The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: UNC Version

What went right,  what went wrong, and everything in between against UNC.  Also team grades and game ball.

The Good:

Miami won despite perhaps the worst game of Stephen Morris' career.  They showed a lot of guts overcoming a 10 point fourth quarter deficit in what was mostly a sloppy effort start to finish.

Can you say escape?

Dallas Crawford (33 carries 136 yards and 2 TDs)  ran very hard and saved UM's hides.

Freshman Artie Burns blocked FG that led to a Ladarius Gunter TD really showed his speed and kept Miami in the game in the first half.

Tracy Howard had two very big INTs.

The Bad:

The offensive line did not show up for the 1st half.

Duke Johnson appeared to sustain a concussion in the 1st quarter.

Worse yet Phillip Dorsett sustained a knee injury and was seen on the sideline on crutches.

The 4 INT by Morris made this one a whole lot trickier then it probably should have been.

Overall the 'Canes seemed unfocused and overwhelmed for a decent part of this game.

Miami made potential John Mackey award winner Eric Ebron look like John Mackey himself.

The Ugly:

The combined effort of Raphael Kirby and Tracy Howard on Eric Ebron's 71 yard TD was not one for the form tackling instruction videos.  They seemed to pinball him forward, and no one wrapped up.

With Miami threatening to score deep in the third quarter,  Morris hit Seantrel Henderson in the helmet on a poorly executed screen leading to another interception.

Game Ball goes to:

Easy, Crawford!   He made guys missed when he needed,  ran over guys in his way, and spent the entire night getting yards after contact.  Miami loses if Crawford doesn't step in for Duke and have a career game.

Team grades:

Offense: C+ Miami moved the ball almost all game but repeatedly self destructed in the red zone. They did somehow manage 554 yards of total offense. Clive Walford has earned the right to see more balls come his way.

Defense: C- Ebron went Jimmy Graham/Kellen Winslow/Mike Ditka on the UM defense all night. UNC QBs dropped back 43 times and although sacked 3 times, rarely saw pressure on far too many drop backs.  Miami did get just enough stops to stay in the game, but much of that was the result of Tar Heel errors of their own.

Special Teams: B+ Decent coverage, ok returns, one missed FG by Matt Goudis, and a HUGE FG attempt block by Burns.

Highlights (ACC Digital):