We don’t need to talk about last Monday. We don’t even really need to talk about Saturday past. To borrow a phrase from the head football coach, we’re on to Richmond, and that’s all well and good — but I’m going to be watching carefully for a second-drive dropoff.
Two’s a streak, but three’s a pattern, and in both games to start the season the Tar Heels have come out swinging with quick and efficient drives ending in touchdowns. In both games, similarly, the next part has not been nearly as fun to watch.
It feels a lot like downshifting on the highway; humming along nicely at 75ish until a bit of traffic materializes, causing you to drop into neutral and into that weird in-between of speed and RPMs where the wrong choice has the car squatting forward as all the momentum unwinds itself through the engine. Last weekend, given the talent differential, Carolina was able to skate through the traffic and come back to Chapel Hill with something besides a zero in the win column, and that ought to be celebrated, but it’s worth noting that an early-season quirk is in jeopardy of blossoming into a recurring issue.
I anticipate this weekend’s talent differential to be similar, although Richmond is a solid FCS team and the Tar Heels overlook them at their peril. The Spiders rattled off ten wins in a row last year; the last time the Tar Heels did that was a full decade ago.
I don’t want to see the wheels run off in Kenan Stadium again. I don’t want to hear that proverbial engine shake itself apart as the offense shifts from fifth gear to first after an opening touchdown drive. The quick-strike-early-fade offensive play is exhausting, and I would prefer to watch this team win games like the tortoise than to fall asleep at the wheel like the hare.
On the other side of Richmond waits UCF, then ACC play starts with a bang and a visit from Clemson. There’s no more opportunity to fade; three straight scoring drives on Saturday would be an improvement, and I’d be over the moon if two of those three were touchdowns.
It’s a long season to be so short, and it’s not all lost or won right here at the beginning. Slow but steady improvement would be a wonderful thing to see, and it will hopefully continue to trend in the right direction on Saturday.
