Florida Gulf Coast’s Chase Fieler, left, shoots over Ohio State’s William Buford, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Dec.15, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State won 83-55.
(via Yahoo!)
William Tandy, publisher of the Smile, Hon! You’re in Baltimore series, has a blog post up at Planet Cancer about his new normal life after cancer. The disease still makes him late to work sometimes. Planet Cancer is a website for and about young adults, 18-40, struggling through diagnosis and treatment. Tandy contributed the essay “What It’s Really Like to Be Misdiagnosed” to Planet Cancer, the book, a compilation of writings and wisdom about having cancer at the young adult stage of life, beyond pediatrics but with little in common with the older population that makes up the bulk of the patients on an adult cancer ward.
Okay, not really. Someone has created a parody/homage Twitter page for one of the 20th century’s most popular (and most eccentric) photographers, William Eggleston. The page consists of actual quotes from Eggleston himself and what the author imagines the photographer would say. I guess I’m a nerd or perhaps just easily amused but this cracks me up. You can follow Not-William-Eggleston here: @mastereggleston
The ampersand in the title is in honor of the College of William & Mary, which for some reason is almost always written with an ampersand and hardly ever as William and Mary.
It is somehow fitting that UNC’s game with William & Mary took place during the Halloween weekend because the game was somewhat of an illusion. A look at the stat sheet belies what actually transpired on the field. Carolina racked up over 420 yards of total offense, but 170 of those came in the 4th quarter. UNC was a season-best 9-16 on 3rd down but needed to be 2-3 on 4th downs to keep drives alive and crawl back in the game. T.J. Yates was a very respectable 23-33 for 238 yards and a TD (plus another rushing TD), but his one interception was very costly, giving the Tribe a short field and leading to their first touchdown.
On defense, the nightmare of attrition continues as Quan Sturdivant missed his 5th straight game and defensive backs Tre Boston and Mywan Jackson did not play and freshman backup Terry Shankle was injured during the game. But the defense put the clamps on in the second half limiting W&M to only 105 yards of offense.
Keeping in mind the following analysis may be as choppy and blurry as an ESPN3.com internet feed, here is this week’s GBU report:
GOOD
Johnny White: That’s Mr. Johnny White to you, who had a career-high 164 yards on the ground and another 23 receiving. White again put the anemic UNC offense on his back in the 4th quarter and had yet another dazzling long touchdown run, this time of 67 yards, to put the Tar Heels in front to stay. Again, hard to believe if not for the early issues surrounding Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston, White may not have seen the field this season.
Dwight Jones: Jones had 9 catches for 107 yards. Guess we know who Yates’ new favorite target is. Jones is becoming a big-time receiver, even if he did not break a big one in this game.
Ryan Taylor and Ed Barham: This pair of seniors combined for 6 catches for 57 yards and a TD, helping fill in for the injured Zack Pianalto. It was good to see Yates targeting the tight end and H-back and these guys making catches.
An actual blitz: Defensive coordinator Everett Withers actually took the chains off his linebackers in the 4th quarter with a number of called blitzes and some speed rushing by the defensive ends. The result? Three sacks in the quarter and some actual bad decisions and hurried throws by a quarterback who didn’t have all afternoon to throw the ball and check down 7 times.
BAD
Erik Highsmith and Jhey Boyd: These guys combined for two catches for one yard. Really? Do you think Mark Stoops, Bud Foster, and Mike Archer won’t figure out a way to double Jones and make these guys beat FSU, VT, and NCSU?
Linebackers: Until Withers started walking up the linebackers and putting pressure in the 4th quarter, the linebackers were again non-factors as they were against Miami. This should be one of this team’s strengths and will need to step it up down the stretch.
UGLY
Offensive line: This group continues to be a glaring weakness, which is disappointing since they were supposed to be one of the most improved units on the team. They were pushed around most of the first half and it was not until the 4th quarter when the W&M defensive front started to run out of gas that holes really started to open up.
(Side note: it was pointed out in last week’s comments section that the O-line often shows up in the bad and ugly review while the running backs often show up in the good section and how can this be when the RBs obviously need the O-line to run. My response is A) I was an offensive lineman so I often grade them harder and they have not improved over the course of the season, and B) were Johnny White’s long TD runs last week the result of O-line play or his ability? Besides, take away White’s 67-yard TD run and he only had 97 yards on 28 carries, or less than 3.5 yards per carry.)
Fireworks guy: Indicative of much of UNC’s season, the fireworks that are shot off after a UNC score were set off after Casey Barth’s missed field goal in the 3rd quarter, resulting in the first documented fireworks fail in UNC football history.
