Extra Points: Beauty of the Beast
Sept. 14, 2009 by Lee Pace on TarHeelBlue.com
The Tar Heels were 48 hours from kickoff at midday on Thursday, but John Shoop could see the evolution of Saturday’s game six hundred miles away in East Hartford as sharply as if he were clicking PLAY on his computer mouse and watching the game in real time.
Carolina’s third-year offensive coordinator raved about the Connecticut defense, sixth in the country a year ago. “They’re as good as any we’ll play this year,” he said.
He saluted six of the Huskie defenders individually, saying “They can start for any program, any where. They’ll be in the NFL one day.”
He paid homage to the Tar Heels’ defense, itself becoming a hatchery of all-stars and potential pros: “As good as we’re playing, no way Connecticut scores 30 on us.”
He acknowledged Carolina’s injury woes along the offensive line, saying that Lowell Dyer at center and Jonathan Cooper at left guard might not start or even play. “Say a little prayer for them if you think about it,” he said.
And then he summed it all up in a concise little package:
“Our job is to be smart, play it close to the vest,” Shoop said. “No one is going to look at the box score. We’re calling this game to win. It’s great that we have a head coach who loves to win—he’s not coming in here and saying we have to throw for 400 yards just to look good. But if we don’t turn it over, run it efficiently and stay in third-and-six or less, we should be okay. If the final score is 20-7, we’ve had a great offensive day. It won’t be the sexiest game in the history of the world. But the object is to win—period.”
