UNC’s offensive line couldn’t protect Sam Howell: ‘The sacks were ... disappointing’
No. 10 North Carolina returned all of its starters on the offensive line from last season and it was supposed to be one of the strengths of the offense heading into the season opener against Virginia Tech. Running back and receiver is where the Tar Heels had the big talent drains.
After giving up six sacks and four quarterback hurries in the Tar Heels 17-10 loss, it’s the offensive line that left Lane Stadium with more questions than answers.
“The sacks were a surprise — and disappointing,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “That’s something that we’ve got to really look at. We’ve been talking about that for two years.”
Carolina was 13th in the ACC in sacks allowed last season totaling 34 in 12 games. Quarterback Sam Howell admitted he was culpable for some of those sacks for holding onto the ball too long.
He never seemed to have that chance against the Hokies. And their pressure mainly came from their down linemen so they didn’t have to blitz a lot.
During Carolina’s final drive as they tried to tie the game, Howell was pressured and nearly went down for his seventh sack when nose tackle Jordan Williams got hold of him. Howell broke free enough to fling the ball in an attempt to throw it away.
But VT defensive back Chamarri Conner made a juggling catch that he secured just before hitting the ground. The call was reviewed but the interception stood.
“I’m always thinking, don’t take a sack, don’t take a sack,” Howell said. “So now I was just trying to throw the ball away, and (Williams) had spun me around, and it caused a bad throw. I was trying to put the ball way out of bounds.”
The only change in UNC’s offensive line from last year’s starters was at center, where Quiron Johnson started in place of Brian Anderson, who is still working his way back from an injury. Johnson also had one start last season in place of Anderson.
Despite the continuity the Heels touted in their line, they didn’t look like a bunch of veterans out there. They were twice called for ineligible receiver downfield penalties.
VT coach Justin Fuentes said they returned all of their front four starters on defense.
“We aren’t super deep, we don’t have an excess of them there, but we do have a two deep that we can roll through there,” Fuentes said. “Staying fresh, moving the front a little bit, changing the front up helped us a little bit.”
Brown said he was also disappointed by their inability to run the ball in the first half. Carolina gained just 59 yards rushing before halftime.
UNC running back Ty Chandler, the graduate transfer from Tennessee, led the team with 66 yards on 10 carries. Sophomore D.J. Jones had 43 yards on six carries, but 29 of his yards came on the final play of the first half when the Hokies were out to stop a long pass.
The Heels did a much better job on the ground in the second half, gaining 87 yards on 16 players. But even then, it was often Howell’s scrambles that powered the yardage.
Howell ended up with a career-high 13 rushing attempts. His previous high was 12 in the Orange Bowl against Texas A&M. Howell was in designed runs that game, in an attempt to keep the Aggies’ defense honest due to the absence of Carolina’s 1,000-yard running backs Javonte Williams and Michael Carter, who opted out of the bowl.
“We stop the run but then we make an offense one dimensional,” said VT linebacker Dax Hollifield, who is a native of Shelby, N.C. “You have athletes on the edge and in the middle I’m taking those four (defensive linemen) against any five (offensive linemen) in the country in a one-on-one matchup.”
The Heels’ first drive into Virginia Tech territory, was indicative of the performance of the line. They allowed Howell to get dropped for a 13-yard loss that took Carolina out of field goal range. The Hokies only rushed three players and it seemed that they all got to Howell.
“You can’t expect a guy to go out there and have a great game throwing the ball when you got people around you all the time,” Brown said. “You’ve got to protect your quarterback.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 9:00 AM with the headline "UNC’s offensive line couldn’t protect Sam Howell: ‘The sacks were ... disappointing’."