UNC Football...how did we do in 2009?

I'm sorry I didn't blog about UNC football after October. I wanted to keep things positive, but our Offense was horrible for a long stretch. The only thing I can say is that it got better.

How I grade each game in 2009.

UNC 40, The Citadel 6. We played good enough to win, but we could have done even better. Grade: B.

UNC 12, UCONN 10. UCONN is not a pushover, but our offense was not clicking until the 4th Quarter. Defense was superb. Grade: C+.

UNC 31, East Carolina 17. Can't knock the Heels in this game. ECU had a great season. Grade: A-

GT 24, UNC 7. GT was a good, if not great team. They dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides. UNC's offense was inept, and our Defense was just tuckered out. Grade: C

UVA 16, UNC 3. This was the ugliest game I've seen in the Butch Davis era. Offense was HORRIBLE. The D did a good job until the 4th quarter, when again, they were tuckered out. Grade: D

UNC 42, Georgia Southern 12. UNC played a great 1st half, dominated the game on Defense. Offense for the entire game was sputtering. Grade: B-

FSU 30, UNC 27. UNC played with a lot of heart, especially on Offense. The Offense may have outplayed the Defense in this game. FSU was also playing with a lot of heart. Grade: B.

UNC 20, VT 17. VT was not a great team this year, but they were probably the 3rd or 4th best team we played. Great poise on Offense, great execution on Defense. Grade: A.

UNC 19, Duke 6. UNC's defense was the key in this game, along with the rushing of Ryan Houston. Duke's Thaddeus Lewis was off his game because of UNC's D. Grade: B+.

UNC 33, Miami 24. UNC's defense was definitely "Bend but don't break". Miami moved the ball well, but they kept on serving up some big interceptions. UNC's offense looked good enough to not disappoint. Grade: A-.

UNC 31, BC 13. The score wasn't indicative of how the game was played. UNC won by 3 scores, but the game was sloppy, especially on Offense with 3 picks thrown by TJ Yates. Defense was solid. Grade: B.

NCSU 28, UNC 27. UNC played a great 1st quarter, played okay in the 2nd quarter, and then played a bad 2nd half. Give credit to NCSU for playing hard. Grade: C-.

Pitt 19, UNC 17. UNC's Defense played good for much of the game. Pitt's running backs are great, and their QB is too, but UNC's Defense played well enough to win. Unfortunately, our Offense was mediocre at best. Grade: B-.

Grades for the year for positions:

QB: Yates played hard, but made some bad decisions throughout the year. He had an inexperienced receivers corps, and the Offense line was injured for over 1/2 of the season. He did come thru for a 4 game stretch. Grade: C.

Offensive Line: I think the injuries really hurt the line this year. Not a good season, but they gained a lot of experience during the year. Grade: C-.

Wide Recivers/Tight End: Little was the best, with Pianalto a close 2nd. Unfortunately, they were the only ones that were dependable. Grade: C.

Running Backs: Injuries, injuries. We could be much better if Draughn didn't get hurt. Houston was a stud. We should be good coming into next season. Grade: B-.

Defensive Line: Solid line, good pash rush. Thought we have the makings of a contender with this group. Running Defense was a bit suspect. Grade: B.

Linebackers: Good group, lots of depth, great talent. Had to help out the secondary more which probably opened up the running game for opposing teams. Grade: A-.

Secondary: Great at times, making some spectacular plays. However, as the season went by more teams were able to throw the ball on them. Grade: B.