Tar Heels lack answers for their offensive woes

Mistakes uncharacteristic of the North Carolina football team haunted the offense against Louisville on Saturday.

A pass picked off at the 13-yard line in the second quarter.

A dropped pass at the 5 in the third.

And a fumble at the 9 during the fourth.

Failing to resemble the offense that had averaged 35.7 points per game, the Tar Heels repeatedly stalled in Cardinal territory.

"Things like that, getting all the way down at the goal line and fumbling on first-and-goal, we can't have those," said center Jason Brown. "It's impossible to win when you have situations like that."

The abysmal play of the offensive corps seemed even harder to believe after UNC overwhelmed Georgia Tech by tallying 426 yards and 19 first downs Sept. 18.

A week later, the Tar Heels mustered just 222 yards and 11 first downs.

A shocked and subdued Darian Durant, who completed 10 of 19 passes for just 80 yards, could not provide an answer.

"Just a bad game for us," he said.

Neither could sophomore wide receiver Adarius Bowman.

"There's no real reason for it," he said Saturday. "It just didn't happen today."

During the first half, the Tar Heels drove into Louisville territory three times and came away empty-handed.

After receiving the ball at its own 35 in the second quarter, UNC pushed to the Cardinal 21.

Durant dropped back and completed a clean pass - to Louisville's Brandon Johnson at the 13 yard-line.

In the third quarter, Durant sent a long bomb downfield on fourth-and-eight toward a wide-open Bowman - who dropped the pass at the 5.

The Tar Heels sealed their scoreless fate when backup quarterback Matt Baker fumbled on first-and-goal at the 9.

"We had opportunities to make plays, and we just didn't come up with them," said Coach John Bunting. "You can't do that in a game like this. ... You've got to make a play in this type of football game."

The usually explosive running game also struggled, gaining only 77 yards, less than half of Jacque Lewis' individual rushing total against Georgia Tech.

"I didn't come out and play as hard as I should have," Lewis said of his 29-yard performance. "I wouldn't say that I'm the only one that didn't do the job, but I know that being a senior running back that I didn't do my job out there."

But UNC refused to waste time wondering what happened and is seeking to prevent a repeat of Saturday's mistake-prone endeavor this Saturday at No. 9 Florida State.

"That was round four. We're coming back to play round five," Bunting said. "We've got a great team, we're playing at Tallahassee, and I hope we show up better."

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu