The Tar Heels finally returned the Victory Bell back to Chapel Hill. After taking an early 17-0 lead, North Carolina let the Blue Devils score 20 unanswered points before Jaylen McGill scampered 24 yards for the go ahead score with less than two minutes remaining. Kenton Dopson III got the game sealing interception and the Tar Heels enter their midseason point 4-2. With the season now halfway over it is time for another round of mid-season grades.
Quarterbacks:
Billy Edwards moved up from fourteenth to thirteenth
in the ACC by yardage (just a reminder that there are 17 football members in the ACC). He is tied for ninth in touchdowns with nine, but is also tied for third worst in the conference with 5 interceptions (only Syracuse’s Steve Angelli and Boston College’s Mason McKenzie have worst ratios in the conference and their teams are a combined 5-7). Finally, Edwards ranks eighteenth out of 22 qualifying quarterbacks with a 59.9 completion percentage (the four guys behind him are the aforementioned Angelli and McKenzie along with FSU’s Ashton Davis and Pitt’s Corey Dailey, a true freshman who has started one game this season and lost to Boston College).
First Quarter Grade: F+
Mid Season Grade: D+. I still think the team needs to make a change at quarterback, but I also have to improve the overall grade due to Edwards “steady” hand during the past three games. However, Edwards also has costly turnovers and takes sacks at inopportune times (seventh most sacks in the ACC). With the next two games being at home (even if one is against a top ranked Miami team), it would be wise to make the switch, but alas I also know Edwards will be trotting out against Syracuse as well.
Running Backs:
When I last did this exercise, Benjamin Hall had 215 yards. In the three games since he has increased that total to 283 yards for a grand total of 68 yards over the last three games to drop from ninth to twenty-third in the ACC. Meanwhile, Demon June did add two more touchdowns to his total bringing his season number up to six (tied for fifth in the conference), while Jaylen McGill continues to lead the pack in yards per carry at 5.7 (down a bit from his 6.6 at the first quarter, but still seventh best in the ACC). Hall was still the lead back against Notre Dame and Pitt, but took a backseat in the win over Duke to both McGill and June. On the whole UNC is the fifteenth worst rushing unit in the ACC.
First Quarter Grade: B-
Mid Season Grade: C. I had to drop the grade this quarter as the group on the whole looked awful, though it did go up against two stellar run defenses in Notre Dame and Pitt. If the switch to June and McGill sticks, this grade should go up next time as UNC had its third best rushing performance of the season against Duke.
Wide Receivers:
Jordan Shipp continues to carry the torch for Tar Heel wide receivers with 441 receiving yards (ninth best in the ACC, up three spots from quarter one) on 33 receptions (also ninth in the conference and up six spots from the previous quarter). Shipp also finally added a touchdown to his resume this season in the game against Duke. Meanwhile, the rest of North Carolina’s wide receiver group has 22 receptions for 285 yards (that’s up just 8 receptions and 99 yards from the previous quarter).
First Quarter Grade: C-
Mid Season Grade: C. Shipp on his own is an A+. But the rest of the unit has been a D at best and that drags the grade down. Hopefully Shipp continues to find the end zone and we all get to enjoy watching him on Sundays next season.
Tight Ends:
If you are wondering why Shipp doesn’t have 2,000 yards this season, it is because the tight ends continue to be a huge part of the offense. Jelani Thurman continues to be the second best tight end in the ACC (Virginia Tech’s Luke Reynolds is one of the best in the country) with 26 receptions for 314 yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, Shemar Easter is third on the team with 137 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
First Quarter Grade: B
Mid Quarter Grade: B+. Thurman continues to show he wasn’t just a product of force feeding against bad defenses, while Easter has shown success on limited opportunities (just seven receptions). Getting Easter more involved should help the passing game as the season continues and in turn would raise this grade.
Offensive Line:
As I mentioned in my first quarter grades, offensive lines are hard to evaluate. However, looking at the same statistics as before, the line has improved on pass protection as the Tar Heels are down to tenth in the ACC in sacks (they were third last time) and also down to tenth in sack yards lost (fifth last time). The rushing game is way down as mentioned above, but again did have a breakout against Duke.
