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Takeaways from UNC's Surprise Win Against South Carolina

FL Cane

FL Cane

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Let me just preface this by saying that I'd early predicted that South Carolina would win this game easy by double-digits. I was dead wrong and didn't expect UNC to put up the game they did. In many ways, I also underestimated the "corch effect." Muschamp blows games like no other. Nevertheless, there are some big takeaways from this game.
  1. The UNC game just got a whole lot bigger. Kenan Stadium will be packed, and this UNC team will have confidence coming into our matchup. UNC showed today that they can compete at a far better level than last year.

  2. UNC's QB, Sam Howell, showed toughness. This wasn't a clean game for the true freshman QB, but it was a good start. Surprisingly, SC's DL wasn't able to get consistent pressure on Howell or UNC's run game. I expect this to be different next week.

  3. UNC's running game showed life. This was one of the bigger surprises of the day. UNC had a consistent run game and some big runs. Stacy Stearls OL did not look bad in its first outing. Whether they can maintain that level of efficiency throughout the season is TBD.

  4. UNC's defense has shown big improvement. This unit was abjectly terrible last year and showed progress in their first outing of the 2019 campaign. Of course, it should be noted that this team was helped by bad QB play and Mark Richt level offensive play calling. South Carolina is a lot slower than we are, so it will be interesting to see how we fare in a week's time.

  5. Will Muschamp is a terrible head coach. It's likely the beginning of the end of the Will Muschamp era in Columbia. It's inexcusable, in year four, to lose to a previously 2-9 team and entirely new coaching staff. Muschamp made multiple coaching mistakes in his game, and his team played scared. UNC made its share of mistakes but ultimately did just enough to pull out the win. Muschamp said, comically, before this game that this was the best SC team he had in his four years.

  6. This is likely a 5 to 6 loss South Carolina team. While this was a great win for UNC, it was ultimately against a below-average South Carolina team. This is the same team that got blanked 28-0 by UVA in the Belk Bowl. This game tells us that UNC is no longer inept or terrible, but it doesn't tell us whether they're anything above average. Either way, we must be ready.
Overall, UNC will come into our game with a good amount of confidence. In evaluating SC, we certainly have a better defense than them and will give UNC a lot more problems than they got today. They won't be able to run the ball at ease like they did today, for example. We also won't have anemic Mark Richt level playcalling (SC's OC is a Richt disciple) which will be a big difference from what UNC faced today. The difference in speed between Miami and South Carolina is notable.

While UNC has shown some big improvement, people shouldn't be overreacting to this one game. This wasn't a great South Carolina team, and Will Muschamp did about everything he could to lose this game.

Our team must be prepared and ready for a dogfight, but we'll still be the favorite going in. This game is vital for our ACC coastal aspirations.
 
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FL Cane said:
Let me just preface this by saying that I'd early predicted that South Carolina would win this game easy by double-digits. I was dead wrong and didn't expect UNC to put up the game they did. In many ways, I also underestimated the "corch effect." Muschamp blows games like no other. Nevertheless, there are some big takeaways from this game.
  1. The UNC game just got a whole lot bigger. Kenan Stadium will be packed, and this UNC team will have confidence coming into our matchup. UNC showed today that they can compete at a far better level than last year.

  2. UNC's QB, Sam Howell, showed toughness. This wasn't a clean game for the true freshman QB, but it was a good start. Surprisingly, SC's DL wasn't able to get consistent pressure on Howell or UNC's run game. I expect this to be different next week.

  3. UNC's running game showed life. This was one of the bigger surprises of the day. UNC had a consistent run game and some big runs. Stacy Stearls OL did not look bad in its first outing. Whether they can maintain that level of efficiency throughout the season is TBD.

  4. UNC's defense has shown big improvement. This unit was abjectly terrible last year and showed progress in their first outing of the 2019 campaign. Of course, it should be noted that this team was helped by bad QB play and Mark Richt level offensive play calling. South Carolina is a lot slower than we are, so it will be interesting to see how we fare in a week's time.

