UNC. Always a Tar Heel

 

[vbrs]

nice review!

 

[BeezerHeel]

Everything did suck last night, but I believe (and as you stated too) our boys were simply out matched and out coached. Don't think it had anything to do with the players not motivated or wanting to be at the bowl game (contrary to what I believed when the news broke where we would be playing). Our first possession on both sides of the ball showed that. Just down hill from there for the defense.

 

[BeezerHeel]

I am excited about this - The Trubisky era begins. I think his accuracy will make a huge difference in our offense.

I do appreciate everything that Williams has done for UNC. Always a Tar Heel

I feel this way as well. Here's to Trubisky contributing more at getting us over our more difficult games.

 

[Archer2]

With an A+ game from Quise, we may just score enough to win.

Why we didn't load the box and make them pass is a mystery to me.

The talent disparity on the lines was huge. Nothing more disheartening than to have a team run the ball down your throat the ENTIRE game.

Recruiting better linemen, especially on defense, is a huge priority.

 

[strummingram]

Last night's game just showed we still have a huge disparity in the potency of our offense and defense. Marquise was no liability last night at all. He wasn't absolutely perfect- he threw some head-scratchers- but he was very good. He did what he does well almost the entire game.

I'm watching a rebroadcast this morning and that loss was due to our defense being totally incapable of stopping a one-dimensional team. Now, granted, that one dimension was an incredibly-executed dimension by a team that was a Top 4 team prior to their personnel losses. Our offense scored 31 (almost 38) points. Our defense could not stop Baylor's offense AT ALL, and we couldn't get enough breaks to outscore their offense. That fumble by Logan in the end zone was, without a doubt, the most costly mistake of the night. We get that TD and it's only a 4-point difference again. Baylor made our defense look like last year's defense against all of our opponents.

I did not agree with the way the targeting calls flip-flopped, but the officiating was pretty good otherwise.

The Russell Athletic Bowl is the bowl that the #2 ACC team attends. If it's not fancy enough for you, then be the 3rd place team or the 1st place team.

We look good for the future. I wasn't really that upset by the loss after realizing the true caliber of of our opposition and we still have improvements that are vital to win bowl games against teams like Baylor. We're still going to wreak havoc in the ACC.

 

[BeezerHeel]

Really wish TJ had gotten into the EZ without fumbling. 80 yard wildcat TD the next play IIRC. if We had any hope it was gone right there.

 

[Tigertown_a_Rick]

It sucked. In a lot of ways. I will use this thread to chronicle the sucktitude and rank the suckiness of each talking point.

1 - Our defense - level 10 sucktitude - Let's start at the top. Of all the things that sucked, this was the suckiest. We were absolutely carved up by pretty much anyone that wanted to run the ball for Baylor. I'm not sure what Chizik thought he was going to see. If he knew their gameplan was to run like they did, he did a miserable job of stopping it. I don't know why we didn't put 9 in the box and just dare them to throw it. If we were beaten, at least it would have been a change from what happened all game long. But I'm not sure it would have mattered. The Baylor O-line toyed with our defense. Jones being out hurt, but there's no way his presence makes that much of a difference.

2 - The officiating - level 8 sucktitude - The officiating was bad. We were the victim and the beneficiary of some pretty horrible calls last night. First of all, two plays in particular went against us and were pivotal. The first was the phantom roughing the kicker call. Replay showed that the kicker wasn't even touched, let alone roughed. But the punter did an amazing job of selling it. Flopped like a fish out of water. And of course, the penalty allowed Baylor to continue the drive - on which they scored a TD. The second was the 3rd down completion of about 7 yards where the Baylor receiver caught the ball in the air and then landed out of bounds. The refs called it a catch. And then Baylor lined up really quickly, got the play off and converted on 4th down...keeping the drive alive - on which they eventually scored another TD. Not sure why Fedora didn't challenge the play. Baylor acted fast to prevent a review. But I thought there was still time to challenge it. But what's worse is that the refs called it a catch initially which meant it most likely would have stood. But replay showed that the first thing to touch (almost simultaneously with the foot in bounds) was his shoulder touching out of bounds. Both of those calls were huge and went against us. The refs got many other calls wrong - too many to cite here. But to show I'm not a homer, I'll admit that our score in the 3rd quarter doesn't happen without some super favorable calls - the sideline infraction on Baylor most notably. With all that said, I thought they got both targeting reviews correct. Switzer got lit up but I didn't think it was targeting. And Mack certainly went head to head on his targeting call. It wasn't malicious and I don't think Mack meant any harm. But it was the right call and it hurt badly. When he went out, I knew we were going to need a deep threat to come back and it showed later when we had to send other guys deep who aren't as capable of making the play. Marquise didn't help them though. And that's a good segue to...

