Football: Yates’ performance lackluster Saturday

T.J. Yates lay on the Kenan Stadium field, near the North Carolina 40-yard-line and held his right shoulder.

The UNC quarterback had just thrown his first interception of the game, due largely to constant pressure from the Virginia defenders.

Shaun Draughn slowly walked by his fallen signal caller, glanced at Yates and tried to pick him up.

But Draughn’s efforts were futile —as Yates didn’t budge — much like UNC’s entire offensive performance all afternoon.

UNC couldn’t pick up the pressure for Yates. And when it came time to essentially pick up the pieces and rally, the Tar Heels couldn’t get that right either.

“Yates was under duress, and (UVa.) did — I don’t know the exact statistics, but I want to say that they either blitzed or either pressured something in the neighborhood of about 10 out of the first 19 plays of the game,” coach Butch Davis said. “They were taking advantage and looking at a young offensive line. They were doing what good coaches will do and trying to exploit somebody.”

Coming into the game against Virginia, Davis had warned his players and media members alike about the dangerous aspects of the Cavaliers’ defense. Sure, UVa. had been scorched for point totals of 26, 30 and 37, but Virginia’s unorthodox 3-4 defense could provide problems.

On UNC’s first possession of the game, the Tar Heels, for the fourth game in a row, faced a lengthy third-down play. As Yates set the offense, the UVa. defense began moving around lineman and linebackers between standing positions and three-point stances. The confusion apparently worked — Yates was forced to scramble and threw an incomplete pass.

“We’ve seen them when they had two guys down and nine guys standing up, but we hadn’t seen them where they had all 11 guys are just standing up, running around,” Yates said.

“Nobody runs that defense. They kind of just freelance. They all have a hole they’re going to hit. When it’s third-and-long, you can do that sort of stuff, and we have to stay out of that situation.”

Problem was, UNC didn’t.

Later in the first quarter, after the Tar Heels converted their initial first down of the game, Yates and Co. faced a third-and-13. As Yates hiked the ball and dropped back to pass, Virginia cornerback Vic Hall beelined through the left side of the UNC line and nearly creamed Yates.

And though it was nose tackle Nate Collins, and not Hall, who eventually got the sack, one thing was certain: Yates was in for a long day.

“Sometimes you can’t help but see when a guy comes free,” Yates said. “You kind of got to look at him. It’s hard sometimes when a guy gets free or a protection breakdown, and you got to throw the ball away or scramble.”

Virginia may have only totaled two sacks and six tackles for loss on the day, but with eight quarterback pressures, Yates was forced into errant throws and two interceptions. For the day, he finished 20-36 with just 135 passing yards.

Draughn tried to downplay the impact of UVa.’s shifting defense after the game, saying “that was just to confuse us, whether they were going to run an odd or even front.”

Davis, on the other hand, mentioned that the losses of guard Jonathan Cooper and tight end Zack Pianalto hurt far greater than originally thought.

Still, the most incredulous about the pressure — and subsequent subpar play — was Yates. As he sat with a towel dwarfed on his head, the UNC quarterback couldn’t fathom why Virginia’s blitzing defense had given them so much trouble.

“I’m pretty frustrated,” Yates said. “This is not the way our offense rolls. We are so much better than we are.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.