UNC Football: East Carolina Game Review

The North Carolina Tar Heels returned to Kenan Stadium, the site of their last victory to face the East Carolina Pirates.  The Heels suffered two consecutive devastating losses at the hands of Wake Forest and Louisville and look to pull back to .500 with a win over the Pirates.

Sep 22, 2012; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels tight end Eric Ebron (85) with the ball as East Carolina Pirates linebacker Montese Overton (51) and defensive back Adonis Armstrong (3) defend during the second quarter at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

Star running back Giovani Bernard returned to the lineup after missing the last two games for Carolina. Despite his return the Pirates did a nice job stopping the run in the first half holding Bernard to just 20 yards on his first eight carries of the game. Bernard’s impact came in the passing game as the Heels struck first with on a 14 yard touchdown reception from Gio on a 11 play 91 yard drive in 4:38 to go up 7-0.

The Pirates responded by going on a 14 play, 70 yard drive in 6:35, the Heels red zone defense stood tough and held the Pirates to a field goal for a 7-3 score.  The Heels red zone offense that haunted them in the loss against Wake Forest was again struggling on the ensuing drive.  UNC marched the ball down the field but were stuffed and held out of the end zone by a stingy ECU defense.  Barth came on and nailed a 20 yard FG to up the lead to 10-3 Carolina.

QB Bryn Renner looked really good early staring 13/16 passing for 165 yards and a TD.  ECU was pretty balanced in the first half which surprised me a little due to their history of a heavy passing attack.  ECU looked confident on both sides of the ball, especially when they went for it and converted on 4th and 1 despite being in FG range with four minutes to go in the first half.

The Pirates final drive of the first half showed just how tough of a team they can be.  Responding to the Tar Heels second score of the game they took the ball 66 yards on 14 plays in 5:55, but couldn’t get into the end zone and settled for a FG pulling within four 10-6 UNC.   Carolina was stalled once again on the final drive of the half and ended by missing a FG, the momentum swing to the Pirates was undeniable.

The stories of the first half, ECUs stingy run and red zone defense.  And for Carolina, their lack of a running game and inability to get RB Romar Morris involved in the offense.  Tight End Eric Ebron is a match up problem against any defense in college football, UNC needs to make a concerted effort to make him the focus in the passing game going forward.   Renner looked amazing in the first half making no mistakes and getting it done with both his arm and his legs.  Defensively, the backfield looked confused and missed way too many assignments again (queue the broken record).

Score at the Half: UNC 10 ECU 6

In the second half, ECU did a nice job of shutting down the Tar Heels on the opening drive forcing a punt on a three and out series.  After putting the clamps on ECU and forcing a three and out punt, Bryn Renner did it again.  A 62 yard TD pass to Sean Tapley on the first play of the drive for a TD.  Tapley did a great job of breaking a tackle and taking it the distance to put Carolina up 17-6.

The very next drive the Tar Heels got the big defensive play they needed on a big time sack by Kevin Reddick forcing a big time fumble and turnover in Pirates territory.  After forcing a 3rd and 12, Renner came up with a big time throw to Erik Highsmith for a first down which set up Bernards second TD of the day on a 14 yard TD scamper extending the lead 24-6 Carolina.

The Pirates were pinned deep in their own territory after a mental mistake on the kickoff return nearly forced a safety.  The Heels defense stood strong and forced a punt from the Tar Heel end zone.

For the second consecutive game the Tar Heels that came out in the second half look completely different than the team we saw in the first, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  The Heels put constant pressure on the QB and were able to disguise the weakness of the secondary by flushing out the passer and putting constant heat on the QB and not allowing him to settle into any type of rhythm.

Shakeel Rashad had a tremendous second half pressuring the QB, he set up a permanent residence in the ECU backfield and was huge force for Carolina.  The Heels kept attacking opting to keep Bernard in the game and stay aggressive in the passing game even as the game was out of reach for Carolina.   Barth tacked on a 42 yard FG with 3:36 left to take a three score lead 27-6.

Marquis Williams entered the game for Renner with 1:35 left for the final drive after a terrific day for Renner.  Bryn finished the day 27 of 42 passing for 325 yards, 2 TDs and no interceptions.  If you subtract the drops, Renner could have had at least one or two more TDs, still a terrific day for the Heels QB.   Williams showed his athleticism with a nice first down run on the last play of the game.  The Heels were impressive in the second half and are now 2-2 on the season.

Final Score: UNC 27 ECU 6