3 - Marquise Williams - level 6.5 sucktitude - I said to my son in the first quarter, "oh no...looks like we got the bad Marquise tonight." He missed a lot of throws yet again. And when Williams starts missing throws, he starts making poor decisions and hangs onto the ball way too long which only compounds his poor play. Granted, he made some great runs - drive saving and even game saving runs. But his inability to hit open men killed us early and really put us in a bad spot. We've all known that Williams has an uncanny ability to look like a Heisman candidate on one series and then a high school QB on the next. I was hoping it wouldn't happen last night but it did. But he's not totally to blame because ...(another segue)...

4 - offensive playcalling - level 9 sucktitude - the playcalling didn't help Williams. Or maybe it was just Williams' reads, but we certainly forced the ball downfield a lot last night when I thought we could have methodically dinked and dunked our way downfield. We kept going for the homerun ball which I thought was stupid - not only because Williams wasn't throwing it well but also because "why?" Why would we want to score quickly and then trot our overworked defense back onto the field for them to get more pummeling? We should have run the ball more. We should have run Hood more. We should have run Logan more. We should have called more designed QB runs up the middle. We should have thrown more screens to Switzer. We should have thrown on first down and run on second down instead of the other way around. We needed to control the ball better. The time of possession last night was a joke.

5 - The atmosphere/environment/team attitude - level 7 sucktitude - I don't know about y'all, but to me, it looked like we had a team that regularly competes for national titles and we were put off by having to play in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The team didn't seem to be as hyped up as I thought they'd be to playing in their best bowl game in over a decade and to finish off our best season in half a century. It was weird. We started off kind of hyped and we were delivering some hits on defense early. But that quickly subsided and we then looked like we were going through the motions.

**BONUS** - Future outlook - level 1 sucktitude - One of the few things that doesn't suck is our immediate future and outlook for next year. And I was happy that the commentators touched on that several times throughout the game. Because I believe, like many of us have stated time and again here at this board - that our opportunity for a "special" season is next year. The Trubisky era begins. And if used correctly, the Hood for Heisman era begins as well. Because Trubisky is a far better thrower of the football and a less capable runner, I would hope that next year we will lean on Hood and Logan to do our running and leave Trubisky to throw the ball. If Mack returns (isn't that still in question?), we'll be every bit as dynamic offensively as we were this season and probably more efficient as Williams often struggled throwing passes.

So all in all, last night sucked. But I won't let it ruin my excitement for next year. Go Heels.

Good points, one and all!

Our young defensive line was bullied all night long by a Veteran Baylor line that is experienced and decorated with 4 of those guys earning All-B12-4+2=10 Conference honors......As evidenced by the game, it really made NO difference who the Baylor ball carrier was because our DL could not shed their blocks to make the tackles,or even plug the gaps, and I can't remember even hearing Schottmer's name during the game, so he too was obviously neutralized by Baylor's blocking schemes....Sorry to say it, but it felt at times that I was watching a replay of the East Carolina game a couple years ago....I know we're better scheme-wise defensively now than we were then, and we are better coached as well, but our youth and inexperience on the DL was really exposed by Baylor...

Offensively, I think we did enough to win the game, but we did miss several opportunites to make a difference in the outcome in spite of the defense's inability to stop Baylor...

Like yourself, it's really hard not to be optimistic about next season with all the young players that we have who will be returning, but we learned a hard lesson last night, and now have a lot of work to do if we expect our program to elevate to the level of a Baylor....The great thing as mentioned is that our offense should actually be even better next year with all the experience up front and at the skill postions, and hopefully, the defense will continue to mature and improve?....Our secondary will be one of the tops in the conference and country IMO, and our DL should be bigger and more experienced than it was this year, but is still a year or two away from being able to handle a veteran and talented OL like they seen last night....LBers are a real concern experience-wise for next year, but there does seem to be some talent in the pipeline, and hopefullly, those guys can learn to shed blockers, and fill the gaps better than we were able too last night?

Also agree that the officiating as usual was subpar for both teams which seems to have become the norm, unfortunately!

Overall, it was a tough pill to swallow last night, but an 11-3 overall record is something that every Tar Heel fan ought to be proud of, and this season's accomplishments should be a great springboard for the 2016 season when we open with the Gawja Bulldogs in Atlanta!

Congratulations to Coach Fedora, the Tar Heel Seniors and all the Underclassmen on a great season this year!

Go Tar Heels!

 

[randman1]

It sucked. In a lot of ways. I will use this thread to chronicle the sucktitude and rank the suckiness of each talking point.