  5. Will Muschamp is a terrible head coach. It's likely the beginning of the end of the Will Muschamp era in Columbia. It's inexcusable, in year four, to lose to a previously 2-9 team and entirely new coaching staff. Muschamp made multiple coaching mistakes in his game, and his team played scared. UNC made its share of mistakes but ultimately did just enough to pull out the win. Muschamp said, comically, before this game that this was the best SC team he had in his four years.

  6. This is likely a 5 to 6 loss South Carolina team. While this was a great win for UNC, it was ultimately against a below-average South Carolina team. This is the same team that got blanked 28-0 by UVA in the Belk Bowl. This game tells us that UNC is no longer inept or terrible, but it doesn't tell us whether they're anything above average. Either way, we must be ready.
Overall, UNC will come into our game with a good amount of confidence. In evaluating SC, we certainly have a better defense than them and will give UNC a lot more problems than they got today. They won't be able to run the ball at ease like they did today, for example. We also won't have anemic Mark Richt level playcalling (SC's OC is a Richt disciple) which will be a big difference from what UNC faced today. The difference in speed between Miami and South Carolina is notable.

While UNC has shown some big improvement, people shouldn't be overreacting to this one game. This wasn't a great South Carolina team, and Will Muschamp did about everything he could to lose this game.

Our team must be prepared and ready for a dogfight, but we'll still be the favorite going in. This game is vital for our ACC coastal aspirations.
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Good overview FL Cane! We must be vigilant, and play like our life depended on it. Dan Enos must be able to adapt to whatever the UNC defense can bring at us. Also Blake Baker & our D must be on fire, tackle with a vengeance, bring the heat, and give our offense excellent field positions; and even take some plays to the house.
 
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It is mind blowing how bad our o line is. My Apopka boys Ed Montilus and William Barnes could have been here at least in a depth role. Montilus starts for UNC and the former offensive staff told them we were full
 
FL Cane said:
Let me just preface this by saying that I'd early predicted that South Carolina would win this game easy by double-digits. I was dead wrong and didn't expect UNC to put up the game they did. In many ways, I also underestimated the "corch effect." Muschamp blows games like no other. Nevertheless, there are some big takeaways from this game.
  1. The UNC game just got a whole lot bigger. Kenan Stadium will be packed, and this UNC team will have confidence coming into our matchup. UNC showed today that they can compete at a far better level than last year.

  2. UNC's QB, Sam Howell, showed toughness. This wasn't a clean game for the true freshman QB, but it was a good start. Surprisingly, SC's DL wasn't able to get consistent pressure on Howell or UNC's run game. I expect this to be different next week.

  3. UNC's running game showed life. This was one of the bigger surprises of the day. UNC had a consistent run game and some big runs. Stacy Stearls OL did not look bad in its first outing. Whether they can maintain that level of efficiency throughout the season is TBD.

  4. UNC's defense has shown big improvement. This unit was abjectly terrible last year and showed progress in their first outing of the 2019 campaign. Of course, it should be noted that this team was helped by bad QB play and Mark Richt level offensive play calling. South Carolina is a lot slower than we are, so it will be interesting to see how we fare in a week's time.

  5. Will Muschamp is a terrible head coach. It's likely the beginning of the end of the Will Muschamp era in Columbia. It's inexcusable, in year four, to lose to a previously 2-9 team and entirely new coaching staff. Muschamp made multiple coaching mistakes in his game, and his team played scared. UNC made its share of mistakes but ultimately did just enough to pull out the win. Muschamp said, comically, before this game that this was the best SC team he had in his four years.

