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The Daily Tar Heel

UNC football's offense among nation’s best

SPORTS FBC-UNC-PITT 10 RA
North Carolina tailback Elijah Hood (34) picks up 7 yards in the first quarter before losing a shoe and being stopped by Pittsburgh's Mark Scarpinato (97) on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015, at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. (Robert Willett/Raleigh News & Observer/TNS)

UNC didn’t run up the middle for a handful of yards or throw a quick screen pass toward the boundary. Redshirt senior quarterback Marquise Williams unloaded a bomb deep for junior wide receiver Ryan Switzer, who hauled in the pass for a 71-yard touchdown.

That type of explosive play has become routine for UNC this season. Twelve of UNC’s 35 offensive touchdowns have covered more than 20 yards.

“We’re more efficient,” senior wide receiver Quinshad Davis said. “The (offensive) line has a couple years under their belt. We’re all veteran receivers; (Williams) has a couple years under his belt. We know what we’re doing.”

Like many other teams in college football, UNC runs a spread offense that places an emphasis on high tempo in order to stress the defense and ultimately run more plays. Some of the best offenses in the nation run this offense.

But the Tar Heels are running fewer plays than every offense ranked in the top 25, with 504 compared to 538 for Toledo — their closest competitor. That means their average of 7.46 yards per play is higher than all but two teams — Baylor and Texas Christian, which are the top two teams in terms of yards per game — making UNC one of the most explosive offenses in the nation.

The Tar Heels are accomplishing all of this with mostly the same personnel that averaged 5.6 yards per play in 2014. Players say a year of experience has helped the offense reach the potential it flashed in 2014.

“Our offense is very execution based,” redshirt senior offensive guard Landon Turner said. “Guys have to trust and do their own job, and all of it has to correlate into all 11 guys doing one thing together.”

“That’s what’s so difficult, and that’s what takes maturity and practice and guys trusting each other to get the job done.”

Another factor in the offensive leap of the Tar Heels has been the emergence of the ground game. UNC averaged a little more than 150 yards per game in 2014. Behind sophomore running back Elijah Hood’s breakout, UNC is now averaging almost 60 yards more per game.

That has a ripple effect on the rest of the offense. It sucks linebackers and safeties up closer to the line of scrimmage, leaving space for UNC’s multitude of talented receivers to exploit the defense.

“We’re so well-rounded,” junior receiver Mack Hollins said, “Once you establish that run game, it’s hard to stop.”

Now the Tar Heels turn to face Duke and its top-10 defense in Chapel Hill on Saturday. The Tar Heels put up nearly 600 yards of offense on the Blue Devils in 2014.

The way the offense is playing this season, something similar this year would be almost routine.

@loganulrich

sports@dailytarheel.com

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