Tar Heels Flunk Test: Grading UNC's Putrid Performance Against UCF

The offense is putrid. Terrible. Horrible. No good. Carolina's offense is like the Bad News Bears before Amanda Whurlitzer and Kelly Leak joined the team. Their that bad.

The Tar Heels only put up 217 total yards, the lowest amount it has put up all season long. That is saying a lot because this is the second time this season that Carolina put up less than 300 yards. As of today, North Carolina is 132nd out of 134 FBS teams in total offense, averaging 263.5 yards per game. It's also the worst defense

Well, the passing game did no favors to Carolina all throughout the game. The Tar Heels threw for 154 yards, failing to pass for 200 yards or more once again, something that they have failed to do all year. In the first half, Gio Lopez completed seven of his 10 passing attempts for just 68 yards. Even worse, he threw two interceptions.

Max Johnson entered after Lopez appeared to be seriously hurt late in the third quarter and led UNC to its only scoring drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Paysour. But Johnson finished just 11 of 19 for 67 yards — 20 fewer than Lopez’s 87 — and posted a lower completion percentage, 57.9 compared with Lopez’s 78.6.

However, the offensive playcalling was a little more aggressive with Johnson in the game. However, Carolina was down by multiple touchdowns by that point so it made a little more sense why they did what they did.

With Lopez’s injury, Johnson is the starter. However, if Lopez is a go these next two weeks, expect a quarterback battle to happen up until the Clemson game on Oct. 4.

Defense: D

The defense had its moments and showed its competency compared to the offense, but it still had some costly mistakes over the course of the game.

Carolina surrendered 366 yards of total offense, which doesn’t appear overwhelming given UCF’s scoring output. But on closer inspection, that number isn’t exactly encouraging. For comparison, Baylor averaged 367 yards per game last season — ranking 81st nationally. Hardly a flattering benchmark.

The Tar Heels also struggled to get off the field, allowing the Knights to convert nine of 17 third- and fourth-down attempts. UCF was perfect on fourth down, going 4-for-4.

The first half was worse than the second half as UCF took a 20-3 lead. It could have been worse but the defense held the Knights in check. However, the defense made the first and last drives easy for UCF as it let them score easy touchdowns.

On the first drive, UCF quarterback Tayven Javkson was 5-for-6 for 54 yards and finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run. The Knights also went 3-for-3 on third down conversions. 

On UCF’s second touchdown drive in the final minute of the first half, North Carolina was flagged for defensive holding and roughing the passer, two costly penalties that extended the drive. The Knights capitalized off of UNC’s mistakes when Jackson found a wide-open Kylan Fox for a 17-yard touchdown two plays later.

Special Teams: B+

The special teams weren’t bad. Rece Verhoff is still 100% for the year on field goal attempts after he made a 40-yard field goal. Tom Maginness had three punts averaging 39.3 yards with a long of 48 and one punt inside the 20-yard line.