Embattled Yates pushes on

When quarterback T.J. Yates steps on the field at Kenan Stadium on Tuesdays, he is expected to start anew.

He hears the coach’s reminders to leave all other Saturdays — or Thursdays — behind. 

“When we come out to practice, we don’t know if we won or lost,” offensive coordinator John Shoop said. “The best way is to tear off the rearview mirrors and start thinking about the next game.” 

But for Yates, a season of disappointments and redemptions has left landmarks and scars.

That includes last Thursday, when the quarterback led a 20-17 win over Virginia Tech, which had been in the national championship hunt just 12 days earlier.

He doesn’t mind recalling the subsequent pandemonium in the locker room — where the only regularity was the smiles on everybody’s faces.

“It’s kind of hard not to take more time with this win and savor it a little bit,” he said.

But the victory came in stark contrast to his previous exit off a field — when he was hit by a coin hurled from the stands following a 30-27 loss to Florida State in UNC’s first Thursday night game.

After leading the team to its best start since 1997, the quarterback’s performance had later come under intense scrutiny. 

And ripping off the rearview mirror proves nearly impossible when the quarterback remains under a magnifying glass. 

And he, of all people, knows it.

“The lowest point was after Georgia Tech and Virginia,” Yates said. “We were hitting the low spot in our offense, and our defense was doing all they could do. And we weren’t helping them out at all.”

In a 24-7 loss against the Yellow Jackets, Yates completed a mere 11 of 26 attempts for 137 yards with two interceptions and a missed shotgun snap that accounted for another turnover.

UNC was able to convert on only one of 11 third downs and retained possession for a paltry 17:54 minutes of game time.

The next week, the Tar Heels dropped a 16-3 contest to ACC bottom-feeder Virginia, and Yates threw two more interceptions and converted 20 of 36 attempts. 

And as much as he hears the coach’s reminders to forget, he heard the criticism of those who don’t.  He even heard it from his own teammates. 

“It’s very frustrating when they’re going three and out and we’re back on the field or they’re turning the ball over and we’re back on the field,” defensive end Robert Quinn said in a postgame interview.

This season, Yates has thrown for a season-high two touchdown passes three times. He has thrown nine interceptions and has only two games without an interception.

“Sometimes if you have a bad team, you know you have a bad team and you’re overmatched,” Yates said. “But that wasn’t the case with us. It frustrates you when you know you can do better, but there’s always something that’s kind of holding you back from that.”

Running back Shaun Draughn attributed a slew of injuries on the offensive line to Yates’ struggles.

“A lot of people say that it’s the decisions he’s making,” Draughn said. “Sit back there and get sacked a couple times. That can mess with someone.”

Wide receiver Erik Highsmith said the offense remains confident in its quarterback.

But still, it may prove impossible to tear off the rearview mirrors just yet.

But with four games left in the season, Shoop hopes Yates can make everybody forget about the passing game’s woes to this point.

“There’s still some football to be played this year,” Shoop said. “We are going to write the script. He’s going to write the script.”