UNC’s Paige to start against Maryland

Those are, by his definition, explosive plays. Dodd and Cekovsky haven’t been great this season at getting proper position on rebounds, and they definitely haven’t been physical enough under the hoop. However, first the Tar Heels will have to get past the Wolfpack on the road this week. I know they have turned the ball over numerous amounts of times and the defense is reeling. The combination of Stone and Carter is going to need to protect the paint in a big way against North Carolina. It was hitting us hard.

It had to be encouraging for North Carolina to see Paige look like himself again because that seldom happened last season. He liked it for a little bit until he decided he wanted to be a running back.

And on those 132 explosive plays, UNC gained 3,558 yards.

The explosive plays have come in a variety of ways on a variety of plays. After Andre Smith intercepted Jacoby Brissett inside the State 10, Elijah Hood punched it in for a 35-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Aside from the Georgetown game, he hasn’t really had to be the best player on the court. The Bobby Frasor missed layup followed by a Mike Jones three that keyed a Maryland run in 2007.

The most explosive of all of UNC’s explosive plays, though, belongs to Mack Hollins, a junior receiver. Only Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer threw for more than 300 yards on a next-level defensive backfield comprised of corners Mackensie Alexander and Cordrea Tankersley and safeties Jayron Kearse and T.J. Green. He made one 3-pointer that broke a 55-55 tie with 14 ½ minutes to play.

The four longest passes Hollins has caught this season – they covered 74, 64, 57 and 53 yards – were touchdowns.

Opponents have had an average turnover percentage of 17.0% when playing North Carolina this season. It’ll be up to Williams’ receivers, namely Mack Hollins, Ryan Switzer, Quinshad Davis and Bug Howard, to get separation and use their size as a weapon.

Hollins attributes UNC’s big-play success to its balance. He told his teammates he was the reason they lost the game. KenPom had them ranked in the top 20 in adjusted tempo in both 2013 and 2014. All you can do is go forward in life, and I’m happy where I’m at.

“The first shot went down – it wasn’t a great shot – but I was feeling it, so I shot it”, Paige said.

Paige, who averaged 14.1 points and 4.5 assists per game a year ago, is set to link up with Justin Jackson, Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson who have been carrying the bulk of the weight in their leader’s absence.

For his part, Williams said it brought him back to the past. “The more complicated and the more moving parts to an offense, the less we do”.

This is going to be the most entertaining game on the conference championship schedule. They’ve got a really explosive offense.

“We had to deal with it a lot”.

Paige will make one very quiet, personal statement in response to the scandal by donning a Carolina blue cap and gown, nearly certainly on May, 8, 2016 at UNC’s Kenan Memorial Stadium, and accepting a degree in journalism and history from UNC-Chapel Hill. It has met that goal in every game and often exceeded it. Linebackers Shakeel Rashad and walk-on Jeff Schoettmer man the middle of the Tar Heel defense bringing pressure and making tackles. One big performance against North Carolina would make that a reality. If millionaires are saying that, I feel like I should value my time here.

“That’s what we look at this year, how much can we tempo those guys?”