Early on in UNC’s 56-28 win over James Madison on Saturday, it wouldn’t have been easy to tell the difference between the Tar Heel defense and the Grand Canyon.
However, a career day from junior quarterback Mitch Trubisky helped UNC fight through its shortcomings in its home opener—as the Tar Heels made sure there would be no upsets happening on their watch.
James Madison (2-1) entered Saturday’s matchup as the No. 8 team in the lower-tier FCS, with a powerful rushing attack to match. Tailback Khalid Abdullah introduced himself to the Tar Heels (2-1) quickly with a pair of touchdown runs in the first quarter that put the underdogs in control.
Trubisky and his talented trio of receivers—Ryan Switzer, Bug Howard and Mack Hollins—then decided to shift things into overdrive.
The James Madison ground attack worked wonders against the Tar Heels in the first quarter–building the visitors an early 21-14 advantage. (AP Photo/ Gerry Broome)
Down 14-7, UNC called for a flea-flicker on the first play of its next drive. Eleven seconds later, Switzer waltzed into the endzone untouched–while Hollins signaled for a touchdown from the sideline before the pass had ever been thrown.
It turns out Hollins’ gesture was just a symbol of what was to come for the overmatched James Madison defenders—as Trubisky led UNC to touchdowns on each of its first eight drives.
“I just kept telling the guys on the sideline that we just need to do our job and the defense is gonna get their stuff together,” Trubisky told reporters afterward. “So every time we got the ball the goal was to go down there and score—and that’s what we did.
“It was a fun offensive day.”
The offensive outburst was a welcome sign for head coach Larry Fedora, who finally saw his team producing the kind of explosive plays it has become known for in recent years.
Trubisky set a new career-high with 432 yards and set school records with 18 consecutive completions and 156 consecutive passes without an interception. The junior added three touchdown passes, with each of his top receivers grabbing one apiece.
Elijah Hood (34) complemented Trubisky’s production with his first 100-yard game of the season on Saturday. (AP Photo/ Gerry Broome)
He also got plenty of help from the Tar Heels’ two-headed rushing monster.
Elijah Hood scored twice and topped the 100-yard mark for the first time this season while TJ Logan set his own career-high by taking three of his nine carries into the endzone.
It was the type of performance that shows just how good Fedora’s offense can be when his quarterback has everything clicking on all cylinders.
“As you see him get more comfortable, you’re seeing Mitch Trubisky come out now,” Fedora said. “You’re seeing the guy who can do all the things we think he can do.
“I’m really pleased with the way he played,” the coach continued. “He’s really taking care of the ball well. He [went] through another game and didn’t put a single ball into coverage.”
Even though the offense stole the show as the game wore on, it was obviously not a good sign for the Tar Heels that their defense struggled so much to begin with.
Nazair Jones and Dajaun Drennon—the team’s top two defensive linemen—sat out the game due to injury, but that still doesn’t do much to explain the mental lapses that led to four unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
Capitalizing on those mistakes, James Madison matched UNC point-for-point throughout the first half—until the surprised Tar Heels finally secured a couple stops close to halftime that allowed them to break the score wide open.
Frustration boiled amongst the UNC defense during that span, largely because they never expected to be in that position to begin with. As a result, a major attitude adjustment was needed–according to Fedora and senior cornerback Des Lawrence.
By the second half, running room was not as easy to find for James Madison–which was a result of UNC’s mental adjustments. (AP Photo/ Gerry Broome)
“We don’t want to rely on our offense to outscore people,” Lawrence said. “It’s kinda like we’re not holding our own weight.
“[Defensive coordinator Gene] Chizik and his staff came in here [last year] and the main thing they wanted to improve on was defense. I think the other three quarters—besides the first quarter—we showed how good we can be.
“But there’s a lot of things we’ve gotta clean up.
In general, the mood amongst the UNC players following the game didn’t exactly fit for a team that just put up video game numbers with ease.
Knowing that the ACC schedule begins next week with a tough matchup against Pittsburgh, it was hard for them not to focus on all the areas that need improvement against more difficult competition.
Still, though, they’ll take this game for what it was—another notch in the win column.
“It probably wasn’t the way we drew it up or the way we wanted it—but winning’s hard these days,” Fedora said.
“You can look across the country and see FCS teams that have beaten FBS teams,” he continued. “So we’re happy about getting the win.”
Up Next:
UNC will stay at home next week, as Pitt and its star running back–James Conner–come in to Kenan Stadium likely looking to attack the Tar Heels’ inconsistent run defense.
Game Notes:
- Trubisky’s 75-yard flea-flicker to Hollins was the longest completion of his career.
- In total, UNC was missing three defensive linemen due to injury–and had two more (Jalen Dalton, Jason Strowbridge) leave the game.
- Switzer finished with five catches for 101 yards–giving him his sixth career 100-yard outing in a Tar Heel uniform.
- The teams combined for a staggering 1,130 yards on the day. (UNC- 635, JMU- 495)
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