1 - Our defense - level 10 sucktitude - Let's start at the top. Of all the things that sucked, this was the suckiest. We were absolutely carved up by pretty much anyone that wanted to run the ball for Baylor. I'm not sure what Chizik thought he was going to see. If he knew their gameplan was to run like they did, he did a miserable job of stopping it. I don't know why we didn't put 9 in the box and just dare them to throw it. If we were beaten, at least it would have been a change from what happened all game long. But I'm not sure it would have mattered. The Baylor O-line toyed with our defense. Jones being out hurt, but there's no way his presence makes that much of a difference.

2 - The officiating - level 8 sucktitude - The officiating was bad. We were the victim and the beneficiary of some pretty horrible calls last night. First of all, two plays in particular went against us and were pivotal. The first was the phantom roughing the kicker call. Replay showed that the kicker wasn't even touched, let alone roughed. But the punter did an amazing job of selling it. Flopped like a fish out of water. And of course, the penalty allowed Baylor to continue the drive - on which they scored a TD. The second was the 3rd down completion of about 7 yards where the Baylor receiver caught the ball in the air and then landed out of bounds. The refs called it a catch. And then Baylor lined up really quickly, got the play off and converted on 4th down...keeping the drive alive - on which they eventually scored another TD. Not sure why Fedora didn't challenge the play. Baylor acted fast to prevent a review. But I thought there was still time to challenge it. But what's worse is that the refs called it a catch initially which meant it most likely would have stood. But replay showed that the first thing to touch (almost simultaneously with the foot in bounds) was his shoulder touching out of bounds. Both of those calls were huge and went against us. The refs got many other calls wrong - too many to cite here. But to show I'm not a homer, I'll admit that our score in the 3rd quarter doesn't happen without some super favorable calls - the sideline infraction on Baylor most notably. With all that said, I thought they got both targeting reviews correct. Switzer got lit up but I didn't think it was targeting. And Mack certainly went head to head on his targeting call. It wasn't malicious and I don't think Mack meant any harm. But it was the right call and it hurt badly. When he went out, I knew we were going to need a deep threat to come back and it showed later when we had to send other guys deep who aren't as capable of making the play. Marquise didn't help them though. And that's a good segue to...

3 - Marquise Williams - level 6.5 sucktitude - I said to my son in the first quarter, "oh no...looks like we got the bad Marquise tonight." He missed a lot of throws yet again. And when Williams starts missing throws, he starts making poor decisions and hangs onto the ball way too long which only compounds his poor play. Granted, he made some great runs - drive saving and even game saving runs. But his inability to hit open men killed us early and really put us in a bad spot. We've all known that Williams has an uncanny ability to look like a Heisman candidate on one series and then a high school QB on the next. I was hoping it wouldn't happen last night but it did. But he's not totally to blame because ...(another segue)...

4 - offensive playcalling - level 9 sucktitude - the playcalling didn't help Williams. Or maybe it was just Williams' reads, but we certainly forced the ball downfield a lot last night when I thought we could have methodically dinked and dunked our way downfield. We kept going for the homerun ball which I thought was stupid - not only because Williams wasn't throwing it well but also because "why?" Why would we want to score quickly and then trot our overworked defense back onto the field for them to get more pummeling? We should have run the ball more. We should have run Hood more. We should have run Logan more. We should have called more designed QB runs up the middle. We should have thrown more screens to Switzer. We should have thrown on first down and run on second down instead of the other way around. We needed to control the ball better. The time of possession last night was a joke.

5 - The atmosphere/environment/team attitude - level 7 sucktitude - I don't know about y'all, but to me, it looked like we had a team that regularly competes for national titles and we were put off by having to play in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The team didn't seem to be as hyped up as I thought they'd be to playing in their best bowl game in over a decade and to finish off our best season in half a century. It was weird. We started off kind of hyped and we were delivering some hits on defense early. But that quickly subsided and we then looked like we were going through the motions.

**BONUS** - Future outlook - level 1 sucktitude - One of the few things that doesn't suck is our immediate future and outlook for next year. And I was happy that the commentators touched on that several times throughout the game. Because I believe, like many of us have stated time and again here at this board - that our opportunity for a "special" season is next year. The Trubisky era begins. And if used correctly, the Hood for Heisman era begins as well. Because Trubisky is a far better thrower of the football and a less capable runner, I would hope that next year we will lean on Hood and Logan to do our running and leave Trubisky to throw the ball. If Mack returns (isn't that still in question?), we'll be every bit as dynamic offensively as we were this season and probably more efficient as Williams often struggled throwing passes.

So all in all, last night sucked. But I won't let it ruin my excitement for next year. Go Heels.

