
{"id":20970,"date":"2011-09-22T13:59:11","date_gmt":"2011-09-22T17:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=20970"},"modified":"2011-09-22T14:05:37","modified_gmt":"2011-09-22T18:05:37","slug":"tar-heels-hit-the-road-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/09\/22\/tar-heels-hit-the-road-this-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Tar Heels hit the road this week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/08\/18\/support-the-players-by-filling-kenan-stadium\/landreth-mug-30\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20318\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/landreth-mug1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"landreth-mug\" width=\"100\" height=\"134\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-20318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/landreth-mug1.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/landreth-mug1-84x113.jpg 84w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/landreth-mug1-74x100.jpg 74w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>By Eddy Landreth<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\nSaturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s noon game in Atlanta between Georgia Tech and UNC will neither make nor break either team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s season, but the loser will find itself hustling to make up ground.<\/p>\n<p>Each team is off to a 3-0 start, with UNC having defeated Virginia 28-17 in each team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conference opener this past weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Interim coach Everett Withers emphasized to his team throughout the week how important it was for the Tar Heels to win their conference opener, something a UNC team had not done in 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We knew if you are going to win the Coastal Division you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t start 0-1,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d starting left tackle James Hurst said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Coach Withers talks about conference games counting twice. Someone wins and goes up in the [standings]; the other loses and goes down in the [standings].<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So we put a lot of emphasis on our conference games.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The Yellow Jackets appear to be a far superior team to Virginia, however. Beating Georgia Tech in Atlanta will be a difficult task.<\/p>\n<p>The Yellow Jackets broke school records for most rushing yards (604) and most total offense (768) in a startling 66-24 victory against Kansas last week. Tech\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 12.1 yards per carry also broke an NCAA record.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a big game,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hurst said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Georgia Tech is killing some people right now. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a great challenge. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited for it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be tough and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be different. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be ready for it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Many people focus on the need to slow Tech\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s option attack, and rightfully so. While that is important, a greater goal for Carolina should be to get an early and substantial lead.<\/p>\n<p>What the Tar Heels cannot afford is to go three-and-out. Sustained drives that end with touchdowns are every team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goal, but their value is especially great for the Tar Heels this week.<\/p>\n<p>Carolina converted a meager 3-of-10 third down opportunities against Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have those three-and-outs we had [against the Cavaliers],\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said quarterback Bryn Renner, who went 15-of-21 for 143 yards and two touchdowns against Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Every opportunity we have to capitalize with a touchdown or field goal, we have to score the ball,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Renner said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have to try to be ahead.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>One way to do that is by continuing to spring redshirt freshman running back Giovani Bernard for big runs. He gained 102 yards on just 12 carries against Virginia, an average of 8.5 yards per carry.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just an electric player,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Renner said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I love having him on our team. He is such a positive guy. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re very blessed to have him on our team.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Heading into practice this week, Carolina had three healthy running backs, all capable of making a positive impact. A.J. Blue got some carries against Virginia and made the most of the opportunity with nine rushes for 40 yards.<\/p>\n<p>Georgia Tech leads the country in rushing, and no one is better than the Yellow Jackets at hogging the ball.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get the ball very often against Georgia Tech,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hurst said.<\/p>\n<p>So while the UNC offense can help by being efficient itself, the defense is going to have to get some stops and not let the Yellow Jackets dominate time of possession and run up and down the field all day.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We talk about it all the time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Withers said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The ball is the issue. You have the ball, nobody can beat you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The Yellow Jackets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 whole game is based on rushing successfully. If they are forced to throw to catch up, the advantage should shift to the Tar Heels. The strategy for UNC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defense never really changes at the core: Stop the run and force teams to throw on Carolina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s terms.<\/p>\n<p>So far this season, the Tar Heels have proven to be an all-around talented team whose individual parts are working toward meshing into a synchronized unit.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game will provide the perfect test for measuring just where the Tar Heels actually stand, linebacker Kevin Reddick said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about time for a road to challenge us, to see where we really are with this football team,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Reddick said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saturday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s noon game in Atlanta between Georgia Tech and UNC will neither make nor break either team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s season, but the loser will find itself hustling to make up ground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":20318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[431],"class_list":["post-20970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20970"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20981,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20970\/revisions\/20981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}