Keeping It Heel
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UNC Football: Tar Heels rambled and wrecked by Georgia Tech

By Brandon Griffin

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 23: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets mascot Buzz poses with a fan holding a fidget spinner during the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Bobby Dodd Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 23: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets mascot Buzz poses with a fan holding a fidget spinner during the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Bobby Dodd Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
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North Carolina and Georgia Tech faced off in Atlanta. The end result was a familiar one for the Tar Heels this season.

For the first time all season, North Carolina did not blow a fourth quarter lead.

Instead, they were shut out in the first half for just the second time under Larry Fedora and were totally manhandled in Atlanta.

The Tar Heels struggled from the beginning and were in danger of being shutout for the first time since 2011.

It was an all-around ugly day.

Offense

The offense was pretty much anemic today. The team finished the game with 247 yards on 58 plays.

They were 2-for-12 on third downs and only had four drives that got into Georgia Tech territory.

Those drives produced seven total points.

The Tar Heels additionally finished with only 11 first downs and went three-and-out five times.

Part of this was the inconsistent play of Chazz Surratt. The redshirt freshman quarterback had moments of brilliance while still making questionable plays. He finished the game 18-of-30 for 141 yards and an interception.

CHAPEL HILL, NC – SEPTEMBER 23: Ben Humphreys
CHAPEL HILL, NC – SEPTEMBER 23: Ben Humphreys /

He also rushed 11 times for 30 yards.

However, it wasn’t all on the young signal caller who has probably been impacted by the mass Tar Heel injuries. Surratt constantly was under pressure due to an injury-ridden line.

He also had several dropped passes from receivers who were not even supposed to play this season, including one by Devin Perry in the end zone.

Probably the only positive on the day offensively for the Tar Heels was Jordon Brown.

Brown finished the game with 98 total yards and a touchdown.

Defense

The defense did an admirable job in the first half.

They held the Yellow Jackets to five total drives and forced a three-and-out three times. Those three drives produced six total yards for Georgia Tech.

Unfortunately, it was the other two drives.

Those two drives saw the Yellow Jackets run 34 plays and run up 169 yards while scoring 10 points. On those two drives, Georgia Tech went 5-for-8 on third downs, including 2-for-2 on fourth downs.

The main point though was they gave the offense a chance, which is all anyone can ask from a defense that has been on the field for way too many minutes this season and this game was no different.

As good as the defense was, they were on the field for 72 percent of the first half. That led to a second half where the team was just gassed. Georgia Tech had 281 yards in the second half and scored 23 points.

Again it wasn’t all on the defense who did force two turnovers but couldn’t overcome short field position created by two UNC interceptions.

Special Teams

There was not much to say on special teams, other than North Carolina may want to consider giving freshman kicker Noah Ruggles a try.

Current kicker Freeman Jones went 0-of-2 on field goal tries and has not made one longer than 39 yards this season.

Coaching

There were a couple questionable coaching calls in this game.

One came on third-and-one on the Tar Heels third play. The first quarter just ended giving Larry Fedora a free time out to draw up a play.

He called a handoff to Johnathon Sutton who had carried the ball six times all season. Sutton was stuffed and the Tar Heels punted.

A first down would’ve been big for UNC whose defense had just forced Tech into a second three-and-out and who were only down a touchdown at the time.

The next questionable call came toward the end of the half. The Tar Heels had gotten into Georgia Tech territory. After a throw, that could’ve been intercepted, fell incomplete the Tar Heels were 35 yards away with one second on the game clock.

Instead of throwing a hail mary, Fedora trots Jones out to try a 52-yard field goal that he missed.

One could also say they should’ve thrown a shorter pass the play before and given Jones a chance.

The only other thing of note was Fedora benching Surratt for Brandon Harris. The LSU transfer threw one pass that was intercepted.

At that point the game was 24-0 and I can’t really blame Fedora for the switch there, though it should be the end of the Harris experiment this season, barring a Surratt injury.

But overall, it is hard to overcome 13 season-ending injuries four games into the season. Props to the defensive staff for having the defense prepared for the Triple Option in the first half.

The Tar Heels next game is against Notre Dame in Chapel Hill where UNC is currently 0-3 on the season.

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