Monday adjustments: Tar Heels might allow Sam Howell to let it fly against Charlotte

The battle from within begins for North Carolina after vaulting six spots to No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll thanks to a convincing 31-6 win over Syracuse in the season opener.

UNC coach Mack Brown said during his video conference with media on Monday that a ranking that high brings increased scrutiny and the Tar Heels must be equipped to handle it.

“You are going to have criticism over a quarter and you’re going to be scrutinized very carefully with every little thing you do,” Brown said. “I’ve lived this world, they haven’t in a while. So it’s just something that they’re going to have to understand.”

Brown repeatedly made references to the Heels’ lack of production in the second quarter perhaps being over-analyzed. He pointed out the offense only had two drives due to a fumbled punt and a roughing the kicker penalty that prolonged a Syracuse drive. That kind of nitpicking comes along with increased expectations of a high ranking.

“I said, ‘You don’t play well, Saturday, you won’t be rated,’ that’s just the world you live in,” Brown said. “So if you call it pressure, you can, I call it pride, and it’s something that you’ve got to improve.”

Here’s a look at how UNC fared against Syracuse

Offense

What went right: For all the uncertainty surrounding the offensive line’s depth, as a unit they came away with a high grade for their performance against the Orange. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo told reporters on a video call Monday that it was a much better opening day than it was this time last year against South Carolina.

The rotation was limited to seven players when an injury kept potential starter and their most versatile lineman Joshua Ezeudu from being in the lineup. Ed Montilus started for Ezeudu and after the line gave up a sack on the second play from scrimmage, they only allowed one more the entire game.

“Probably the thing that impressed me the most was their ability to maintain or improve their level of play as the game went on,” Longo said.

What went wrong: The Tar Heels deep game.

By design, Syracuse aimed to take away the big play threats Carolina became known for last season by keeping their safeties deep and forcing the Heels to throw underneath routes. Sam Howell did connect with Dyami Brown for a 38-yard strike in the fourth quarter. Brown also caught a 22-yard pass that helped set up the first touchdown. But that was the extent of the big plays to receivers. (Both Michael Carter and Javonte Williams caught passes out of the backfield and took them for 20-yard gains.) Mack Brown and Longo expect more teams to play the Heels that way.

“Last year, we got so spoiled we go out there and just throw it deep to Dyami or throw it deep to Beau Corrales,” Brown said. “We weren’t able to do that as easily on Saturday so we can’t force those things. We’ve got to learn to have more patience offensively. And that’s where the tight end will come in.”

Defense

What went right: The pass rush worked in a way that Brown wanted before the season started. Carolina didn’t always have to blitz in order to pressure Syracuse quarterback Tommy DeVito, the down linemen got to him enough. Defensive end Tomari Fox had two sacks and nose tackle Ray Vohasek added another as Carolina combined for seven sacks. Co-defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said one of the Orange coaching staff members singled out praise for Vohasek, in a positon that often gets overlooked, after the game.

“Ray is a is a difference maker and we’re not surprised at all,” Bateman said. “We kept getting asked about the d-line and we just kept saying, ‘Ray’s gonna be really good.’ And I think you see now that him and Tomari are really good players.”

What went wrong: Very little went wrong to the naked eye because UNC hadn’t held an opponent to just 202 total yards in more than a decade. Brown said he’d like to see more takeaways. But Bateman said both their effort level and communications need to improve for Saturday’s game against Charlotte.

“Our older players saw it before I did, which was really a good thing to see,” Bateman said. “Our communication can be better. Syracuse got us a few times going fast. We shouldn’t be surprised by that our offense does that against us. That should be something that that doesn’t give us as much problems as it did at times.”

Special teams

What went right: Dazz Newsome made up for a second quarter fumble on a punt return by taking one for a score — even though it got called back due to an illegal blocking penalty. Newsome still ran up 93 return yards and averaged 16 yards per return. He was named the Heels’ special teams Player of the Week.

What went wrong: The tackling wasn’t where it needed to be, especially early in the game when Carolina gave up a punt return for a touchdown — that also got called back by a blocking penalty.

“It’s probably the fact that you you don’t tackle in special teams, but the first punt return that they had, we have two gunners run right by the punt returner,” Brown said. “That’s what they’ve done in practice. But they’ve got to tackle a guy. And and I think that’s just the the fact that they haven’t had not done it before.”

Charlotte at UNC

When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday

Where: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill

Watch: RSN

This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Monday adjustments: Tar Heels might allow Sam Howell to let it fly against Charlotte."