Since Butch Davis’ arrival at UNC before the 2007 season, UNC has lost 16 total games. Out of those games, 11 were decided by a touchdown or less—most by 2-4 points.
So do the rumors that Butch Davis is not a good “game coach” have any basis in reality?
If last night’s any fair measure, then yes.
Let’s just skip to the end of the game. Florida State has scored to take a 30-27 lead, and UNC has the ball on the FSU 44 yard line, 4th down and 5. There are 4 minutes 15 seconds left. The Seminoles’ offense has slap chopped the UNC defense on 4 consecutive possessions, including a 98 yard touchdown pass that scalped the life out of the Kenan Stadium crowd. FSU quarterback Christian Ponder has completed 16 consecutive passes and looks like the reincarnation of Tom Brady. UNC cornerback Jordan Hemby is injured and so our defense does not have its nickel package to work with, meaning that on any upcoming FSU possessions, Tar Heel linebackers will have to cover smaller, much quicker Florida State receivers, something they were unable to do on Florida State’s last joy ride down the field.
If you’re not too busy looking at the road map, it’s pretty clear then that all signs in Chapel Hill pointed towards one conclusion: the offense must score here and now, or they won’t get another chance.
At the time of the decision, the Tar Heels were 2 for 2 on 4th down conversions in the game and 7 for 9 on the season. Additionally, they were playing the 102nd best defense in the country, a defense playing without its best player, Dekoda Watson. If the Tar Heels moved the ball just 15 more yards, then kicker Casey Barth would have a chance to tie the game at 30 with a 46 yard field goal. And that’s assuming that UNC won’t punch it into the end zone (for the win), as they have been able to do on three occasions already this evening.
Remarkably, Butch Davis decided to punt and put the game in the hands of a defenseless defense playing an overwhelming offense. With any luck, or so Butch Davis thought, a good punt would pin FSU back inside their own 10 yard line where a quick stop by UNC would give the Tar Heels great field position, possibly even inside FSU territory, with about 2-3 minutes left in the game. Wait…what?
The offense has traveled to the Florida State 44, and is in a 4th and 5 situation down 3 points. And then, instead of going for it, we punt the ball back to the Seminoles, in hopes of maybe, in the best possible scenario for our outmanned defense, getting the ball back at about the FSU 44 again—only this time with 2 or 3 minutes left on the clock? Of course, Grant Schallock then punted the ball into the end zone, giving the ball to Florida State at the 20 yard line. We surrendered possession of the football in the closing minutes of the game for a 24 yard change in field position, which we quickly gave up. That’s just plain stupid.
There are times when traditional, conservative, “old school” football decision making has its place in the modern game. If it’s 4th and inches from your own 10 yard line, I can understand punting the ball away. If it’s 4th and 20 from the opponent’s 40 yard line, I can understand trying to pooch pin them deep into coffin corner. But what I can’t understand is why you wouldn’t go for it on a totally manageable 4th and 5 at the opponent’s 44 yard line in the situation that we saw last night.
Our passing game played terribly (in other news, Israel and Palestine are mad at each other), but why not challenge them to pick up 5 yards? Or, if you fear an ugly pass attempt by TJ Yates, run another end around or gadget running play! We had already converted a 4th down on a direct snap to Shaun Draughn, and our receivers had combined for 100 yards rushing at this point in the game.
There is no place for conservatism in offensive decision making anymore, not even in the ACC Coastal Division. Georgia Tech has hired an intelligent, risk-taking triple option mastermind to run its quirky offense. Miami hired NFL offensive innovator Mark Whipple to inject some life into a formerly ineffective Hurricanes’ passing game. Virginia hired spread “guru” Gregg Brandon to rework its Hummer of a 2008 offense into something more like a sports car. Even Duke has implemented a cutting edge passing attack and an aggressive offensive style that tries to win, instead of trying to beat the spread like Blue Devils past.
Last night, UNC was handicapped by conservatism in all aspects of the game. We punted on 4th and 5 at the end of the game. We gave Christian Ponder time to ponder (and possibly discover) the meaning of life while making his progressions, thanks to our girl-scout aggressiveness in defensive playcalling. I’ve seen more blitzes in a German phone book. Additionally, TJ Yates (aside from his costly interception in the 3rd quarter) seemed afraid to try some deep shots down the field, even in a hail mary situation at the end of the game.
This football team showed a few good things Thursday night. Shaun Draughn and the receivers ran quite well behind a seemingly improved offensive line, while Grant Schallock and the punt coverage teams continued to help us out on special teams. TJ Yates, as poorly as he played, threw two beautiful deep balls, one of which was called back by a holding penalty and one of which was dropped.
Nonetheless, if this team doesn’t play more aggressively in all phases next week, it will soon be 4-4 and 0-4 in the ACC.
Hello, Bowl America. Goodbye, bowl game.
Great post and very accurate. I was at the game and for the first time in a LONG time, I sensed urgency and uncertainty about ole Butch. I think he’s still a great hire and can recruit with the best of them, but he’s game-day decision making has left me VERY unimpressed. However, what’s the alternative? I wish I knew…