When you play the kind of opponents Florida State and UNC did an opening weekend in Duquesne and Florida A&M it’s hard to draw sweeping generalizations on the future of their seasons. I tend to watch these types of games like spring games.
Which individuals and units stood out?
Florida State won their game 47-7, and UNC won theirs 56-24 so what did we see?
Let’s start with Florida State…
The value of getting a game in even one like this before playing LSU will pay dividends in that game. Nothing you can do in practice can simulate actual game speed, even against a lower-division opponent.
What I liked most about Florida State was the play of QB Jordan Travis. He completed 11 of 15 of pass for 207 yards, and looked in total command of the Seminole offense. He showed good touch on some short passes and threw a couple of really nice deep balls. Travis even got a couple of passes completed in tight windows. We know he’s mobile, but he didn’t have to be as the Noles had three 100-yard rushers in Treshan Ward, Trey Benson, and Lawrence Toafill Saturday.
Now on to North Carolina…
The Tar Heels should feel good about their new QB Drake Maye. He looked like he could make every throw, and showed toughness as a runner. He didn’t face much pressure, so we’ll have to see how he handles that in the future. WR Josh Downs left no doubt he is one of the ACC’s best offensive players when he got the ball got near him. The backs looked good. That offense has a chance to be pretty explosive.
Ok, there’s bad news for the Heels though. Their best secondary player Tony Grimes got hurt (hopefully not seriously), and the defense looked bad really bad. You name it, the Heels did it with missed assignments, poor tackling, and sloppy coverage. Gene Chizik was brought in to improve a mess of defense, and today spoke to how much work he has ahead of himself. This was a Florida A&M team missing 20+ players and was a razer thin along the offensive line, and they pretty much marched up and down the field on UNC.
With the offenses and QBs North Carolina will face in the ACC, that defense is going to shredded apart week in and week out without a ton of improvement. Oh and an Appalachian State team getting UNC at home next week has to be licking their chops.
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