Agree with all that except Marquise wasn't playing as poorly the whole game. He made some great passes. We should have run more, particularly in the first half. Should have probably kicked more on-sides kicks just to get an extra possession. Still, 2 turnovers in the red zone. That's 14 points. Our offense didn't lose this game.

Refusing to make the needed defensive adjustments did, imho. Why not put more guys in the box and blitz as well. Go man to man against the pass....anything. Make them pass. Said it all game long and couldn't figure out why we didn't do it.

 

[Mistercvr4]

Baylor beat us like that red head stepchild from Rawlee. Again we lost the game in the trenches. I don't care if you had Tom Brady back there, if you're line can't give you four seconds it's gonna be along night. Play calling was suspect but it is what it is. Baylor had far better athletes with a lot of size and speed. Its sad when folks just can't expect a beating as a listen learn. Until we get a few more Big DT team will continue to run right down our throat. But win or lose I'm extremely proud this 2015 UNC Football team. 2016 Team is officially on the clock to Finish the unfinished business. Go HEELS!!!

 

[Tru Blu Tar Heel]

It sucked. In a lot of ways. I will use this thread to chronicle the sucktitude and rank the suckiness of each talking point.

1 - Our defense - level 10 sucktitude - Let's start at the top. Of all the things that sucked, this was the suckiest. We were absolutely carved up by pretty much anyone that wanted to run the ball for Baylor. I'm not sure what Chizik thought he was going to see. If he knew their gameplan was to run like they did, he did a miserable job of stopping it. I don't know why we didn't put 9 in the box and just dare them to throw it. If we were beaten, at least it would have been a change from what happened all game long. But I'm not sure it would have mattered. The Baylor O-line toyed with our defense. Jones being out hurt, but there's no way his presence makes that much of a difference.

2 - The officiating - level 8 sucktitude - The officiating was bad. We were the victim and the beneficiary of some pretty horrible calls last night. First of all, two plays in particular went against us and were pivotal. The first was the phantom roughing the kicker call. Replay showed that the kicker wasn't even touched, let alone roughed. But the punter did an amazing job of selling it. Flopped like a fish out of water. And of course, the penalty allowed Baylor to continue the drive - on which they scored a TD. The second was the 3rd down completion of about 7 yards where the Baylor receiver caught the ball in the air and then landed out of bounds. The refs called it a catch. And then Baylor lined up really quickly, got the play off and converted on 4th down...keeping the drive alive - on which they eventually scored another TD. Not sure why Fedora didn't challenge the play. Baylor acted fast to prevent a review. But I thought there was still time to challenge it. But what's worse is that the refs called it a catch initially which meant it most likely would have stood. But replay showed that the first thing to touch (almost simultaneously with the foot in bounds) was his shoulder touching out of bounds. Both of those calls were huge and went against us. The refs got many other calls wrong - too many to cite here. But to show I'm not a homer, I'll admit that our score in the 3rd quarter doesn't happen without some super favorable calls - the sideline infraction on Baylor most notably. With all that said, I thought they got both targeting reviews correct. Switzer got lit up but I didn't think it was targeting. And Mack certainly went head to head on his targeting call. It wasn't malicious and I don't think Mack meant any harm. But it was the right call and it hurt badly. When he went out, I knew we were going to need a deep threat to come back and it showed later when we had to send other guys deep who aren't as capable of making the play. Marquise didn't help them though. And that's a good segue to...

3 - Marquise Williams - level 6.5 sucktitude - I said to my son in the first quarter, "oh no...looks like we got the bad Marquise tonight." He missed a lot of throws yet again. And when Williams starts missing throws, he starts making poor decisions and hangs onto the ball way too long which only compounds his poor play. Granted, he made some great runs - drive saving and even game saving runs. But his inability to hit open men killed us early and really put us in a bad spot. We've all known that Williams has an uncanny ability to look like a Heisman candidate on one series and then a high school QB on the next. I was hoping it wouldn't happen last night but it did. But he's not totally to blame because ...(another segue)...

4 - offensive playcalling - level 9 sucktitude - the playcalling didn't help Williams. Or maybe it was just Williams' reads, but we certainly forced the ball downfield a lot last night when I thought we could have methodically dinked and dunked our way downfield. We kept going for the homerun ball which I thought was stupid - not only because Williams wasn't throwing it well but also because "why?" Why would we want to score quickly and then trot our overworked defense back onto the field for them to get more pummeling? We should have run the ball more. We should have run Hood more. We should have run Logan more. We should have called more designed QB runs up the middle. We should have thrown more screens to Switzer. We should have thrown on first down and run on second down instead of the other way around. We needed to control the ball better. The time of possession last night was a joke.

