John Miller and Terrance Alls getting involved early. There are a ton of weapons on O and our hope is that kids don’t get frustrated when there just aren’t enough balls to go around some weeks. But we appreciated the coaches getting to Miller and Alls, the Duke transfer, early in the game after neither of them scratched the stat sheet last week.<\/p>\n
Student turnout and overall embrace of the Whiteout – we can’t blame anyone for leaving at the half of this one, especially after last week and in this week’s heat, but the student turnout and their embrace of the theme was outstanding. The end zone was full in the first half, and we haven’t seen much of that even the last two years. Keep up the good work!<\/p>\n
Uni swag – On a similar note, the Whiteout unis were outstanding and it was pretty obvious on Twitter that players and recruits love ’em. And now we can put away the “white helmets were bad luck” talk I hope.<\/p>\n
#49 Brandon Hereford – Even we have to admit the junior linebacker from Glen Allen is not as player that’s really been on our radar all that much. But man did he take the opportunity presented by Gage Steele’s absence and knock it out of the park. Had to be the leading tackler and was in on seemingly every play defensively during the competitive portion of the blowout. Great to see the depth built up in this program!<\/p>\n
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He’s #37 these days, but still making plays whenever he gets a chance.<\/p><\/div>\n
Special Teams! – Two punt return TD’s after one in the opener?! Obviously, this mean’s the Dukes are gonna have three this week in Chapel Hill! Of special note, gotta say our man Jimmy effin Moreland is out there hustling his butt off whenever he gets a chance. He’s been running out front blocking on at least two of the three returns, even in garbage time, and has been all over the place on coverage teams. Needless to say, the way he appears to be handling sitting out a year and losing his starting spot is a magnificent example a few other players – at least through the body language they display on the sideline – in similar frustrating spots could learn from.<\/p>\n
Abdullah joined the 2000 yard club and Ravenel keeps moving up the receiving lists. Hope they keep it up. Schor also would’ve made the good for another great performance, but ewww, that pick. Hope he got it outta his system before this week.<\/p>\n
The Bad<\/strong><\/p>\n MadiZone outages. This service has been huge for fans like us and we’re not willing to needlessly whine and complain when the generous Alumni Association has made it so wonderfully easy (and free!) for all of us to follow along, but THAT was bad, really bad. Hasn’t really happened before though and we’re hopeful it will not again, especially in games more worth watching.<\/p>\n The Ugly<\/strong><\/p>\n The sloppiness after halftime. Look, we’ve made our point about the schedule itself’s ugliness, and it stands to reason that after an entire offseason, a full fall camp, and two game week’s worth of practice, it’s a bit of a letdown to have zero competition when you actually get to hit someone at game speed, but both offense and defense were a slovenly mess after halftime in this one. The defense was particularly lazy it seemed, but even the O threw a horrendous pick six and the offense fumbled in the red zone.<\/p>\n Gage Steele missing this one with injury. Hereford was great, but this team could really use a healthy Gage.<\/p>\n