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Different teams react to adversity in different ways.
Some get discouraged and never overcome it. Others use it as motivation and bounce back better than before.
North Carolina chose the latter course Saturday in Charlottesville.
Faced with the most demoralizing circumstances imaginable, the Tar Heels channeled their emotion into their best performance of the season in a 41-14 demolition of Virginia in their first game back after the death of teammate Tylee Craft.
“We told these kids, keep swinging,” coach Mack Brown said following the game, echoing a phrase that became Craft’s rallying cry throughout his losing battle against cancer. “This is the start of the rest of the season for us.”
Craft died on Oct. 12 during UNC’s loss to Georgia Tech. His teammates were given the bad news in the locker room afterward, adding to the disappointment of a late breakdown that allowed the Yellow Jackets to score the winning touchdown on a long run in the final seconds.
Fortunately, a well-timed open date on the schedule gave them a full week to mourn. After traveling as a team to attend a memorial service for Craft in Sumter, SC, they used the extra practice time to regroup and fix some of the problems that have plagued them since their most recent win – on Sept. 14 against North Carolina Central.
Among the most inspired performances was that of Craft’s fellow wide receiver JJ Jones. The graduate student, who wore Craft’s No. 13 in the Georgia Tech game as a tribute to his friend, caught 5 passes for a career-high 129 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the victory.
The Tar Heels’ much-maligned defense was even more impressive. The same unit that got torched for 70 points against James Madison and came into the game allowing an average of 30.4 points and 399.9 yards per game limited UVa to only 288 yards and 14 points.
The biggest improvement came in the pass rush.
https://twitter.com/theACCDN/status/1850275062995398882
The Tar Heels had only recorded 15 sacks in their first 7 games combined. And none in the previous 2 games before taking last week off. They got more than half that many Saturday by taking Cavaliers quarterback Anthony Colandrea down in the backfield 10 times. It’s the first time since a win against Wake Forest in 2000 that the Tar Heels reached double-digit sacks in a game.
All-ACC edge rusher Kaimon Rucker led the way with 3 while bookend Beau Atkinson had 2 to lead the sack attack. Teammates Jahvaree Ritzie, Antavious Lane, Amare Campbell, Desmond Evans and Alijah Huzzie each finished with one. Rucker and Ritzee also had interceptions, with Ritzee taking his back 84 yards for a touchdown.
The Tar Heels’ positive reaction to adversity is only one of the things we learned about the ACC in Week 9. Here are some of the other big takeaways from around the conference:
Six turnovers … no points
The Cameron Crazies have a cheer they use to taunt opposing basketball players with a propensity for committing fouls without getting into the scoring column.
“Four fouls … no points,” they chant. “Four fouls .. no points!”
A variation of the cheer would have been appropriate for SMU fans who were next door to Cameron at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night.
Six turnovers … no points. Six turnovers … no points.
The Blue Devils’ defense recorded 6 takeaways against the Mustangs.
Three interceptions. Three fumble recoveries.
Including 2 picks and a fumble recovery in the 4th quarter.
And yet, a week after ringing up 17 points off 4 Florida State turnovers in a close win, all that thievery against SMU resulted in exactly zero Duke points.
Nada.
And the result was an incredibly frustrating 28-27 overtime loss.
Duke wasted 2 of those takeaways later in the game when kicker Todd Pelino missed potential game-winning field goals – a miss from 42 yards and a blocked 30-yarder on the final play of regulation. Pelino also missed an extra point, kicking woes that prompted coach Manny Diaz to go for 2 and the win in overtime rather than taking his chances with another kick.
Duke may have let SMU off the hook by losing a game while winning the turnover battle by plus-6. But in the process, it may have done the ACC a favor by helping to keep the 22th-ranked Mustangs in the national polls for at least another week.
A potentially costly win for Virginia Tech
Despite having lost 3 times already this season, the Hokies are still very much in play for a trip to the ACC Championship Game and a shot at the College Football Playoff. They improved to 3-1 in the conference with a 21-6 win against Georgia Tech on Saturday in a game that saw star quarterback Kyron Drones account for all 3 of his team’s touchdowns. One rushing, one receiving and one passing.
But the victory, which also featured another strong performance by a defense that has yielded only 34 points during a 3-game winning streak, had a potential cost.
Leading rusher Bhayshul Tuten and starting left tackle Xavier Chaplin both left the game with injuries. Chaplin was the first to go down, leaving early in the game with a left shoulder issue. He returned briefly in the second half but returned to the sideline again after apparently aggravating the injury.
Tuten ran for 79 yards on 17 carries before limping off with an apparent ankle injury late in the game.
Coach Brent Pry didn’t provide much information about either player during his postgame remarks, saying only that their situations will be evaluated Sunday. “(That) will be the tell-all for both of those guys,” he said.
The Hokies need both players to be healthy and available to give themselves their best shot at staying in the ACC race with pivotal matchups at Syracuse and at home against Clemson coming up in the next 2 weeks.
Pitt is back on brand
Pat Narduzzi is an old defensive guy at heart, so it was incredibly out of character to see his Panthers ride an offense led by a 31-year-old coordinator and a dynamic freshman quarterback to the best start since the days of Dan Marino. But when times get tough, teams always trend back to what they do best.
And Pitt is no different.
With Eli Holstein hitting the first rough patch of his young career and Kade Bell’s up-tempo offense accounting for less than 300 total yards in each of the past 2 games, Narduzzi’s 19th-ranked team has returned to its roots by showing it still knows how to win games with defense.
Led by a deep, talented linebacking corps that calls itself “The Sharks,” the Panthers recorded 6 sacks in shutting down Cal 2 weeks ago. Thursday night against Syracuse, in their first game back after an open date, they were even more dominant and opportunistic in a 41-13 beatdown of the Orange.
Proving that a good defense is the best offense, Pitt picked off Kyle McCord 5 times, returning 3 for touchdowns – 1 each by Rasheem Biles, Kyle Louis and Braylan Lovelace – to improve to 8-0 for the first time since 1982 and 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since its championship season of 2021.
The ACC’s road warriors
Who needs a home-field advantage?
Not Wake Forest.
Or Stanford, apparently.
Saturday’s victory at Stanford improves the Deacons to 3-0 on the road this season. By contrast, they’re just 1-4 at home. With the only win coming on opening night against FCS opponent North Carolina A&T. All 3 of their road wins have come by 4 points or less – 34-30 at NC State, 23-20 at UConn and now 27-24 in Palo Alto.
The Cardinal, on the other hand, have now lost 12 straight home games against FBS competition. Their last FBS win at Stanford Stadium was a 15-14 triumph against Arizona State more than 2 years ago, on Oct. 22, 2022.
Wake didn’t make things easy on itself. It gave up a touchdown on a strip sack, failed on a 4th-down run from inside the 1 and committed 10 penalties for 90 yards. But Hank Bachmeier led a late drive that resulted in a game-winning field goal and Nick Anderson intercepted an Ashton Daniels pass in the final minute to improve the Deacons to 4-4 and keep their realistic bowl hopes alive.
They’ll need 2 more wins to qualify for the postseason. Fortunately, they still have 2 more road games remaining. At North Carolina on Nov. 16 and at Miami on Nov. 23. They also have home games against Cal and Duke.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
