UNC Football: Tar Heels vs Elon Game Review
By Matt Hamm
The Larry Fedora era officially began today in Kenan Stadium against Elon Phoenix in the first match up of these two teams in history, despite being about 35 miles apart from one another. Surprisingly, this game was not played in front of a sellout crowd. Still plenty of excitement was in the air and the crowd was pumped as the season kicked off.
The biggest thing that hit me right away in this game on the first drive is the tempo. The UNC Tar Heels are fast and they run a lot of plays. Everyone moves around a lot in this offense, running back Giovanni Bernard moved around from RB to WR. Tight end Eric Ebron moves on and off the line of scrimmage. Still, this being the first game the pace was not as fast as coach Fedora wants it to be, a likely theme all season long as UNC adjusts to the new fast paced, no huddle, spread scheme.
The pace and constantly changing formations open up the running game and it was obvious after the first drive that this team is going to run the ball a lot this season. Elons defense made a couple of nice plays to break up two consecutive Bryn Renner passes to force a punt. Renner looked to have command of the offense as he regularly shouted out commands and moved personnel around.
The first defensive possession was a good one for Carolina, who despite giving up a first down, swarmed to the football and looked good filling their assignments forcing an Elon punt. On the very next possession, Bernard took a pitch 59 yards, tip toeing down the sidelines for a touchdown run. Bernard showed why he might just be the most electric player in the entire ACC this season.
The defense continued to harass the Elon offense, forcing another punt after just one first down on their second possession. Giovanni Bernard got his first taste of returning punts today for the Tar Heels. In a move I highly criticized, Fedora put his best offensive weapon back on special teams. He returned his first punt after Elons second possession and took the ball 24 yards, giving the Heels great starting position at the 45 yard line, showing some of his big play potential on special teams.
Highsmith looked good early catching three early passes and making a play to gain some yards after the catch on the teams third possession. Fedora stuck to his plan of rotating RBs as Romar Morris got his first carry with about seven minutes left in the first quarter. Freshman Quinshad Davis made a terrific catch after the pass was almost intercepted to pull it in at the eight yard line putting Carolina in position to score again. Bernard once again capped off the drive with a nine yard TD catch, Gio scored after dragging a defender at least four of those yards.
Elon picked up several first downs on their next possession and looked pretty good moving the ball into Carolina territory. The Phoenix’s offensive line did a nice job of creating several big holes as Elon attacked the UNC defense with success on their best drive of the first quarter. As Elon threatened to score, Jabari Price came up with a big interception after Sylvester Williams tipped the ball at the line of scrimmage.
With less than one minute left in the first quarter the Heels took over at Elons 16 yard line. Renner made a terrific play on the last snap of the quarter. The offensive line gave the QB plenty of time and he went through all his progressions, shifting around the pocket to find the open man, TE Ebron for a 29 yard gain. First quarter impressions on the offense are good, Bernard looks very explosive, the OL is holding up nice in the running and passing game and Renner seems to have good command of the offense. Final count, 21 plays, 216 yards, 14 points in the first quarter.
UNC opened up the 2nd quarter with a trick play, WR reverse pass from Highsmith to the QB Renner for a 15 yard game down to the 13 yard line of Elon. My first thought, if UNC is showing that type of game in the first half against Elon, what else do they have up their sleeve? Elons defense played good redzone defense and kept UNC out, holding them to a Casey Barth field goal extending the lead to 17.
The Heels completely shut Elon down on the ensuing possession, forcing another punt on a three and out series.
Bernard took that punt all the way to the end zone on an excellent return. Gio showed patience waiting for a hole to open up and changing directions to the other side of the field before turning on the jets. Tar Heel Nation held their breath with a flag on the ground that was eventually called on the kicking team. I wasn’t a fan of Bernard returning punts initially due to the risk, but I admitted that he could end up being a very electric player back there and he’s showing that Fedora might not have had a choice in the matter.
Bernards 70 yard punt return for the TD was his third of the game, extending the Heels lead to 24-0 over Elon in the first half. Bernard has scored on a run, pass catch and a punt in the first half.
