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It is Time To Ask What is Happening in Chapel Hill
By Coach Steve
We are now a full four weeks into the Chapel Bill experience in Chapel Hill, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone that would say this is working. The Tar Heels of North Carolina rank near the bottom of the country in almost every single offensive metric under the direction of 2.5 million dollar quarterback Gio Lopez. So it raises the question of, what the heck is going on in Tar Heel country? What went wrong? The hype was there, the attention was there from the national media, and the folks at ESPN gave Coach Belichick the red carpet treatment, giving the Heels a standalone primetime slot on Labor Day against the Horned Frogs of TCU. The old saying goes, man plans, and God laughs, and that seems to be the case for UNC.
The numbers are absolutely appalling. UNC ranks near the bottom of the country in almost every single offensive metric, with Gio Lopez turning in an abysmal sub-20 QBR. Lopez Missed the end of the contest at UCF with a leg injury that will see him miss 2-4 weeks, but with a potential return in time for the matchup against Clemson at Kenan Stadium at High Noon on October 4th. But will Lopez be under center? That remains to be seen. Max Johnson continues to impress not only on the field but in practice, to the point where Lopez is at risk of losing the locker room if he continues to turn in sub-par play for the Tar Heels.
Its not all doom and gloom on The Hill. The Tar Heel defense has been a massive improvement over years past under legendary coach Mack Brown. The Tar Heels have dramatically improved on the defensive side of the ball, even if it doesn’t quite show up on the stat sheet. Boise State transfer Andrew Simpson has been a disruptive force in the pass rush, with 2 sacks so far this year. Meanwhile, Thaddeus Dixon has been darn near lights out at corner for UNC. While the stats may not necessarily jump off the page, the fundamentals are noticeably improved. Pursuit is better, team tackling is better, and the defense doesn’t give up anywhere near as many big plays. This is absolutely a “bend don’t break” defense. But is that enough?
So far, the answer is no. Gio Lopez has a paltry QBR of only 17.7 per ESPN. You simply cannot win with that level of play at the QB position. So that begs the question, what next? The Tar Heels head into week 5 on a bye before facing ACC powerhouse Clemson on October 4th. Is that enough time to facilitate change at the QB position? Only time will tell.
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