newsobserver.com blogs

Davis: We didn't establish anything

Submitted by rpickeral on 08/31/2008 - 00:05

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Butch Davis said he couldn't even begin to speculate as to which Tar Heels had good games against McNeese State — except Brandon Tate.

And that says as much about Tate, who set the UNC record for all-purpose yards in a game, as it does the team, which desperately needed all of what the senior wide receiver had to give to win its season opener 35-27.

"I told the team a couple weeks ago: It's the media's job and it's the alumni's job and it's the fans' job to deal with predictions and expectations, and it's the coaches' job and the player's job to deal in reality,'' Davis said. "And the reality is that you've got to look yourself in the face tonight and realize what it's going to take to play much better every single week."

For all of the expectations surrounding Carolina, which was picked by the media in the preseason to finish second in the ACC's Coastal Division, it struggled in several areas. Tailback Greg Little was inconsistent, gaining only 40 yards on 14 carries behind a line that should have dominated. Quarterback T.J. Yates was less than spectacular, padding his 221 passing yards with a 71-yard toss to Hakeem Nicks late in the game; Yates finished 15-for-26 with one interception and two touchdowns. And the defense didn't manage a sack.

"We've clearly got to play better,'' Davis said. "We didn't accomplish much offensively or defensively. We didn't establish anything."

BRIEFLY:

• Leading 14-0, UNC allowed the Cowboys to score 20 straight points after a 1 hour, 48 minute weather delay. But to say the Tar Heels came out flat afterward, Davis said, would be a cop out, because the opponent had to face the same thing.

"The toughest thing was not really knowing the first 30-45 minutes how long the delay was going to be,'' Davis said. "We took it like it was a halftime. We tried to make some adjustments. Then we found out it was going to be extensive and exhaustive so we told them to just to to their locker, sit down, put their iPods back on and pretend it's a pregame."

• Tate posted his career long reception (57 yards), punt return (82 yards) and matched his career long rush (54 yards) en route to a school record 397 all-purpose yards.

"I don't know what he didn't do,'' Yates said. "Throw a pass, but he probably could have if we let him do it. He's one of the main reasons why we won this game, because we struggled a little bit. He gave special teams a spark along with our offense. He did a great job."

• Three Tar Heels started for the first time: junior cornerback Jordan Hemby, sophomore defensive end Darrius Massenburg and senior left guard Bryon Bishop.

Comments

spekof1

Wed, 11/11/2009 - 16:38 — spekof1

porno izle

Online Pharmacy | Buy Viagra

Wed, 11/04/2009 - 23:52 — sand999

lol funny seeing people try

Tue, 09/02/2008 - 12:38 — mad_max

lol funny seeing people try to defend the tarheels here. you can talk up mcneese state all you want, but at the end of the day, they are div 1aa for a reason. don't try to compare this win to ANYBODY who played a real college team, you just look like idiots when you do. duke easily handled james madison (who you could easily talk up like unc fan has done with mcneese state), and nc state will most likely take care of business against william and mary next week...i mean, state's the one that still hasn't lost to a 1AA since the bcs era began. also, i like how unc fan brings up app state, seeing how they are the school who is too scared to play the mountaineers.

McNeese St. plays in the Southland Conference

Mon, 09/01/2008 - 10:06 — UNCAlumnus

I think what might have been lost in Michigan's loss to App. St. last year was the fact that they went on to finish 9-4. They also beat Florida in their bowl game. That said, UNC won a close game against another FCS club that some might call cupcake. McNeese St. went 11-1 last year. They've been picked to win their conference this year. I'm not saying UNC is all that good. I am saying they won. Rather than looking at the season as one long battle. I'll look at it as 12 little ones. UNC won in spite of it's poor play. Brandon Tate proved his worth. Overall, I think Yates did all right, considering his limited time to practice this off season. What did concern me was the running game, and in turn, the offensive line. They MUST improve. Also, the defensive line must start penetrating and disrupting the offense with more reqularity. Balmer and Taylor are gone. Now's the time for the vaunted freshmen of last year to really start asserting themselves. I have faith the coaches (Blake and Withers) will come through. They players will improve. They have no choice. Scheme it up and stick it to the Scarlet Knights, Tar Heels!!

at least...

Sun, 08/31/2008 - 21:31 — Anonymous (not verified)

UNC scored.

McNeese State

Sun, 08/31/2008 - 19:08 — Corey (not verified)

If you do a little research, McNeese State is actually a pretty impressive I-AA school that went 11-1 last year and lost in the FCS playoffs. That doesn't really excuse the fact that the Heels were barely able to pull out a win, but this team wasn't a complete joke.

As far as the game goes, the "new and improved" UNC looked a hell of a lot like last years' squad. The same things that plagued them last year were present last night: inconsistent and bonehead play from Yates, slow defense that put no pressure on the quarterback and allowed him to pick the secondary apart, and a sub-par running game with terrible blocking.

Little wants 1,000 yards this season? He won't get it like that.

Something's got to change.

Davis: We didn't establish anything

Comments

Comment viewing options

spekof1

Online Pharmacy | Buy Viagra

lol funny seeing people try

McNeese St. plays in the Southland Conference

at least...

McNeese State

we won

McNeese State?

Cars View All

Jobs View All

Homes View All

Robbi Pickeral

Davis: We didn't establish anything

Comments

Comment viewing options

Robbi Pickeral

Want to post a comment?