Canes Blow Easy Win Vs Tar Heels

This game was a tough one to watch. It's frustrating to see a team with superior talent consistently lose to inferior teams. North Carolina has Brandon Tate and nothing else on offense. I don't care if that sounds like I'm a sore loser. Fact is, UNC has limited talent and still pulled off a victory today in our home stadium after being down 14.

Sadly enough I'm not surprised. I'm disappointed, but not surprised. We seem to be cursed for some reason. Doesn't matter who we play at what position or what coach we have, our boys just fall apart. The defense today was a joke. Where was the tough play against the Gators? Our defensive backs have been just awful. Thank goodness we've been picking up some good DB recruits of late for the 09 class, because guys like Bruce Johnson need to be shown the door.

The defense cost us the game today, and Patrick Nix reverted to the offense we saw in Gainesville. Sure it looked good when Cooper was breaking long runs, but at one point Marve was 12/15 for 80 or so yards. Throw the ball downfield man! Pathetic. Then we got conservative at the end and set ourselves up for the eventual collapse.

We need improved play from the defense. It hurt not having Forston in there today, but it doesn't excuse the fact we got torn up at several intervals during this game. The defensive backs allowed way too many big plays, particularly Johnson, who needs to lose his starting job to Brandon Harris sometime soon. I don't care how young Harris is.

The final INT was just a punch to the gut. Even after blowing the lead, it seemed for a split second we would have a great final drive to be the first of many in Robert Marve lore. Instead it was overthrown by an inch or two, and Kayne simply didn't get the job done. Hate to see the game end like that.

So much for an ACC title. After the defense's performance at UF and the offense's at Texas A&M, I looked at the schedule and realized it was easy enough for this team to go 11-1. Unfortunately, I knew this wouldn't happen. Despite the fact that no team left on the schedule (and this goes for UNC too) has a clearly better team than the Canes, I knew we would have to go through the growing pains of a young squad. This team hasn't built it's killer instinct yet, but there is plenty to look forward to. Expect a 7-5 or 8-4 season, as we will be competitive in most games but will probably blow some more leads or trip over ourselves while trying not to lose the game.

What I've seen from today is that Graig Cooper has finally come around to show his true potential. Robert Marve is the real deal, despite the 2 picks. He'll have some struggles, but I expect him to be a serious contender for ACC player of the year in 2009. I don't mind Shannon keeping his promise to Jacory Harris to give him playing time, but it is clear that Marve is the man and should remain so. The receivers are young but have loads of talent. I just wish Nix would throw it to them in the open field more often.

The defense is erratic. My biggest gripe is the lack of turnovers. Do we even have an interception yet? We are 4 games through the season and I can't remember us forcing any turnovers. I want to say we got some last week, but that seems like so long ago by now. The coaches need to get guys on the field who can make plays. None of this bend but dont break mentality. The front line will need an infusion of youth, we all know that. And the DBs need some big time work.

Really this loss was something we had to expect would happen at some point this season. It's disappointing because I still hold this university's football team to high standards. Scrub teams like UNC shouldn't come within 30 points of our UM teams, much less with a 3rd string QB. But this hasn't been the first such loss and probably won't be the last before this team is back on top. We'll have to take our lumps and let other fan bases have their way with us while we lose to their teams this season. The future is a muddled one. Part of me knows the talent is there and we have much to look forward to, but the mental mistakes and lack of killer instinct is giving me 2nd thoughts about Randy Shannon and has confirmed to me that Patrick Nix is not the answer at OC.