5 - The atmosphere/environment/team attitude - level 7 sucktitude - I don't know about y'all, but to me, it looked like we had a team that regularly competes for national titles and we were put off by having to play in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The team didn't seem to be as hyped up as I thought they'd be to playing in their best bowl game in over a decade and to finish off our best season in half a century. It was weird. We started off kind of hyped and we were delivering some hits on defense early. But that quickly subsided and we then looked like we were going through the motions.

**BONUS** - Future outlook - level 1 sucktitude - One of the few things that doesn't suck is our immediate future and outlook for next year. And I was happy that the commentators touched on that several times throughout the game. Because I believe, like many of us have stated time and again here at this board - that our opportunity for a "special" season is next year. The Trubisky era begins. And if used correctly, the Hood for Heisman era begins as well. Because Trubisky is a far better thrower of the football and a less capable runner, I would hope that next year we will lean on Hood and Logan to do our running and leave Trubisky to throw the ball. If Mack returns (isn't that still in question?), we'll be every bit as dynamic offensively as we were this season and probably more efficient as Williams often struggled throwing passes.

So all in all, last night sucked. But I won't let it ruin my excitement for next year. Go Heels.

Pretty much spot on. Last night sucked pretty bad, but the future looks supernova bright it they can keep the momentum in their favor.

 

[CrazyHeel]

I'll take 11-3 every year. Great season.

 

[adwood81]

Last night showed what depth in a program will do. Baylor has more athletes than we do at this point. They played to their advantage just as Clemson did and smacked us in the mouth. Even with those obvious shortfalls, the game came down to three plays: the running into the kicker penalty, the targeting call which negated a first down and was in my opinion bogus and the fumble in the end zone. We had a very narrow margin of error and the mistakes were magnified.

If we find the right offensive coordinator and take the next step in developing talent, I think we are looking at the brightest future in football that we have had in a generation (that is not an exageration, as it has been almost 20 years since the football team has played relevant games on a consistant basis.) The next two seasons are critical, can the Heels build on the success or do they become satisfied and stay as an afterthought. It has taken Baylor 8 years to reach this level and that is without the dark shadow of an NCAA investigation hanging over them.

Thank you 2015 Football Heels for making this a great season and giving us something to look forward to in Sept of 16!

 

[Raising Heel]

I expressed my thoughts about this game on premium two weeks ago (referencing Baylor's comeback against Texas):

"The Baylor rally included 30 rushing plays and only 5 passing plays. The Longhorns knew the Bears were going to run the ball and still couldn't stop them.... [O]ur defense has struggled against the run all season. I'm worried what will happen if Baylor decides to try to run it down our throats."

The game was about what I expected. We needed to create our own good fortune, capitalize on Baylor's mistakes, and not make mistakes of our own to win. We obviously didn't do a good job of that. As bad a beating as it seemed, the scoreboard says we only lost by 11. That means we still did a lot of things well.

I'm excited about the direction of the program and hopefully another year of tutelage from Chizik, Papuchis, Warren, and Scott. Just need a few more difference makers on defense, specifically in the front 7.

 

[Realfreedom]

Refusing to make the needed defensive adjustments did, imho. Why not put more guys in the box and blitz as well. Go man to man against the pass....anything. Make them pass. Said it all game long and couldn't figure out why we didn't do it.

I could not figure out why we did not make any noticeable adjustments. To me that was the most disappointing thing about the game.

 

[Archer2]

Why the staff didn't foresee an extremely emphasized run package baffles me. Like you, I certainly did.

They had an inexperienced QB, their AA receiver was out, and we haven't been good against the run ALL YEAR! It's not rocket science.

I'd have put 11 players in the box before I'd let them gouge us for 8-15 yards every time they ran it. First time I've been really disappointed in Coach Chizik all year.

 

[TarHeelMark]

^Yep. Fed commented that they weren't expecting that offense from Baylor. Well, it seems like they should've anticipated that. As for those wondering why we didn't stack the box with 8 or 9 guys.... I don't know how that's possible when Baylor lined up 3 or 4 guys wide (outside the numbers even). They used their huge advantage in the trenches and speedy runners to overpower us and made it look rather easy.

Oh well... overall, it was an unexpectedly great season for the Heels, so I'm not going to let this game dampen it for me. Our future is bright, and the coaches and returning players can hopefully learn from this game. The next few seasons should be just as fun and rewarding.

GO HEELS!

 

[Archer2]

Good point Mark. That prevented the DB's from providing much run support. Very smart coaching. A fine season indeed.

 

[randman1]

I could not figure out why we did not make any noticeable adjustments. To me that was the most disappointing thing about the game.

