Consecutive losses have exposed North Carolina's weaknesses and damaged team confidence, but quarterback T.J. Yates said he isn't giving up on the season.
He said he thinks that a winning record and bowl berth are still possible, maybe even an appearance in the ACC championship game, and doesn't think that the solution to the team's problems is all that that complicated.
"We've just got to get back in the win column," Yates said. "We've got to go out this week and get a win, and we'll worry about the rest of the season after that. We've got to think about it one week at a time.
"If we start thinking too far into the schedule and how many games we're going to win and all that stuff, we're going to throw our focus off even more. We've just got to get this first game, and then we'll worry about the rest."
North Carolina (3-2) will try to break its losing streak today when it plays Georgia Southern (3-2) at 3:30 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. It will be the Tar Heels' second game of the season against a team from the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision and its last game before an open date next weekend, then consecutive Thursday night games against Florida State (Oct. 22) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 29).
North Carolina scored a combined 10 points and rushed for 56 yards in losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech and is 0-2 in the ACC, a big hole to crawl out of, even at this point of the season.
"It's a little bit frustrating," Yates said. "Everybody's frustrated that we're not moving the ball and scoring more points. It's human nature to get frustrated when that kind of stuff happens.
"We've got to try our best not to get frustrated because that's just going to tense us up and make things worse. We've got to do a better job of keeping our cool and relaxing during a game."
Coach Butch Davis has taken a look at simplifying the offense and wanted to see, in practice, what it does best and what isn't working, especially with a line battered by injuries. The line hasn't been opening holes for the backs or protecting Yates consistently.
Ryan Houston, the team's strongest tailback, could play more today. Yates said that the offense has between 250 and 300 plays and concepts to use each week and that he doesn't expect severe cuts in his available options. He also said he isn't bothered by the threat of scaling back the offense, but he didn't expect the Tar Heels to struggle.
"It's frustrating because you want to do different things, and you have the capability, but I'll do anything," he said. "Whatever it takes, I'll do anything to get this offense rolling."
North Carolina has held opponents to 251.2 yards a game (No. 8 in the nation in total defense), and Davis is pleased with the play of the defense but said it could still do more to help the offense, such as forcing turnovers and creating good field position. North Carolina has forced seven turnovers in five games (as opposed to 13 in five games last season) but forced none against Virginia and Georgia Tech.
"We have not been able to make some of our own opportunities or capitalize on opportunities that are out there," Davis said. "Balls are on the ground, and we're not getting them. We've had chances for interceptions when balls hit us in the hands.
"It's a collective thing. We've got to look in all three phases of the game at what are the little ‘win-edge' things that we might be able to do. We've got to look at if we can do something defensively to create turnovers."
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