Art’s Angle: Implosion

Not quite ready for prime time, I guess.

The Tar Heels had Georgia down by 10, had dulled the Dome that was 80 percent Bulldog red into thinking, “Well, it’s the first game for Kirby (Smart, Georgia’s rookie head coach). He’ll get better.” T.J Logan, Mr. Explosion, had just turned a 10-14 halftime deficit into a 24-14 lead with a 95-yard kickoff return and a 21-yard sprint to the right pylon.

We were winning this game, no doubt about it. Georgia could not do anything except hand it or pitch it to a bowling ball of a tailback named Nick Chubb, returning from a horrific knee injury suffered early last season. And while Chubb had chugged for 118 yards in the first half on 20 carries, he was getting tired and bottled up by the improving Carolina defense.

Thoughts of UNC being right back there for a national championship semifinal game next New Year’s Eve were dancing in my head.

Stupid me.

Despite all this talk about their great depth and talent, six true freshmen and seven red-shirt freshmen were playing their first college game under the brightest Saturday night lights. One of them, cornerback Patrice Rene, committed two over-aggressive pass interference penalties on consecutive third-and-longs for Georgia, keeping the Bulldogs’ drive alive TWICE. The first one was a clear-cut penalty; the second one was marginal, but as we saw all night the Tar Heels weren’t getting any calls from the Big 10 officiating crew.

Earlier, a skinny drink of Georgia water was attempting his first college field goal and pulled it wide left. But given three chances on this drive, the Dawgs finally cashed in with a touchdown to make it a one score game, 24-21.

The mistakes just kept on coming.

Now trying to keep it away from Logan, Georgia’s kickoff angled too close to the sideline and surely would have gone out of bounds and given Carolina great field position. But senior Kris Francis still tried to catch it on the 12.

Mitch Trubisky’s first-down completion to Austin Proehl was nullified when one zebra ruled senior tackle John Heck to be downfield. Larry Fedora lost his mind, arguing that if Heck was the illegal three yards past scrimmage, it came after the completion. The Hat, who you can now call The Beard until he shaves it before his next game, got what he said was the first unsportsmanlike penalty of his career, backing up the Tar Heels to their own 7.

That’s when Trubisky, who did not quite live up to his press clippings in his first college start, tried a screen pass to Elijah Hood IN THE END ZONE and Hood CAUGHT THE BALL for a safety to make the score 24-23. That play never should have been CALLED, Trubisky should have thrown it at Hood’s FEET, and Hood had to NOT catch the ball. Three boners on the same snap.

As Trubisky came off the field, The Beard said to him, “We’re good.” Not exactly.

Tom Sheldon, the left-footed true freshman, had to punt it off from his own 20, setting Georgia up for the kill. The Dawgs’ frosh phenom quarterback Jacob Eason found his fleet receiver Isaiah McKenzie isolated on the sideline against UNC backer Cole Holcomb, and the 51-yard bomb put that skinny kicker close enough to line drive a 29-yarder through the uprights. Uga but good.

Carolina’s best chance to pull it out died on a slow-mo replay that erased Trubisky’s sideline throw for a first down to Mack Hollins, who the tape showed had oh-so-slightly bobbled the ball going to the ground. On the previous play, Hollins was called for a ticky-tack pick block that wiped out a completion to Ryan Switzer. Hollins, UNC’s best deep threat, only played the second half after his absurd targeting penalty in the bowl loss to Baylor made him ineligible for the FIRST half of his NEXT game which was NINE months later.

After Sheldon’s sixth punt, Chubb found a second wind and raced 55 yards for his second touchdown that put him over 200 yards (222, to be exact) for the night. Georgia wound up scoring the last 19 points of the game, which Carolina pretty much handed the Dawgs.

“We made too many mistakes,” Fedora said afterward of the 13 penalties and assorted other miscues, including his own. “You can’t make that many mistakes against a good team, any team.”

Next time you see Fedora, guaranteed the beard will be gone. That’s what superstitious coaches do when they lose by a close shave.