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Renner, new-look Heels show flash

Posted on April 19, 2012April 18, 2012 by Staff

By Eddy Landreth
Staff Writer

Carolina football has emerged from the darkness that engulfed it since officials discovered three players received unauthorized money and gifts from sports agents two years ago.

Eddy Landreth

Last Saturday the Tar Heels held their annual spring game before an estimated 17,000 people at Kenan Stadium. The fans were eager to see the excitement new head coach Larry Fedora promised when he took the job.
The team did not disappoint.

Rising junior quarterback Bryn Renner led his team to a 44-7 halftime lead (the scoreboard read 44-21 after Fedora had officials add 14 points to the opposing squad at the start of the second half).

Yes there were penalties, mistakes and plenty of obvious room for improvement. Nonetheless it is clear Renner is the person to run this offense.

His job is to get players on the field around him into their proper spots and then deliver the ball to the man best suited, at that moment, to make a positive play. Renner did his job repeatedly on Saturday.

“He had his best day today, by far,” offensive coordinator Blake Anderson said. “[Renner] has all the abilities for a guy to play in the system. He has the arm strength to throw the ball to any spot on the field. That gives you a chance to get everybody involved.

“He made the most strides in the past two weeks, which is what I expected,” Anderson said. “To spread the ball around today, make good checks, good calls is a step we needed him to take to be effective in the fall.”

Backup quarterback Marquise Williams, a redshirt freshman from Charlotte, carried himself like an excellent athlete and someone with the potential to one day become a superb quarterback. He went 17 of 32 for 123 yards and one TD.
Defensively it was simply too hard to tell where Carolina stands at this point with a split roster for the game.
One could see the Tar Heels have talented defensive players. They just need more time to adjust to the new schemes Fedora and defensive coordinator Dan Disch have installed.

The next step for the players is to learn the new scheme so well they can utilize their speed and overall athleticism.

But this was a day for Renner and his teammates on offense.
“He showed that he has a good understanding of what we’re trying to do,” Fedora said. “He’s not there yet, but he’s made so much progress in a short period of time.

“He distributed [the ball] where it needed to go. He didn’t throw into coverage. All those things are big positives.”

Renner went 23 of 28 for 295 yards and two touchdowns. He did not throw an interception.

“The biggest issue for him and the other quarterbacks is processing what we’re doing as fast as we are,” Anderson said.

Before he suffered a gash on his head, which required five stitches, running back Giovani Bernard ran five times for 36 yards. Bernard proved himself last season by rushing for 1,253 yards and 13 touchdowns. The manner in which this offense forces the defense to cover the entire field should only make Bernard an even greater weapon.

Redshirt freshman running back Romar Morris showed great speed and explosiveness. He ran nine times for 40 yards and one touchdown. Morris can catch the ball, too.
Renner faked the run to Morris and then hit him down the middle for a 17-yard touchdown pass on one play.

“He made some really nice runs,” Fedora said. “He showed good vision. He caught the ball on the seam one time for a touchdown. It looked like he picked up the blitz pretty good.

“Romar is getting more consistent. You watch what he did today. He has got some acceleration. He’s got some explosiveness. His vision is getting better. And the thing I really like is he catches the ball really well.”

Another runner, junior A.J. Blue, ran effectively as well.
Fedora demands the offense to function in overdrive all the time.

“For me, it was awfully slow and sluggish between the plays,” Fedora said. “We still have a ways to go in understanding the tempo. It’s not hard to see the stress you can put on a defense when you start moving the chains a few times and you have a tempo going. The defense gets on its heels and they’re breathing pretty hard.”

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