Offensive line emerges late against William & Mary, key in homecoming win

The starters on the North Carolina offensive line Saturday afternoon outweighed the William & Mary front four by 30 pounds, but at the beginning of the Tar Heels’ eventual 21-17 victory, you’d never know it.

The Tribe defensive line matched the Tar Heels blow-for-blow in the trenches, using its agility and shifting shape at the line of scrimmage to hold tailback Johnny White to just 17 first-quarter yards on eight carries. But after heading into the locker room at halftime trailing their Football Championship Subdivision opposition 17-7, the Tar Heels started using their weight.

“The o-line just came together and we all came together and said we just needed to put together a few drives,” White said. “Every drive in the second half counted, so we just put our heart into it and just tried our hardest.”

The Tribe’s strong showing at the line of scrimmage was also evident in its effect on the UNC passing game. William & Mary used fire-zone blitzes — which confuse offenses by dropping defensive linemen into coverage and blitzing linebackers — to throw UNC quarterback T.J. Yates off balance throughout the first half.

Yates was forced to juke and stutter-step his way about the pocket as William & Mary accumulated almost twice as many first-half passing yards as the Tar Heels.

“Tonight we saw the gamut … to try to disrupt the blocking schemes and to try to mismatch your protections,” UNC coach Butch Davis said about the blitzes. “It took some time on the sidelines at the halftime to try to prevent where your running back is having to block their big defensive end every time… it was the most we had seen this entire season.”

UNC’s offensive linemen were quick studies. Though the first drive of the second half didn’t result in a score, Yates had more time in the pocket as the Tar Heels went 71 yards down the field before Casey Barth missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, UNC’s line bullied the Tribe front seven to create space for White, who ran for 22 yards on six carries during the touchdown drive that closed the Tribe’s lead.

“I felt like we were just more committed to running the ball,” center Jonathan Cooper said. “We just wanted it more, got more hungry, I guess.”

It was only a matter of time before the offensive line created the hole White needed to put the Tar Heels in the lead and the Tribe’s dreams of an upset on life support.

With less than six minutes remaining and the ball on UNC’s 33-yard-line, the Tribe put nine men in the box, but not one of them was able to get to White before he completed his 67-yard jaunt to the end zone for what would be the game-winning touchdown.

“Big Travis Bond pulled around, I just hid behind him,” White said. “He gave me a little daylight, the rest of the line blocked their men perfectly and they gave me safety and I just ran through the hole.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.