First Quarter Grade: C
Mid Season Grade: C+. Nothing much has changed since the last time, though the overall protection of the quarterback is still positive. If the rushing game has found its rhythm, then this grade should continue to rise. Again, hopefully the line stays healthy for the rest of the season or things may get dicey instead.
Defensive Line:
North Carolina dropped from fifth to tenth in the ACC in rushing yards per game as the number rose from a modest 123.0 to a more concerning 147.3. On a positive note they did hold ACC leading rusher Nate Sheppard to a season low 77 yards in their win against Duke. The team also dropped from second to a lowly fourteenth in the conference in sacks after only picking up three sacks over the last three games, with two of those coming against Pitt. After starting the season with six sacks in his first three games, Xavier Lewis only has two half sacks in the past three.
First Quarter Grade: B-
Mid Season Grade: D+. The lack of a pass rush, combined with the drop in rushing defense lowers this grade greatly. With two games against Syracuse and UConn sandwiched around one against Miami, this grade has the potential to either improve some or plummet greatly.
Linebackers:
Derek McDonald leads the ACC in tackles while Peyton Seelman is fourth. Those are good things and yet I am still not overly impressed with the linebacker duo.
First Quarter Grade: F-
Mid Season Grade: C-. The two guys are doing what they are supposed to do and that’s tackle people. So why isn’t the grade a lot higher? Because I have watched them play. If they continue to tackle people and the Tar Heels continue to win, I will continue to raise their grade accordingly, but right now enjoy the modest boost.
Defensive Backs:
After allowing only one passing touchdown in their first three games, the Tar Heels have allowed five in their past three, which is still second best in the ACC. The passing yards per game has gone up from 189.3 to 211.7 which is eighth best in the conference (a small drop from seventh from last time). Though the opposing team’s quarterback rating did rise a smidge from 117.0 to 120.9, they actually moved up in the ACC from eighth to a tie for fifth. UNC also ranks fifth in the conference with five interceptions on the season. Greg Smith III continues to lead the team in interceptions with three, while Jaiden Patterson leads the team with five pass deflections.
First Quarter Grade: B.
Mid Season Grade: B. Minus the extra passing touchdowns and the rise in yards, the unit is basically the same as last quarter while also adding three more interceptions to help offset the rise in the other numbers.
Special Teams:
The biggest story for special teams was the return of Rece Verhoff. Though Verhoff has only kicked one field goal this season (one he made by the way), he is also just a huge upgrade over Aeron Burrell, who was always a punter pretending to be a place kicker. The only knock on Verhoff is he did miss an extra point, so maybe the team should let Burrell kick those as he is still perfect this season. Burell also saw a drop from third to tenth in the ACC in punt yards per game, but that can also be to where the Tar Heels are punting from as opposed to anything negative Burrell did. Jaden Jefferson is eleventh in the conference in kick return yards, while Trech Kekahuna is twentieth in punt return yards.
First Quarter Grade: D-
Mid Season Grade: C. The return of Verhoff gives the special teams unit the missing piece it needed to stabilize the kicking game. Jefferson adds a element of danger to the return game, while the punt return game continues to be lacking.
Coaching:
The team has matched its win total from last season in half as many games. That alone is an accomplishment and is worthy of a bump in grade. If Bobby Petrino sticks to the same running back splits he did against Duke, the offense might actually have a decent running game to go with a couple of dangerous receivers. Combine that with a defense that bends but doesn’t break, particularly in the red zone, and this is a middle of the pack conference team that should make a bowl game at this point. Additionally, a team that went 1-3 in one score games last season is 3-1 in such games this year. Lastly, UNC’s worst loss was to a top five Notre Dame squad by 11, while last year’s squad had five losses by at least 16 points.
First Quarter Grade: D
Second Quarter Grade: C+. Look if you want to see improvement this team is a rain delay from being 5-1 and undefeated in conference play. If you want to see nothing has really changed, the team is a couple of plays away from being 1-5 and on the verge of imploding. So, lets split the difference and say the team is a mediocre squad playing in the fourth best P4 conference.
What do you think of the team in this first quarter of play? Let us know in the comments below.
