Unc’s Report Card Against Pitt Is Passing, Against All The Evidence

Last week, Bill Belichick coached the best game of his career at UNC and put his team in a position where it could conceivably have won a game it had no business winning. This week, it was nearly the opposite, as both he and his players repeatedly tried to give away a game that was being given to them just as often. His Heels were dominated statistically by Pat Narduzzi and the Panthers of Pittsburgh, but made just enough plays on offense and held up at the right times on defense to come away with a win that was both improbable and maddening. I try to grade process over results here at the Tar Heel Blog position grades, so even though the Heels beat a ranked team (insert bolded asterisk), this will read pretty harsh. And to that, I simply shrug.

Quarterback: C-

Billy Edwards, once again, had a statline that would register as perfectly cromulent, even good, if it weren’t for two turnovers: one interception that he fired way too high for Jordan Shipp, who tipped it into a defensive back’s lap, and the other an absolute meatball sub into a blitz where he just didn’t see a sinking linebacker. He tried to throw another that would likely have been returned for a score, but got bailed out by a false start, and another blitz got home and caused him to fumble backwards — it was recovered by one of his linemen, but it did kill a drive. And even still, his numbers are buoyed by a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Shemar Easter, without which his line would have been 17/25 for 174 yards, a touchdown, and 2 picks. Obviously, the touchdown happened and was great — a phenomenal throw and a great play by the tight end — but it also bears saying that the rest of Edwards’ play was subpar, and included far too many turnover-worthy plays, some of which became turnovers, for him to be as otherwise unspectacular as he continues to be.

Running Back: D+

For the first time all season, the UNC run game was completely bottled up, collecting just 43 non-sack yards all game. Benjamin Hall’s 12 carries went for 25 and just one first down, with a couple of other successes (an 8-yarder on first down, a 3-yarder on second and 4). Demon June carried 6 times for 15 yards, one first down, and a touchdown. Any explosiveness to hit holes and break weak tackles they’d shown in previous weeks was pretty much gone, and while they didn’t have a ton of room to work with (more on that in a second), they also didn’t really seem to be maximizing what they could get. Again, it’s almost frustrating from an analytical or coaching perspective that UNC won this game, because getting this level of contribution on the ground is really not how this team is going to be able to win games.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: A+

Billy Edwards’ pass-catchers have been working their tails off for him all season, and at no time has it been more evident than in this game. Just about every time he threw a pass, it seemed, a receiver was adjusting a route, contorting his body, or simply making a great catch. Usually, that was Jordan Shipp, who almost had a second consecutive 100-yard game with 6 grabs for 93 yards. He could have had two touchdowns if not for Edwards’ inaccuracy; there was a deep ball where he’d toasted his man but had to run back towards the line of scrimmage to make the catch, and a snag on the goal line that forced him to jump and grab it at full extension reaching up, giving him no opportunity to fall backwards into the end zone. Easter’s single catch was obviously extremely impactful, while Jelani Thurman rumbled his way to 29 yards and a score on 6 catches, most of them in or near the flat. Trech Kekahuna also had a nice game working the sidelines.

Offensive Line: D+

Billy Edwards took 3 sacks and UNC running backs were tackled behind the line 3 times, with a lot more of their runs being stopped for 2 or fewer yards, so things don’t look great for the Heels up front. I do think at least two of those sacks were Edwards’ fault for not recognizing where pressure was going to come from and adjusting accordingly, whether that be sliding the line or finding a hot to get the ball to, but perhaps he did more than I think and the line failed to execute. It was clear that they were missing left tackle Jordan Hall — they shifted right tackle Andrew Threatt there some and he struggled, as did the backup tackles who played on the other side.

Defensive Line: C

It was a mercurial day for the defensive line, which started the game getting absolutely bulldozed as Pitt running backs simply danced up and down the field before tightening things up, especially on runs between the tackles, for the last 35 or so minutes of the game. Donovan Hoilette, pressed into extra duty due to injury, really struggled to hold an edge — including an unfortunately memorable run where a running back stiff-armed him into the ground without much effort — but did pick up a sack. Melkart Abou-Jaoude had a couple of pressures and a nice run stop but was quieter than you’d expect from him. Xavier Lewis was in on 12 tackles, helping collapse the middle of the line when Pitt tried to run at him, and added half a sack to his tally, while redshirt freshman Nicco Maggio, filling in for Isaiah Johnson, made a couple of nice plays but also got blown off the ball a fair number of times. The unit does get credit for bowing up when UNC most needed them, on Pitt’s second-last fourth down of the game, stopping a running back in his tracks when he needed a yard and a half, and nearly picking up a scoop-and-score in the process.

Linebackers: B+

Derek McDonald had probably his best overall game as a Tar Heel, showing up nicely in run support, rushing the passer, and in pass coverage. He led UNC in total and solo tackles, as is becoming his norm, and made quarterback Holden Geriner’s life difficult all day long. Peyton Seelmann wasn’t as loud but made a couple of nice plays in coverage, and Jonathan Agumadu blew up a run in the backfield in his somewhat limited snaps. I do think the spot next to McDonald has been a bit of a weak link in this defense, but they managed by committee on this occasion — helped, of course, by a quarterback who couldn’t really take advantage of them.

Secondary: B

Tre Miller and Greg Smith both had really nifty interceptions that helped the Heels stiff-arm Pitt, and the coverage was just good enough towards the end of the game to force Geriner to make some uncomfortable throws. Most of them were makeable, and I think Belichick and Armond Hawkins are going to be meaner than I am because there were a lot of open receivers down the stretch — including on fourth down on Pitt’s third-to-last drive — that Geriner flat-out missed, but they were able to mess with timing and spacing enough that Geriner couldn’t access the rhythm he’d intermittently found during this game when he needed it most. Miller and Kaleb Cost both left the game with injuries, but the Heels were able to find a next man up. I think this was our first look at Ade Willie, who acquitted himself well.

Special Teams: C+

Aeron Burrell had a surprisingly mediocre punting game; he’s been quite good all year but had a couple of kicks just die on him, and he ended up just averaging 37 yards a punt on 6 attempts. That’s not helped by a punt from the Pitt 37 that was caught at the 15, netting 25 yards because he had so little field to work with. Otherwise, there’s not a ton of special teams work to talk about. UNC made a couple of plays early on lackadaisical return efforts by Pitt’s players, but the return coverage slowly loosened over the course of the game, leading to a 19-yard punt return for Pitt that gave them the ball in UNC territory with over 2 minutes and a chance to take a late lead that they were fortunately unable to cash in.

Coaching: C-

I… don’t even want to get into this. I’m inflating this grade because the Heels found a way to win and shot themselves in the foot one less time than Pitt did, and until this week, Pitt was a pretty well-coached team so that’s not nothing. But make no mistake, after last week’s really impressive coaching job, Bill Belichick regressed badly in this one, making baffling game management decisions (the aforementioned punt at the plus-37 perhaps chief among them), giving a backup quarterback easy access throws for fear that he might beat the Heels deep, and allowing Pitt to get pressure on Edwards with the same blitzes for a pretty long portion of the game. If last week was a proof of concept despite the loss, I really believe that this one was cause for doubt despite the win. Nothing about this game, besides the work of the offensive playmakers, appears sustainable to me.