2011 North Carolina Tar Heels Football: North Carolina vs James Madison

In light of the fact that James Madison University stunned the Atlantic Coast Conference and the rest of the college football world 12 months ago on a September Saturday, it’s quite impressive that the North Carolina Tar Heels were able to so demonstratively and decisively turn them back in the 2011 season opener for both schools.

North Carolina has endured a chaotic offseason, particularly in the past six weeks, due to the fact that former coach Butch Davis was abruptly fired on July 27, just as August camp was about to start and just after ACC Football Media Days had already run their course. The Tar Heels could have been disorganized entering this game, and they also could have been profoundly distracted. However, interim coach Everett Withers clearly had his team focused and prepared. The result was an emphatic spanking of a JMU crew that shocked Virginia Tech one year ago on the road.

The Tar Heels cruised to victory on their home turf at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The most impressive aspect of their 32-point romp over the visiting Dukes of the Football Championship Subdivision was that they received such a distinguished, even brilliant, performance from a brand-new quarterback.

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Bryn Renner took the baton from graduated quarterback T.J. Yates and didn’t miss a beat in his Opening Day outing. Renner completed 22 of 23 passes, with his only mistake being an interception on a long bomb he attempted in the second quarter. The sophomore hit his first eight passes, including a 34-yard touchdown toss to Dwight Jones on the game's opening drive. He connected on his last 14 passes, maintaining the consistency and focus he established at the outset of this contest. He put a punctuation mark on his stellar afternoon with a 21-yard touchdown flip to Jones midway through the fourth quarter.

According to the Associated Press, Renner also set the ACC record for highest single-game completion percentage (95.7) with at least 20 attempts and finished just shy of the NCAA mark (95.8 percent) set by Tennessee's Tee Martin in a game against South Carolina in 1998.

The day couldn’t have gone any better for Withers, who has had his hands full in trying to get his players to block out all distractions. Davis was a popular coach in the locker room, so when he was fired in late July, UNC could have had an unmotivated team on its hands. This performance is so manifestly encouraging not just for its quality, but because it revealed that the Tar Heels, up and down the roster, are emotionally invested in this coaching staff; they’re willing to make a go of it this season despite all the off-field clouds that have hovered over the program. That’s what the Carolina crew can take into week two and, for that matter, the rest of the 2011 season.

North Carolina Tar Heels vs James Madison Dukes Recap