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Off the cuff: The Carolina football game at Duke should not have been as close as it was. I figure it should have been about 38-16. But Duke did pass the ball well and stayed in it with a rather flukey fumble return and a pair of field goals. The UNC coaches made some bad decisions. For one, when it's fourth and four and the ball is lined up in the middle of the field, go for the 44-yard field goal rather than going on fourth down. If you are going to go for it, do it when the ball is set up on a hash mark, which gives college kickers a harsh angle. Instead, on the next drive, UNC decided to kick a field goal in a similar situation but the ball was on the far right hash mark and Casey Barth missed the 43-yarder. Later, on fourth and 10 with just 2:31 to go, coaches called a pass play and it was incomplete and thus stopped the clock. Had the Heels run the ball on fourth, Duke would have been forced to use its last timeout and may not have made the finish so interesting. Still, it was a fairly solid victory as Carolina had 369 total yards on offense (190 passing and 179 rushing). While the Heels did give up 350 yards, the defense forced three straight three-and-outs during key moments of the second half. In addition to the Nicks catch of the year, the other top highlighted effort may have been when Greg Little caught a short pass on third and seven in the fourth quarter and broke four tackles and dragged a defender another eight yards. We won't know which bowl choses the Heels until probably Dec. 6 - my guess is the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. If you'd like to sponsor this award-winning site, or agree or disagree with something written, please let me know by emailing me. |
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