It was extremely disappointing. People can talk about their O-line abusing us and they did, but when you are outclassed, you do something about it. You add more guys to defending the run. You take chances like blitzing every play with the safetys coming up, even cornerback blitzes and absolutely force them to throw. Maybe they get some easy TDs but they had running backs playing QB. Maybe you get an interception or a few more stops and we outscore them.

They couldn't stop us either. They just took more chances. 4th and 10 and they were going for it, and we acted like we're just gonna play the scheme we planned for and didn't adjust.

Could have won this game, but not by relying on our D-line and linebackers beating them man to man. Something had to give. We needed to force them to pass and switch to an attacking, aggressive D taking huge risks, willing to give up some huge big plays in order to get a couple of more stops and turnovers.

 

[6666Heel]

Reflecting on tar heel losses of prior yrs last night, 2 games came to mind:

1. UNC - Florida in Gainesville in 1969(?). Made the trip to Gainesville to see the Heels play a highly touted "young" UF team starting 4 sophs in the backfield, most notably John Reeves (QB) and Carlos Alavarez (WR). What the hype didn't mention was that the Gators had a veteran OL featuring primarily SENIORS. UF 52 UNC 2 (The Game is Usually Won or Lost in the Trenches, regardless of the guys behind. - very true last night, when a young, relatively inexperienced, undersized defensive front was just not on the same level as the Bears OL)

2. UNC - tOSU - in Columbus in approx 1974(?) - was listening to game on radio when possible while working on a Saturday. Heels got the first TD, and IIRC were essentially playing even with the Bucks at first, but then somewhere around the start of the 2nd Qtr, tOSU substituted a young freshman RB ( I believe it was his first varsity game action) who proceeded to pick up a bunch of yards rushing (200+ ?) and multiple TD's as they ran up about 40+ unanswered pts before we scored the last TD of the game. Young RB's name was Archie Griffin - later won 2 Heisman trophies while there. With the moves and speed demonstrated last night by Baylor's largely unheralded Jefferson, made me wonder if he isn't destined for some nice shiny hardware of his own in the future.

DESPITE having a serious problem dealing with the Baylor rush offense, the questionable calls (or non calls), plus a couple of times our "O" shot itself in the foot, our guys STILL were in this game until the 2nd "nearly successful" onsides kick in the last 2 games. And the mistakes have all been catalogued above. Baylor very clearly is not dependent on just a few superstars - they're deep, big, very athletic, very well-coached, and most importantly WELL MOTIVATED with something to really prove after having lost 3 or their last 4 games to key rivals in their conference, while missing some key components to their normal game. They were playing loose, with great intensity and as though they had nothing to lose - very few witnesses to this game entered it with any expectation of the Bears, due to their significant, critical personnel injury losses.

Someone above mentioned that our guys appeared not to be motivated, and I don't agree with that. I think our guys gave it everything they had last night. But I did feel in that crucial stretch in the first half when we went from +7 to -11 pts they were not as focused as they had been down the stretch in the ACC, for whatever reason, and maybe were shell-shocked by the unexpected intensity of the Baylor offense, using a makeshift assortment of "QB's" (see pt 1 above). Lack of focus as reflected in Washington apparently running the wrong route, Switzer slowing up on a overthrown ball that was ultimately intercepted, Hollins not paying attention to how he threw that crucial crack-back block that caused him to be ejected, or other minor mistakes. I didn't really see much of that in the second half. YES, we gave up an ungodly no. of rushing yards - to a team that ran 102 plays, mostly on the ground, against our relatively very young DLine. YES we lost - by 11 points. Hardly a true "blowout". (compared to Clemson's 40-6 win over Oklahoma last yr for example). A couple fewer mistakes, or calls not going against us, and we're looking at a "W". As it is - Baylor won, and our young team has received it's 2nd valuable lesson in what they need to work on to become an elite football team going forward.

For right now, I'm very proud of what this team accomplished. 11 wins (including undefeated division and state championships) 3 losses (by a grand total of 23 pts), 2 of which were to truly elite teams this year. Next year - future appears very bright at this point, even though the schedule certainly does look more challenging. And I'm also positive that if we're fortunate enough to have similar results next yr, even against a tougher schedule, when it comes to the CFP Committee evaluating the Heels, the only thing you'll hear, other than their crappy ranking, is a constant reference to our "schedule with 2 FCS" opponents, as a justification for their ranking.

 

[keysersosay#1]

Slinger yeah I agree with the vast majority of your analysis...I said right after the game that I was very disappointed in Chizik and his game plan.... Echo that again today.

I still disagree with you and others who claim the hits by Hollins and their guy were different and the calls correct I disagree entirely..... Both should have been ejected IMO. No way that Holiins hit was worse than the other kids... no way

But those things were minor compared to the obvious beat down our D line took and as many have said here ....NO adjustments were made it seemed.


