A Resilient Bunch
December 28, 2008 12:08 PM | General
December 28, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Assistant head coach Steve Dunlap knew West Virginia’s defense was going to have to ride it out with three starters out of the game including a pair of key players in the secondary in Sidney Glover and Brandon Hogan.
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| Catches like this from North Carolina's Hakeem Nicks were wearing out the WVU defense.
AP photo |
For a while, it looked like North Carolina’s Hakeem Nicks was playing against air.
“They had a month to scheme and do things to you that you haven’t seen and we told our kids that their ability to adjust to it will determine whether we win this game or not,” Dunlap said after the game.
By halftime, Nicks had accumulated six catches for 181 yards and three touchdowns as North Carolina used an array of reverses and reverse passes to confuse the Mountaineers.
West Virginia defensive coaches came into the game believing North Carolina was going to use its great size up front and rely on its power running game.
“They came up with a bunch formation and they did it from a power set,” Dunlap explained. “They had the fullback, tight end and wide receiver all bunched in on one side and they started to run the counters, reverses and the reverse pass and they got us. We didn’t keep our discipline a couple of times and they hit us with some big plays.”
Nicks’ first touchdown reception should have been an Ellis Lankster interception. The senior broke perfectly on the ball but he just didn’t finish the play.
“It went right through Lankster’s hands,” Dunlap said. “You just never know how the ball is going to bounce from time to time.”
One of defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel’s best attributes is his ability to adjust on the fly. Once he got a read on what North Carolina was doing he was able to make some adjustments and shut down Nicks. In the second half Nicks caught just two passes for 36 yards.
“We put a corner up in his face and tried to knock him around and put a safety behind him,” Dunlap said. “They kind of got away from the bunch set and they went to a slot receiver.”
And that’s when Casteel began to put more pressure on quarterback T.J. Yates.
"We were in a three and four-man rush and it just wasn’t getting it done,” Dunlap said. “We were trying to play coverage and in the second half we turned up the heat and the kids responded real well. Eventually if you keep coming at the quarterback and hitting him and it starts to bother him.”
After putting 24 points on the scoreboard in the first half, North Carolina managed just seven points the rest of the game. Seven times this year Casteel’s defense has shut out its opponent in the second half.
The defense also came up with two critical turnovers that won the game when West Virginia’s offense couldn’t run out the clock. After quarterback Pat White was thrown for a four-yard loss on fourth and one at the WVU 40, the defense got the ball right back for the offense when freshman safety Robert Sands forced Shaun Draughn to fumble at the 30.
“He’s just a tremendous athlete,” Dunlap said of Sands. “We put a lot of caution in him. We told him that we didn’t want him running up in there and biting on stuff because all of their play action passes are so good. They pull their guard and you just can’t get a good hat key off their offensive linemen.”
Three plays after the Draughn fumble, the Mountaineers retook the lead, 31-30, when White hit Alric Arnett on a 20-yard scoring strike.
On its next possession, North Carolina drove to the WVU 43 when Casteel brought pressure once again on third down. A blitzing John Holmes was able to get Yates to the ground for a seven yard loss to force North Carolina to punt the ball back to West Virginia.
Once again, West Virginia’s offense couldn’t convert a third and short and had to give the ball back to North Carolina with 3:15 remaining and it needing only a field goal to win the game.
Following a Tar Heel first down, backup linebacker Pat Lazear stepped in front of a Yates pass at the 45 and returned the football to the UNC 32. From there with North Carolina out of timeouts, the Mountaineers were finally able to run out the clock without needing to get a first down.
“It was just a complete team effort,” Dunlap said. “Two or three times Boogie Allen and Eain Smith had stringers and both of those guys had to come off the field. Both of those guys were in our nickel and dime packages. It was a struggle but our kids are really resilient and they keep fighting.”
What was most pleasing to Dunlap and the other new coaches on board this year was the team’s willingness to listen and learn.
“They got a little better every week,” Dunlap said. “They could have thrown in the towel after the East Carolina and Colorado debacles and it just wasn’t in them. It’s about players and they continued to get better week after week. We’re really proud of them because we had a lot of fresh faces out there playing this year.”