  6. This is likely a 5 to 6 loss South Carolina team. While this was a great win for UNC, it was ultimately against a below-average South Carolina team. This is the same team that got blanked 28-0 by UVA in the Belk Bowl. This game tells us that UNC is no longer inept or terrible, but it doesn't tell us whether they're anything above average. Either way, we must be ready.
Overall, UNC will come into our game with a good amount of confidence. In evaluating SC, we certainly have a better defense than them and will give UNC a lot more problems than they got today. They won't be able to run the ball at ease like they did today, for example. We also won't have anemic Mark Richt level playcalling (SC's OC is a Richt disciple) which will be a big difference from what UNC faced today. The difference in speed between Miami and South Carolina is notable.

While UNC has shown some big improvement, people shouldn't be overreacting to this one game. This wasn't a great South Carolina team, and Will Muschamp did about everything he could to lose this game.

Our team must be prepared and ready for a dogfight, but we'll still be the favorite going in. This game is vital for our ACC coastal aspirations.
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Hopefully they're ripe for a letdown game after an upset win against a rival, but that stadium will definitely be hyped up now. I'll be there CAN'T ******* WAIT.
 
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Straightforward proposition for me: Enos held Williams to a standard that he should play in his first game the same as in his 40th game. No excuse for youth. I hold Enos and Diaz to the same standard. They have film now on where our team is weakest. On paper, it's not even remotely close in terms of talent level. Miami's blue chip ratio is 51%, I believe UNC's is in the 20s. Despite what the UF game might have you think- gameplanning for weak OTs isn't rocket science. And it should be noted our OTs aren't bad in all areas, they are weak at pass blocking, but at least adequate at run blocking. If Diaz blows this game, it puts him in Willie Taggart territory, first year coach or not. ACC coastal should be easy pickings, and a loss to UNC would be a colossal failure.
 
Rodney Canegerfield said:
It will be a tough game for us because our O Line is awful and every opposing defense will look forward to the matchup.
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Rewatch the game and pay close attention to the run blocking. Miami can run on anyone. Passing, if you believe the coaches that at least 5 sacks were 100% William's fault, then the OL giving up 5 sacks to the best defense well see in the regular season is not the end of the world.

My prediction is that Williams will have a big game. UNC will sell out to stop the run and Williams will pick them apart.
 
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TimeB0mb said:
Straightforward proposition for me: Enos held Williams to a standard that he should play in his first game the same as in his 40th game. No excuse for youth. I hold Enos and Diaz to the same standard. They have film now on where our team is weakest. On paper, it's not even remotely close in terms of talent level. Miami's blue chip ratio is 51%, I believe UNC's is in the 20s. Despite what the UF game might have you think- gameplanning for weak OTs isn't rocket science. And it should be noted our OTs aren't bad in all areas, they are weak at pass blocking, but at least adequate at run blocking. If Diaz blows this game, it puts him in Willie Taggart territory, first year coach or not. ACC coastal should be easy pickings, and a loss to UNC would be a colossal failure.
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Taggart just blew away a decent BST team and their defense could pose a huge problem for us if we are taking them for granted.
 
TimeB0mb said:
Straightforward proposition for me: Enos held Williams to a standard that he should play in his first game the same as in his 40th game. No excuse for youth. I hold Enos and Diaz to the same standard. They have film now on where our team is weakest. On paper, it's not even remotely close in terms of talent level. Miami's blue chip ratio is 51%, I believe UNC's is in the 20s. Despite what the UF game might have you think- gameplanning for weak OTs isn't rocket science. And it should be noted our OTs aren't bad in all areas, they are weak at pass blocking, but at least adequate at run blocking. If Diaz blows this game, it puts him in Willie Taggart territory, first year coach or not. ACC coastal should be easy pickings, and a loss to UNC would be a colossal failure.
Click to expand...
If we lose, there is no: "TNM".
 
Seeing the way Mack cried and the team was dancing in the locker room makes me think it will be difficult for them to get up emotionally immediately after.
We had an extra week to prepare and get ready mentally.
I think we roll.
 
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