The defensive line looked a lot better than I anticipated early. They pressured Elons QB and were regular visitors inside their backfield. Sylvester Williams looks like a monster, he dominated his blocker at the line of scrimmage and made a big impact stopping the run and rushing the passer. Williams came up with a big sack on third down early in the 2nd quarter forcing a Elon punt out of their own end zone.
This thing started to get out of hand on the next possession that started with yet another good punt return. The Heels started with the ball at midfield and two plays later, Renner connected with Jheranie Boyd on a long TD pass. The lead now UNC 31-Elon 0. With just under ten minutes left in the first half, this had the looks of a game that could get embarrassing.
Renner made his first mistake of the season throwing an interception on a telegraphed pass to give Elon a good opportunity with seven minutes to go in the first half. Renner missed a wide open Eric Ebron and was intercepted trying to force the ball to Sean Tapley.
Elon couldn’t do anything with the football after picking off Renner and were forced to punt yet again. On the ensuing possession for Carolina, Romar Morris started the possession as the tailback and showed why he will, despite the presence of Bernard have a big impact on this offense this season. The Heels went for it on 4th and 2 inside the 15 yard line and gained the first down on a Bryn Renner QB sneak. With four minutes left in the first half and a 31 point lead, Fedora and the Tar Heels weren’t letting up the attack.
While the offense started out fast, the pace seemed to slow as the lead grew. On several occasions throughout the first half the play clock ran under 10 seconds, something that is very rare in Fedoras offensive system. UNC extended the lead to 34 with another Casey Barth FG this time from 32 yards out.
With no visible injury and UNCs policy of not giving out injury reports during games, Tar Heel nation held it’s breath as star RB Gio Bernard was seen heading to the locker room with 2:41 left in the 2nd quarter.
And just when you thought the score was safe with Elon holding the ball inside of two minutes. Tim Scott made a spectacular play laying out for the Heels second interception of the day giving the Heels the ball at the 13 yard line. The Heels rode AJ Blue for four consecutive carries before he punched it in for yet another UNC TD.
The score at the half: North Carolina 41 Elon 0
In the second half, the Heels started rotating in players on the defensive side of the ball a lot more than they did in the first half in order to get as many players on the field as possible. The UNC defense didn’t let up on the first Elon possession of the game forcing a three and out.
RB Giovanni Bernard who left for the locker room with a little under three minutes left in the second half did not return to the field in the second half and remained in the locker room. The Tar Heels policy of not releasing injury news is keeping us in the dark at this point on the situation.
Romar Morris led a nice drive with a 30 yard run that led to a Renner to his other TE Jack Tabb for a TD extending the lead to 48-0. It continued to pile on Elon as Carolina come up with their third turnover of the day this time on a fumble recovery. The Heels sent Marquis Williams out to take over for Bryn Renner at QB on the ensuing possession.
UNC started out running the read option primarily with Williams at the helm. AJ Blue fumbled the football around the six yard line as the Heels were threatening to take the lead over 50 mid way through the third quarter. After forcing a Elon punt, Erik Highsmith became the fourth Tar Heel to return a punt today and each had excellent results. Highsmith took it 33 yards to the 13 yard line.
On the third play of the drive, Williams took the option himself and ran it into the endzone to take the score to a staggering 55-0 UNC over Elon in the 3rd quarter. Through three quarters, six different players had carried the ball and nine different receivers had at least one reception in what was a very well balanced offensive display.
UNC ended the third quarter with another AJ Blue rushing TD, 62-0 UNC heading into the fourth quarter. Pete Mangum the backup at the Ram position injured his right leg in the fourth quarter but left the field on his own power.
I think track star Roy Smith has a chance to be good for this team. He returned some punts after Bernard left the game and his not only has great speed but he can turn it on in a hurry. He cuts well and looked to have good open field instincts with the ball in his hands. He didn’t make an impact as a WR and I haven’t been able to form an opinion yet on his route running but he looks explosive as a return man.
Yet another big punt return that almost saw Smith take it back to the house put the Heels in position to score yet again. The drive stalled and Carolina held Elon on the final possession of the game to finish the blowout.
Final Score: North Carolina 62 Elon 0
UNC heads to Wake Forest for their next game and will play the first road game ever in the Larry Fedora era. Keeping It Heel will get you ready for the game all week long.