Sometimes over the course of a football season, you just have to survive and move on to the next week. Of course UNC fans would have like to have seen the team come out focused sharp and easily handle a I-AA team, but William & Mary is a very good football team and the hangover from the Miami beating lasted longer than anyone would have hoped for. Still the Tar Heels were able to pull it together, eke out a win, and move forward. Now UNC has to get ready for a brutal three-week stretch in which they play the three top teams in the ACC with a combined record of 18-6.
Where: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC
When: Saturday, October 30, 3:30 PM
Internet: ESPN3.com
Records: UNC 4-3, 2-2 ACC; William & Mary 6-1
Remember when this was supposed to be Carolina’s “easy” game?
UNC returns to Kenan Stadium for a homecoming matchup against the 6-1 Tribe of William & Mary, currently ranked #3 in the division formerly known as I-AA. After a season-opening loss, the Tribe has reeled off six straight wins, two of them over teams ranked in the FCS top-five.
Speaking of homecoming, a big storyline was to have been the return of former UNC quarterback Mike Paulus, a highly-touted prospect who never panned out for the Heels and transferred to William & Mary. However, Paulus has spent most of the season on the bench behind senior QB Mike Callahan. Callahan was injured and Paulus led W&M to two wins, including one over then-#1 Villanova, but Paulus was benched last week in the second half with the Tribe trailing Delaware 13-3. Callahan then rallied the team to a 17-16 victory and will be under center again this week.
William & Mary has staked a reputation as one of the top defensive teams in the FCS, particularly against the run. They held both Villanova and Delaware under 100 yards rushing in their wins.
For the Heels, some familiar faces return to the depleted defensive lineup. Kendric Burney was cleared by the NCAA to return this week and Quan Sturdivant and Jordan Nix have been upgraded to “probable”. Da’Norris Searcy, who suffered a concussion against Miami, has also been cleared to return but is listed as questionable, as is cornerback Tre Boston.
Carolina also needs to get its offense in gear as T.J. Yates had a forgettable game last week against Miami and the running game never seemed to get going. This will be tough against a top-rated defense but Yates has not had back-to-back down games yet this season.
UNC doesn’t exactly have a history in the 2000s of blowing out FCS teams, but they always seem to play some pretty good teams. The last time UNC played William & Mary in 2004, the Heels trailed much of the second half before pulling out a 49-38 win. There is no reason to expect Carolina to blow out the Tribe, but there is no reason the Heels should not win comfortably, either.
UNC 27, William & Mary 14
via Inside Carolina:
UNC senior cornerback Kendric Burney has been cleared by the NCAA to play this season and will be in the lineup for this weekend’s game against William & Mary.
Burney was suspended six games by the NCAA for receiving improper benefits and sat out last week’s game while resolving an eligibility issue with the NCAA.
Nothing official has been released by UNC, but Burney reportedly appeared before the honor court last week and received an F in a course from last semester that threw his eligibility to play this season into question. Burney only had one course remaining to graduate and was playing under an NCAA regulation that says students may be enrolled less than full-time if they are taking all the courses required to complete their degree. The honor court ruling now meant that Burney needed two classes to graduate and was therefore not in compliance with that particular NCAA rule. Burney commented to a local TV station near his hometown that all he needed to do to be eligible was “pick up a class” on the next day after his hearing, but it was long after the last official time for students to add courses and promptly caused a conniption among ABCers and others. UNC then withheld him from the Miami game while things were sorted out.
Obviously by signing off on Burney’s eligibility, a solution was found that satisfied the NCAA, which apparently waived the enrollment rule. Again I’m sure the ABCers will have convulsions and the merits of allowing a player who had an honor court conviction to return to the team can be debated all day long. On the other hand, there were those who shouted that football players who appeared before the honor court should be treated like any other student and that appears to have happened in this case, given that any student who received a similar ruling from the honor court could find a way to restore his way onto a team or activity. And, lost in all this hand-wringing is the fact that Burney has obviously been a good student and achieved enough credits to graduate in 4 years (assuming he left one class remaining so he could play this fall) but apparently made a stupid mistake that resulted in his appearance before the honor court.
Burney was hoping to be back for the Miami game and other than giving Jacory Harris flashbacks of the three INTs he threw last year that Burney picked off, he may not have made a difference. But his return to the team is vital in a secondary depleted by injury and he has a good week to return as the Heels get their “easy week” in which they play the #3 team in the FCS. Still, if everyone can get healthy, UNC now has 3/4 of their starting secondary ready for the stretch run against three of the ACC’s best quarterbacks in November.