Where: Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, MA
When: Saturday, November 21st, Noon
TV: ESPN2
Records: UNC 7-3, 3-3 ACC; BC 7-3, 4-2 ACC
Here is hoping we don’t get the same kind of carryover the Heels seemingly got last week on the whole Harrison Barnes-beat Miami-beat Valpo stretch.
UNC takes their three game winning streak to Boston College where the Eagles are once again surprising everyone by being in the mix for the Atlantic Division. At this point UNC is playing for wins and the possibility of a 10 win season should they beat BC and NCSU then win their bowl game. The fact we are even talking about that says volumes about the defense and John Shoop’s ability to make chicken salad out of you know what. The Heels are also pushing for one of the ACC’s upper tier bowl bids. The Gator or Chick-Fil-A Bowls are distinct possibilities should the Heels keep winning. BC still holds out hope that they can win this game and UVa gets it done versus Clemson putting BC into the ACC Championship Game which would drive John Swofford nuts.
As always, the defense needs to do its thing so John Shoop can figure something out on offense. It would be nice if the defense did not have to score 14 points to get the win but we take them any way we can get them. BC is good on both sides of the ball and Montel Harris will prove a challenge to stop. That being said, if UNC can shut Ryan Williams down then I am fairly certain they can shut almost any running back in the ACC down. Secondary to that, UNC needs put pressure on the QB to hopefully create those dandy INTs which can be turned into points, maybe even without putting the offense on the field.
Speaking of the offense, over/under on Ryan Houston carries? I say 25. Take the over.
UNC 24 BC 10
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are you calling for a ’slump-buster’ perhaps? I heard steve phillips can help on that front…
I’m specially blessed today in Texas. ESPN2 is showing the game, instead of the typical dance with ESPN360 (while good, the feed lags by 1-2 plays). I’ll second that prediction on the W, but a narrower margin.
what a start.
I was running errands and just tuned in (darn being on Central time). I’m assuming our defense is the reason we’re up so much?
I might tune back out. First play I watch, INT. D’oh!
where would we be without the O making life difficult for the D?
Only our offense could do so little after the defense did so much. Only our offense could squander that kind of momentum…
Our defense is our offense.
Holy poop. Is this for real? Our defense is so awesome, and our offense so… not.
That’s 3 INTs, since I’ve been watching.
Tell me we’ve got some offense coming in next years class?
Our defense is the hammer and our offense is… the thumb.
Yates should just kneel three times and punt so we can get the defense back on the field. It is really pathetic that we should have been up no less than 24-6 and the offense seems to be intent on giving the game away. First rule, “Do no harm!”
From now on just send Barth out there if we have the good fortune of making it to the red zone…
Actually… if we ever make it back to the 30 yard line just send Barth out there. Thats two field goals he didn’t get to kick because the offense didn’t give him a chance.
I don’t know if I have ever seen a performance like this one by Yates.
^first game you’ve watched this year?
women’s soccer in a scoreless tie 75 minutes into their 3rd round game. is it on tv anywhere on TWC?
thanks to the D for providing essentially 21 pts. O gets 7.
just take 3 knees, O. we can’t afford any more injuries.
women’s soccer team beats Maryland for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. 20th ranked Maryland. total scores, 5-0. 8th straight shutout for the Heels.
will be interesting to see where bowl prediction/matrix/wizards will show UNC going after today. Makes for a pleasant-er weekend following hoops “10-minute misery” last night.
This is the possibly the best defense I have ever seen at UNC. If we had a top 50 offense… or even a top 75 offense… to pair up with this defense we might have 10 wins right now. I am so scared that our offense is going to make NC State’s pathetic defense look like a bunch of superstars next week.
the defense in 1997 was darn good, loaded with eventual draft picks and future Sunday players. I also think that offense was better as well (well, except when meek play calls hindered any real chance to defeat FSU at home).
^Yes – that defense was also an absolute joy to watch. Was that the year that the offense also produced 2 thousand yard rushers (Johnson and Johnson)?
D has about 370 INT yards the last two weeks. Yates has about 400 yards of O.
^We do have a Top 75 offense, actually. Heels are ranked 60th in offensive FEI this week, and while that rank will drop some after this lackluster performance, it should still be higher than 75th. The FEI does not account for games against FCS teams, removes garbage plays like kneel-downs and drives made long after the game has been decided, and is adjusted for strength of schedule; it’s a far superior indicator of offensive/defensive efficiency than “traditional” statistics like yards per game or points per game (in much the same ways that Pomeroy’s O-Eff/D-Eff stats for basketball are superior to points per game scored/allowed).
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/statistics/fei-ratings/2009
^all due respect to JS and his FEI stats…but we arent a top 75 O.
Best team in the state. Hate to admit it but I’m cheering for NCSU today. If they pull off a miracle and beat VaTech UNC takes a major step up in bowl selection.
^I’m ok with State winning today… as long as its their last win for the season.
not a good start, Wuffies.
This team deserves a lot of praise, maybe more than any since the Dooley era. Honestly, we could easily be undefeated if our offense were even a tiny bit better. The GIT game only got away at the end.
HTTE: You just haven’t seen what the 45 worst offenses in D-I are like (unless you’ve been unfortunate enough to catch a Maryland or Virginia game lately). Also, a big reason for our offense looking as bad as it does is the fact that they’re facing great defenses — BC’s D, for example, was rated #1 in the FEI coming into this game. That’s how we wound up with the #11-ranked strength of schedule coming into the game, despite playing two FCS teams (who don’t count at all in the FEI) and two other average-to-above-average squads (UConn – #31, ECU – #56) in our nonconference schedule.
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850, Jonathon Linton was tailback during the ‘97 season, the last Tar Heel to finish with 1,000 yards/season. He had 1,004, I believe.
Linton was a big back, sort of like Houston except taller.
^^eh. our QB has 10 TDs and 13 INTs while averaging about 150 ypg against those D1 teams. heck lets throw in the 2 games for him against the Citadel and GS. 118 and 114 yds. Nice!
you may be right. there may just not be very many impressive Os.
Our QB may have been the best of the three on the field today. How many ints and reversed ints were there?
^9. 1 by Marscovetra, 3 by Yates, 4 by Shinskie, and a fifth by Shinskie that was wiped out on a bogus interference penalty call.
Thanks and I think there were even a couple more that were almost interceptions. Ragged play but we are so beat up, we did what we could.