SB Nation - Cam Sexton

Mike Paulus Joins the Paulus Exodus

T.H. — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:03:47 -0000

It's being reported that Mike Paulus is transferring to William & Mary to finish out his remaining two years. His career at UNC as nasty, brutish, and short, first coming into prominence replacing an injured T.J. Yates last season against Virginia Tech only to lose the game and his spot on the depth chart to Cam Sexton. His final statistical line? 4-13 for 33 yards and two interceptions.

Paulus, of course, was recruited by Bunting at the expense of Russell Wilson. Ironically, State fans were attempting at the time to poach Paulus away with their own coach hiring, also one presumes, at the expense of Russell Wilson.

Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina: Q&A with Tar Heel Fan

furrer4heisman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:00:18 -0000

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Tar Heel Fan blog is here to answer some questions about North Carolina to help us prepare for Thursday's game.

GC: When he was healthy last season, T.J. Yates had a passer rating of over 150. This year he's toward the bottom of the league in passer rating. What factors have contributed to that this year?

THF: Hakeem Nicks and Brandon Tate left. It has become increasingly clear that Yates was a by-product of great receivers. That, more than anything, explains why we never saw much of a drop off when Cam Sexton spelled Yates. This season Yates cannot hit the broadside of a barn with a sawed off shotgun and when he does happen to get it right, like the 81 yard TD pass against FSU, someone commits a hold.

GC: Tell us a little bit about Greg Little, who had a whale of a game against FSU. Do you think Butch Davis will continue to invent ways to get the ball in his hands as often as possible?

THF: Most UNC fans are saying "About time!" Little has been a bit of an enigma. He came in with some hype that was partly derived from the fact he first committed to Notre Dame. Prior to the FSU game he had not been that effective to the point I called ESPN.com's Heather Dinich out for naming him the offensive MVP. Little then comes up with a huge game which might be more about the FSU defense than Little. At any rate, it would be nice to see Little get the ball more especially on the reverse or even a direct snap here and there. Given the state of the offensive line, UNC's best bet is to hope their athletes can simply get the corner at the edges since running up the middle is like driving through northern Virginia at 5 PM on a Friday.

GC: Were your rushing numbers against FSU the product of facing a bad defense or the result of an improving offensive line and running back?

THF: I am inclined to believe the bad defense theory. All of the major rushing yards UNC accumulated came from running around the ends using either Shaun Draughn or Johnny White. This is why Ryan Houston saw limited touches since they were looking to get the ball in the hands of backs who could turn the corner with speed. Draughn did this quite well and White also had an outstanding game. This won't happen against Bud Foster's defense and since the offensive line is still atrocious(giving up sacks against only three defensive linemen) I am expecting the offense to look about like Boston College's did when they went to Lane Stadium.

GC: The Tar Heel defense had only allowed one passing touchdown going into the second half against FSU. What changed in that 30 minutes for your secondary?

THF: I am not sure it was so much the secondary as much as it was the lack of pressure on Christian Ponder. FSU made the choice to stop running the ball except for spots and established better protection in the pocket. The result was Ponder getting plenty of time to find a receiver and he usually did. FSU also had Ponder make quicker passes which negated any hope of actually getting pressure on him. The secondary played a decent game with the big glaring excepting being Charles Brown biting on a hitch and go that resulted in the disastrous 98 yard touchdown pass from Ponder.

GC: What do the Heels need to do well to come away with a win Thursday?

THF: Channeling Jim Mora: Win on Thursday? You talking about winning on Thursday? Are you kidding me?

UNC's only hope is they shutdown the Hokie offense in totality, force a turnover, get a defensive score. In other words, play Beamer Ball better than the guys who invented it. Not sure if that will happen but we can always hope right?

UNC 28, Georgia Tech 7

T.H. — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:33:05 -0000

For a game between two Top 25 teams - and with the constant churning of the bottom of the polls with various ACC teams, you can be forgiven for not knowing that - the most interesting things happened at the margins. Hakeem Nicks broke the school record for receiving yardage on T.J. Yates only completion after returning from injury, Zack Pianalto got his first trip across the goal line on an athletic reception from Cam Sexton, and both teams seemed more than willing to go for it on fourth down, with less than stellar results.

All in all, it was a slow game until UNC's offensive explosion in the fourth, mostly thanks to the Carolina defense. They contained Jonathan Dwyer on all but one disastrous 85-yard touchdown run, and forced the two fumbles Tech was destined to put on the turf despite that not being a defensive strong suit. The Heels handled an unusual offense very well, and unlike the Virginia and Virginia Tech games took full advantage of the jockeying in the ACC to put themselves in the running for the Coastal Division title. Not much more to say then that - a nice feeling to have.

UNC 45, Boston College 24

T.H. — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:36:06 -0000

All your pass are belong to us.

Trimane Goddard had one interception (his 5th of the year, and 10th of his career) and Kendric Burney had two (3rd on the season, 4th overall), Hakeem Nicks had four touchdowns, and what else do you need to know? That's pretty much how UNC wins football games nowadays, and they did it fine style.

After a scary start, where Cam Sexton lost the ball to a pash rush on the second play of scrimmage to put the Eagles up 10-0, Carolina's defense posted three straight three-and-outs before beginning the interception party, giving the offense short fields for three scoring drives and then the lead. And when BC struck back to tie with 54 seconds left in the half, Sexton drove the team downfield with three passes to wrench the lead back - Carolina never trailed again, and the Eagles wouldn't score until the garbage time of the fourth quarter.

It was exactly the sort of game that last year's team never would have seriously contested, burnt out by the early struggles. There have been a couple of games like this over the course of this season, and I'm still slightly amazed every time the Heels overcome slow starts, although I shouldn't me. This is a good team, bowl eligible for the first time in four years, and that with the losses the two Tech's suffered this week is fully poised to win the Coastal Division, a game behind flaky Virginia and mired amongst five teams with two conference losses. Put that with one of the easiest schedules the rest of the way out, and Tampa is a distinct possibility.