Unfortunately, I forgot to post this before the South Florida game. You all saw it. This team has quit, so I have quit blogging about them. But Ted gave me a nice writeup about what this team ought to do. They're not doing it, obviously, but it's a nice summary of some things that should be happening.

Cam Sexton has shown that he has the physical skills and savvy to succeed at the college level. However, he cannot lead drives on his own and has yet to receive much support from the rest of his offense. Although Sexton is quite agile in the pocket, the offensive line has offered him little or no protection leading to sacks and lost yardage. To compound the problem, the wide receivers have maintained their inconsistency from a year ago and continue to drop balls at crucial points in drives.

Against Miami, the Tar Heels used a single-back offense almost exclusively. Having three or four receivers spread out on the field gave Sexton many more options in the passing game. Using the shotgun for the majority of the game should have given him more time in the pocket but as previously mentioned, the protection broke down too often. The blocking scheme seemed to have more success adding a tight end to the line in place of a fourth receiver. Besides serving as an extra blocker, Jon Hamlett also gave Sexton a good passing option when the pocket did break down.

In order to take some pressure off Cam Sexton and his receivers, the running game desperately needs to find a spark. No team can expect to win, or move the ball consistently for that matter, when they total only 58-yards rushing.  Critics are quick to blame the offensive line for the shortcomings although part of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the halfbacks. Many people highlight the fact that Ronnie McGill was highly ranked on Mel Kiper’s list of senior halfbacks and therefore assume that he is an NFL-caliber back. However, they fail to realize that the majority of NFL-ready backs leave school after their junior years, severely watering-down the senior talent pool. If players like Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Laurence Maroney, and others had returned for their senior seasons, McGill wouldn’t be rated nearly as high. McGill proved that he can have success breaking tackles once he gets into the open field; however, he has struggled to find holes quickly enough in the new blocking scheme.

The lack of rushing success led the coaches to all but abandon the I-form on Saturday in favor of single-back looks. Barrington Edwards seemed to grasp the new scheme well, getting good acceleration before the handoff and slicing through the line. Yet, he was never able to break a run over four yards. The staff seems reluctant to try other options at the position, but Richie Rich did see some action on Saturday. Rich is a smaller, shiftier, back that can also catch passes from the backfield, giving the offense another dimension. The staff needs to give him more playing time earlier in the game as he has the potential to break a big run after a screen pass.  

Another aspect of the offense that has been underutilized is Jesse Holley’s ability to make defenders miss after the catch. Holley is a very fluid runner and has shown in the past that he can break multiple tackles to gain extra yardage. The staff needs to look to him more across the middle with a few short passes each game that have the potential to turn into big gains.

With the injury to Hakeem Nicks, someone will need to step in against South Florida and take over the role of Cam Sexton’s most reliable target. Holley will probably benefit the most as he is expected to shift into Nicks’s spot. However, Kenton Thornton and Dirk Engram will also get a chance to step on the field and see what they can accomplish.