Tough way to end but I echo what all others have said... The future is bright and I look forward to Mitch taking the helm and the Heels kick off next season.

 

[HeelFan58]

Reflecting on tar heel losses of prior yrs last night, 2 games came to mind:

1. UNC - Florida in Gainesville in 1969(?). Made the trip to Gainesville to see the Heels play a highly touted "young" UF team starting 4 sophs in the backfield, most notably John Reeves (QB) and Carlos Alavarez (WR). What the hype didn't mention was that the Gators had a veteran OL featuring primarily SENIORS. UF 52 UNC 2 (The Game is Usually Won or Lost in the Trenches, regardless of the guys behind. - very true last night, when a young, relatively inexperienced, undersized defensive front was just not on the same level as the Bears OL)

2. UNC - tOSU - in Columbus in approx 1974(?) - was listening to game on radio when possible while working on a Saturday. Heels got the first TD, and IIRC were essentially playing even with the Bucks at first, but then somewhere around the start of the 2nd Qtr, tOSU substituted a young freshman RB ( I believe it was his first varsity game action) who proceeded to pick up a bunch of yards rushing (200+ ?) and multiple TD's as they ran up about 40+ unanswered pts before we scored the last TD of the game. Young RB's name was Archie Griffin - later won 2 Heisman trophies while there. With the moves and speed demonstrated last night by Baylor's largely unheralded Jefferson, made me wonder if he isn't destined for some nice shiny hardware of his own in the future.

DESPITE having a serious problem dealing with the Baylor rush offense, the questionable calls (or non calls), plus a couple of times our "O" shot itself in the foot, our guys STILL were in this game until the 2nd "nearly successful" onsides kick in the last 2 games. And the mistakes have all been catalogued above. Baylor very clearly is not dependent on just a few superstars - they're deep, big, very athletic, very well-coached, and most importantly WELL MOTIVATED with something to really prove after having lost 3 or their last 4 games to key rivals in their conference, while missing some key components to their normal game. They were playing loose, with great intensity and as though they had nothing to lose - very few witnesses to this game entered it with any expectation of the Bears, due to their significant, critical personnel injury losses.

Someone above mentioned that our guys appeared not to be motivated, and I don't agree with that. I think our guys gave it everything they had last night. But I did feel in that crucial stretch in the first half when we went from +7 to -11 pts they were not as focused as they had been down the stretch in the ACC, for whatever reason, and maybe were shell-shocked by the unexpected intensity of the Baylor offense, using a makeshift assortment of "QB's" (see pt 1 above). Lack of focus as reflected in Washington apparently running the wrong route, Switzer slowing up on a overthrown ball that was ultimately intercepted, Hollins not paying attention to how he threw that crucial crack-back block that caused him to be ejected, or other minor mistakes. I didn't really see much of that in the second half. YES, we gave up an ungodly no. of rushing yards - to a team that ran 102 plays, mostly on the ground, against our relatively very young DLine. YES we lost - by 11 points. Hardly a true "blowout". (compared to Clemson's 40-6 win over Oklahoma last yr for example). A couple fewer mistakes, or calls not going against us, and we're looking at a "W". As it is - Baylor won, and our young team has received it's 2nd valuable lesson in what they need to work on to become an elite football team going forward.

For right now, I'm very proud of what this team accomplished. 11 wins (including undefeated division and state championships) 3 losses (by a grand total of 23 pts), 2 of which were to truly elite teams this year. Next year - future appears very bright at this point, even though the schedule certainly does look more challenging. And I'm also positive that if we're fortunate enough to have similar results next yr, even against a tougher schedule, when it comes to the CFP Committee evaluating the Heels, the only thing you'll hear, other than their crappy ranking, is a constant reference to our "schedule with 2 FCS" opponents, as a justification for their ranking.

Florida 1969 was Dooley's 3rd team(5-5) and was his first non-losing team. Ohio State 1975 was a 3-7-1 team not much was expected from either of these team and I just expected a better performance from an 11-2 team. I will be interested to see if any of these Baylor players are NFL prospects.

 

[SeaHawk98]

Very disappointing ending to a great season. I do wonder what would happen if UNC had scored instead of TJ Logan fumbling on the 1. Also, trying to block the punt was stupid in the first half. Penalty or not, no reason to put players in that position with Switzer back there. Defense was the worse I have ever seen given that Baylor was so one dimensional. Offense was ok, they did score 38, but not as crisp as it could have been. The last 2 games UNC showed it could score against the big boys, but just couldn't stop them. Got to get some big time D line and LB recruits in in order to take it to the next level. As long as UNC misses out on the top D line talent, it will continue to be a tier below where it needs to be. The offense looks great coming back next year, just not sure about the defense.

