Slept On It: State

Little scrambled but here it goes...

I don't think it comes to anyone's surprise that the first quarter between Carolina and State was the dominant 15 minutes of football we've seen in the Larry Fedora Era in Chapel Hill. The offense was hummin' and the defense was getting after it. Outside of wheel route that got behind a True Freshman Mike Linebacker, the performance in all three phases of the game was one word: Dominant. While I wanted Carolina to keep a cinder block on the gas pedal and hang three digits on the school located in Raleigh, we saw the coaching staff use the 4 score lead as an opportunity to get some youngsters some PT on defense.

While the offense was far from perfect(spotting the Wolfpack short field on two turnovers) the put up some very impressive numbers including 374 yards on the ground on 41 attempts. At 9.1 yards a clip, I'd take that kind of run game up against anyone in the country. State's front seven, especially the defensive line are not push overs, but Carolina made them look like it. What cannot be overlooked is the blocking the wide receivers put together. Logan and Hood do not break those big runs without the perimeter blocking. The offensive line was in sync for the vast majority of Saturday's ballgame showing only a couple of blunders. Marquise could have cooked dinner behind the protection he had for most of the day. If Mack Hollins doesn't drop the easiest touchdown of the year, Carolina wins this ball game by at least 4 scores. Easy.

The defense gave up too many scores and yards for comfort as NC State squeaked back into the game late into the third quarter. I'm still not completely enthralled with Defensive Line play for the complete 60 minutes but I say that recognizing that the defensive line has improved the most out of any unit over the course of the year. The Linebackers may have played their best game of the season. Carolina Fans must recognize that we have a star in the making in Middle Linebacker Andre Smith. Even with the missed wheel route, he played one of the best games a Carolina Linebacker's played this season.

Shifting the focus to the defensive backfield, I cannot say enough about this unit. Time and time again these players are in position to break up passes and wrap up soundly when the ball gets to their level. This unit held the Wolfpack passing attack to 5.6 yards per attempt and only 206 yards through the air (25% of which came on one play). The DBs contributed to a 3 of the 5 total sacks by way of coverage sacks. Donnie Miles is a STUD.

Bottom line is Carolina's 11-1 after blowing State out of the stadium in the first half then they coasted to a 45-34 victory with a couple of garbage time points from NC State. I like what Carolina brought to the table in a hostile environment against a rival team whose series has been a war over the last decade. If Carolina plays like they played in the first quarter for an entire 60 minutes, Carolina will be hoisting the ACC Championship Trophy this upcoming Saturday.

As for CFP Predictions, nothing matters unless Carolina wins this upcoming Saturday.