Notebook: UNC Offense Talented
Dec 16 | Football
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - When Kyle Flood sorts through the wild fluctuations in North Carolina's season what he eventually gets to is a bottom line that is difficult to ignore.
The Tar Heels are immensely talented, especially on offense.
"Athletic, a lot of speed at the skill positions on offense," the Rutgers head coach said of his team's Quick Lane Bowl opponent on Dec. 26. "Really big-play capability at all times, all over the field. They go at almost a frenetic pace. They go as fast as anybody in the country goes on offense. I think that's what their head coach wants. That's what he's accustomed to. So they present some challenges."
North Carolina's offensive capability, which starts with quarterback Marquise Williams (2,870 passing yards, a team-leading 737 rushing yards), can get lost amid some of the lopsided defeats the Tar Heels suffered, including a 70-41 loss to East Carolina.
It also gets obscured because, despite averaging 34.2 points while amassing 5,105 yards, the defense was arguably the worst in school history, allowing an average of 38.9 points and 495.7 yards per game.
But that defense - the Tar Heels have used a 4-2-5 alignment since Larry Fedora took over as head coach in 2012 - may present some new challenges for Rutgers with assistant head coach for defense Vic Koenning no longer with the team. Dan Disch, whose technical title is defensive coordinator, will handle the unit against the Scarlet Knights, Fedora has announced.
"I know they've had some changes in their staff so there's a little bit of an element of unknown for us on offense," Flood said. "We have to be ready for whatever showing up on game day. I know they have the coordinator back but their assistant head coach on defense is not there so we really have to be ready on offense for anything."
North Carolina, which finished 6-6, opened the season ranked No. 23 in both the Associated Press and Coaches' Top 25 polls.
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Flood seemed to leave open the future of reserve quarterback and holder extraordinaire Mike Bimonte, a fourth-year junior who was not honored as a senior during the team's final home game but recently was during the Scarlet Knights' year-end banquet.
"Mike and I had a conversation and what I try to do with anybody who might be in a position where they were going to graduate from here, (and) maybe move on (as a fifth-year graduate transfer), maybe move on to another program ... I wanted to make sure they had a chance to be honored the way they should be honored," Flood said. "Mike is a guy who has been great to this program for four years, is from a great family, and has made major contributions this year in an area that most people never notice in terms of being the holder on field goals and extra points and has done a tremendous job for us.
"We're excited to have him for one more game and then we're going to do everything we can to help him live out his dreams as he goes forward."
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Wide receiver Andrew Turzilli, who spent four years without a bowl at Kansas before arriving at Rutgers as a fifth-year graduate student, will end his college career in the postseason - a finish that Flood says he is sure the Butler, N.J. native is appreciative of.
"I think it's special. Guys (who) get to play Division 1 football, you dream of going to play in bowl games," Flood said. "Unfortunately for him he didn't get an opportunity to do it before this year. It was one of things I told him when he came here that he was going to get an opportunity to do that in his last year. I think even as we got closer to that six-win mark the players kind of rallied around it a little bit too.
"Drew is a guy who really has assimilated well into the team. He's very well liked, a good teammate, the right kind of person for our program. We're happy he got a chance to spend a year here."
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Fifth-year defensive end (and first-team Academic All-America) David Milewski was presented with the "Super Coach" award - a boxing-style championship belt - following practice, and there was some debate about the true meaning behind it. Defensive line coach Jim Panagos came up with the idea and Milewski said he took it as a positive "because it represents someone who knows everything about the defense and tries to help players that maybe don't."
"If that makes me a know-it-all, if that's what some people think this is, I'm fine with it," said a smiling Milewski, who proudly wore the award around his waist following practice.
