A few notes about the Heels' season to date.
- UNC leads the ACC in yards per carry and yards per pass attempt. Naturally, that means the Heels lead the conference in overall yards per play as well, which indicates outstanding offensive efficiency. UNC is a huge headache for opposing defensive coordinators because the Heels are the exact opposite of a one-dimensional offense.
- UNC also leads the ACC in yards per game despite running less than 65 plays per game, which is the 5th fewest in the conference and 15th fewest nationally.
- UNC's 6.1 yards per carry is good for 8th nationally, behind teams like LSU, Georgia, and Ohio State. For reference, the next best ACC team is Georgia Tech at 5.7 yards per carry.
- UNC leads the ACC and is 9th nationally in passing efficiency. The Heels are completing more than two-thirds of their passes and throw 3 TDs for every interception.
- UNC leads the ACC and is 7th nationally in 3rd down conversion percentage (50.9%). That's an 8.5% improvement from last season.
- On defense, UNC has overcome enough miscues to hold opponents to 18 points per game. That makes them a top-25 scoring defense. It also means a 3 TD per game improvement from last year's defense, which surrendered 39 points per game.
- Three touchdowns per game. Seriously. Gene Chizik should be allowed to name his price at his next contract negotiation (just one man's opinion).
- The Heels still struggle against the run, placing last in the ACC and 115th nationally in rushing yards allowed per game. I wanted to blame that on playing two run-heavy teams in Delaware and Georgia Tech. After all, they've faced the 5th most rushing attempts in the nation. However, the Heels still surrender 4.9 yards per carry which is 28th worst nationally.
- The flip side of UNC's struggling run defense is its outstanding pass defense. The Heels rank in the top 15 nationally in passing yards per game, yards per attempt, completion percentage, TD to INT ratio, and passing efficiency. The secondary continues to be the most remarkable turnaround story from last season...hats off to Charlton Warren.
- Kind of a weird statistic, but through 5 games UNC has yet to allow a punt return. Zero returns, zero yards. What's even weirder is that the Heels don't even lead the ACC in that department. Wake Forest has only allowed one punt return, which went for a loss of 1 yard and makes the Deacs the leader in that category.
- On a bad note, the Heels average less than 1 sack every 2 games. That places them dead last in the nation in defensive sacks. Again, I wanted to blame that on playing run-heavy Delaware and Georgia Tech. But if you look at the number of sacks per pass attempt, UNC is still 3rd worst in the nation, only bringing down the QB once in every 59 attempts. Next worse in the ACC is Louisville with a sack in every 16 attempts, which is obviously a huge difference. There's no nice way to say it: the Heels are flat-out awful in this department.
- Let's end on a positive note. UNC is 25th nationally in fewest penalties per game, and 14th nationally in fewest penalty yards per game. Many of us never thought we'd be able to say that about a Larry Fedora-coached team, but the Heels have improved drastically in the "Smart" part of the game this season.