After putting up just 13 points against Marshall last week, Louisville decided to make the trip to Chapel Hill without its offensive coordinator Mike Sanford.
The personnel change left quarterback coach Shawn Watson in charge of play calling for the Cardinals and forced the Tar Heels to play a guessing game on defense for much of the first half Saturday.
“We honestly didn’t know what was coming from them because they lost their offensive coordinator,” junior linebacker Fabby Desir said.
“We just needed to get used to what they were running — their trick plays, their boots — because we didn’t go over that in practice until today, and we had to adjust to it just a little bit.”
That lack of knowledge in preparation was obvious as North Carolina struggled to slow down the Cardinals in the first half. Watson orchestrated the Louisville offense on their way to 13 first downs in the first half and kept the Tar Heel defense on the field for 22 of the first 30 minutes.
“(There was a) new signal caller for them calling plays, so we really didn’t know totally what they’d do,” interim head coach Everett Withers said. “They ran a little more wildcat than we thought they would.”
Not only did the Tar Heels have to adjust on the fly to Watson’s offensive scheme, they were forced to do so with a largely inexperienced linebacking corps. Junior Kevin Reddick and senior Ebele Okakpu both sat out Saturday’s game with injuries.
Sophomore Darius Lipford, freshman Travis Hughes and Desir stepped in as replacements and, after a tough first half, anchored the defense for the Tar Heels. The defense peaked in the third quarter, allowing just 25 yards and a single first down.
“I was really proud of those young linebackers — Fabby, Darius, Travis,” Withers said. “That shows that we have some depth at that position now. We can go into games and play four or five linebackers.”
