The Tar Heels officially shut down the Mack Brown era in Boston as they faced the Connecticut Huskies in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl. Much like we have seen far too many times from this team during the last six games, they came unprepared and uninspired to play in a game that they were favorites in and got smacked around the entire day. Here are our biggest takeaways from the Tar Heels 27-14 loss in historic Fenway Park that mercifully ends this 2024 season.
Jacolby Criswell Injury Took the Life Out of This Team
With how bad the team looked, it hard to say that things would have been that much better with Criswell in there running things, but you would have expected more than what they got from the offense after his injury. Criswell appeared to suffer an injury to his left shoulder on the second drive of the game that put him on the sideline for the rest of the game and with Max Johnson still sidelined after his severe leg injury and Conner Harrell in the transfer portal and not active, the team was forced to turn to Michael Merdinger. The true freshman, who spent most of the season as the team’s third-string quarterback and entered the transfer portal earlier this week, showed that he was completely unprepared and it felt like the team as a whole knew that and let it affect the effort they played with. There was a lot of new that Criswell would have had to deal with, especially along his offensive line, but it is hard to imagine that the team would have struggled as badly as they did to move the ball with him in there after what we saw from him leading this offense outside of the game against Boston College.
Opt Outs Set This Team Up For Failure
As frustrating as it is, opt outs have now become a part of bowl games with guys focusing on the NFL Draft or their next destination in the transfer portal. In most years, the few opt outs that you have still allow you to compete, but when you have as many guys sit out as the Tar Heels did on Saturday, it’s hard for them to compete with a team that was almost fully stocked and fighting for a bowl win like Connecticut was. The team was without their star running back, two starting offensive linemen, three starting defensive linemen, a starting linebacker and two starting defensive backs in this one, forcing a lot of young and inexperienced guys into much bigger roles than they had played before. When you added the absence of Criswell after those first two offensive drives, it made for a talent gap that was simply too much to overcome for this Tar Heel team on Saturday.
Quarterback Job is Now Wide Open Heading Into the Offseason
Saturday was supposed to be Jacolby Criswell’s chance to prove to this staff that he was worthy of being their quarterback, but instead the focus is now on how severe the shoulder injury is for him. With him missing the rest of this game, it means that the race for the starting quarterback job next season has no clear leader. As of right now, the team is expecting to have both Criswell and Max Johnson back from their injuries as the experienced options and Purdue transfer Ryan Browne and true freshman early enrollee Bryce Baker as the unproven, but talented, options when they open spring camp. This should be an amazing battle to follow as the Belichick era begins.
Coaching Staff’s Lack of Preparation and Decision-Making Set The Team Up For Failure
If there was any hope for members of this staff to stick around through the transition besides Freddie Kitchens, it went out the window on Saturday. Despite having four weeks to prepare for this game, the team had no answers for the Connecticut run game and, as we said above, was not ready for the possibility of an injury to Criswell. The in-game decision making was even more confusing at times from Kitchens and this offensive staff. The choice not to go to the offensive sets with six offensive linemen in the game while in the wildcat formation earlier in the game was frustrating, especially when you saw just how effective it was one the one offensive drive that resulted in a touchdown. Even more frustrating was the handling of quarterback rotation earlier in the game, which led to two delay of game penalties and prevented the offense from getting into any sort of rhythm in the first three quarters of this game. Down the stretch of the game, the choice to not onside kick the ensuing kickoff after the touchdown while being down two possessions with 6:46 remaining and the clock management on the final offensive drive left you reliving a lot of the mistakes of the Mack Brown era. This is something that we hopefully won’t have to worry about moving forward with Belichick at the helm.
This Calebs Provide Some Positives
There weren’t many positives to takeaway from this game, but Caleb Hood and Caleb LaVallee did provide a couple. Hood eventually found his stride as the wildcat quarterback, carrying the ball eleven times for 78 yards and throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass on his lone pass attempt. While the wildcat formation likely won’t be built into the offense next season, he proved that he still has what it takes to be a rotational back for this team next season if he ultimately sticks around. As for LaVallee, he was the best defensive player on the field on Saturday, posting a team-high nine total tackles and registering one of the team’s five tackles for loss. With Amare Campbell returning and Khmori House transferring in from Washington to play for his former defensive coordinator, LaVallee might not be guaranteed a starting spot but he should have a shot at a substantial rotational role if he can build on this performance when he gets to spring camp.
This Roster Has a Ways To Go For Them to Compete at the Level Belichick Wants Them To
The new staff has already begun the overhaul of the roster, but this game showed that there is a long way to go. With the transfer portal window closing for players who want to enter and many of the big names that were in the portal during this window having signed elsewhere already, Belichick and company will have work to do to add some more new faces to this roster and develop the group of young players that will be holdovers. Today showed that the expectation from some that this team will be competing for a conference title and a playoff spot next season might be a little unrealistic.
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