 

[UNCPJH81]

Really wish TJ had gotten into the EZ without fumbling. 80 yard wildcat TD the next play IIRC. if We had any hope it was gone right there.

That's when I left the room...

There's really nothing worse in football than getting your arse handed to you at the line of scrimmage, and that's what transpired. Need to recruit some DL talent to compete with the big boys.

 

[KOOL123]

It's real simple what happened....

Dalton- True Fr
Jones-dnp
Clarke-RS Fr
Dinkins-RS Fr
Powell-Soph
Crawford-dnp
Thomason -SR played over 90 snaps

Also don't forget we lost both Webb and Underwood at the start of last year and damaged depth for at least 2 years..


OL Spencer Drango 1st team Big 12
OL Jarell Broxton Baylor 2nd team Big 12
OL Kyle Fuller Baylor 2nd team Big 12

Now I do think 1 of their top Olineman was hurt but they were mainly RS Seniors and Juniors playing soph and frosh on our side....That's it nothing more nothing less...

Truth is at full Strengh Baylor is playing today and would have a darn good chance of winning the whole thing..
Brilies took over the program in 2008 and has built a powerhouse at Baylor...The Bears at 1 time lost games like this where they would get run over but still score a ton of points...Fed knows where he must improve now....

 

[Tom79]

We need to get a few more size/speed kids for the D line. But as was mentioned above, our younger kids on D line went against 4 all Big 12 O line players who were a tad smaller, strong and fast, IMO.

 

[6666Heel]

We need to get a few more size/speed kids for the D line. But as was mentioned above, our younger kids on D line went against 4 all Big 12 O line players who were a tad smaller, strong and fast, IMO.

Baylor's O-Line didn't "look" smaller. What were their weights??

 

[KOOL123]

Baylor's O-Line didn't "look" smaller. What were their weights??

I think they were all over 300 and plus that damn monster they kept putting at Fullback who was 400lbs...He was killing our LB all night...

 

[Realfreedom]

It's real simple what happened....
Truth is at full Strengh Baylor is playing today and would have a darn good chance of winning the whole thing..
Brilies took over the program in 2008 and has built a powerhouse at Baylor

The above quote is true and let this sink. Baylor is the Wake Forest or Duke of the ACC and yet look what they have become. I do understand there is much more talent in Texas than we have in NC, but I cannot name many better coaches than Brilies.

 

[Raising Heel]

I think they were all over 300 and plus that damn monster they kept putting at Fullback who was 400lbs...He was killing our LB all night...

LT - Spencer Drango, SR, 6'6" 320 lbs
LG - Desmine Hilliard, SR, 6'5" 345 lbs
C - Kyle Fuller, JR, 6'5" 315 lbs
RG - Jarell Broxton, SR, 6'5" 325 lbs
RT - Blake Muir, SR, 6'6" 315 lbs

So on average, you're facing a senior who goes about 6'5" and 324 lbs. Good gracious. And keep in mind they were missing a starter on the O line who's a redshirt freshman but goes 6'5" 340 lbs. Buncha grain-fed beasts they're growing there in Texas.

 

[Louigi]

The indoor renovated club at Citrus bowl was awesome, except it had only 8 places to piss in men's bathroom. That was a fail. Lots of UNC fans, but game sucked. I yelled, "they are going to run it up the middle " on every Baylor offensive play and was right 90% of time. Too bad Chizik could not hear me.

 

[HeelFan58]

The indoor renovated club at Citrus bowl was awesome, except it had only 8 places to piss in men's bathroom. That was a fail. Lots of UNC fans, but game sucked. I yelled, "they are going to run it up the middle " on every Baylor offensive play and was right 90% of time. Too bad Chizik could not hear me.

Even if he couldn't hear you , he should have seen it.

 

[6666Heel]

LT - Spencer Drango, SR, 6'6" 320 lbs
LG - Desmine Hilliard, SR, 6'5" 345 lbs
C - Kyle Fuller, JR, 6'5" 315 lbs
RG - Jarell Broxton, SR, 6'5" 325 lbs
RT - Blake Muir, SR, 6'6" 315 lbs

So on average, you're facing a senior who goes about 6'5" and 324 lbs. Good gracious. And keep in mind they were missing a starter on the O line who's a redshirt freshman but goes 6'5" 340 lbs. Buncha grain-fed beasts they're growing there in Texas.

Wonder what kinda "supplements" they feed 'em to help them get so big, strong and athletic?? The Big XII teams have been know for their massive O-Lines for several years now (thinking back to the Texas Tech O-Line of 5-6 yrs ago when they were contending for BCS invites AVERAGED 340 lbs).