Extra Points: Four Pillars

By Lee Pace

Anatomy of a win: Carolina is playing at Miami in mid-October 2016. The Tar Heels build a 20-3 halftime lead and retain a 20-10 advantage through three quarters as the Hurricanes possess the ball only six and a half minutes in the second quarter and three and a half minutes in the third quarter. Miami is zero-for-five on third-down conversions during those two quarters and for the game is four-of-15 on third downs.

Anatomy of a loss: Carolina is playing at Duke four weeks later and the Tar Heels' prolific and multi-faceted offense is twiddling its thumbs on the sideline throughout the second quarter. The Blue Devils run their offense for more than 10 minutes and are a perfect three-for-three on third downs in scoring three touchdowns and forging a 21-21 tie. Then in the third quarter facing a third-and-eight, Duke pops a receiver open for a 35-yard gain en route to scoring what would be the game-winning touchdown. Duke for the game is 10-of-17 on third downs.

A 20-13 win over Miami and 4-of-15 opponent third-down conversion rate and a 28-27 loss to Duke with a 10-of-17 opponent success rate on third down.

That simple? That much of a cause and effect?

"It really does come down to that," says Tar Heel defensive coordinator John Papuchis. "It's not complicated. What killed us in the Duke game was our offense wasn't on the field. We couldn't get off the field on defense. That's exactly what it was. We have a great scheme offensively, but we can only do something if we have the ball. We have to get our offense on the field either by getting a takeaway or getting off the field on third down. Against Miami, we were able to control time of possession and control the game."

As Carolina continues to build toward its Sept. 2 season opener against California, third-down defensive production is one of the prongs of emphasis for Papuchis and his staff. Red-zone tenacity, forcing turnovers and honing a physical mindset are three others that occupy drill time, meeting discussions and top-of-the-mind awareness.

"Those are the four pillars," says junior linebacker Andre Smith. "If you're good in those four areas, you'll have a good defense. Everything we do revolves around those four areas. The bottom line is we're working hard to become a much more dominating defense."

The Tar Heels were decidedly middling in third-down prowess the last two years, ranking No. 103 in FBS schools in 2015 with a 44 percent allowance rate and No. 93 last year with a 43 percent figure. For point of reference, the national leader in 2016 was Michigan, which allowed a paltry 21 percent conversation rate. Papuchis and two of his assistants, secondary coach Terry Joseph and linebackers coach Mike Ekeler, have all coached at Nebraska, in some years together, when the Cornhuskers were silly good on third down—ranking in the top 15 in the country in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014 in the neighborhood of 30 percent.

"We had good players, certainly, but the style of coverage and pressures we brought were components of that success also," says Papuchis, who's in his first year directing the defense following the retirement of Gene Chizik. "We've brought that same emphasis here—that you've got to be dominating on third down."

The Tar Heels hope to be more productive in turnovers. Part of Carolina's success and run to the ACC Coastal Division title in 2015 was that it got 26 turnovers, good for No. 21 nationally. Last year, by contrast, Carolina ranked No. 104 with only 14, a stat severely skewed by the fact the Tar Heels intercepted only one pass. The fact that the coaches call them "takeaways" and not "turnovers" speaks to team's mindset.

"I like 'takeaway' much better," Papuchis says. "The offense isn't going to give you the ball. You have to take it away. 'Turnover' sounds more like happenstance. 'Takeaway' is more active and aggressive."

Many of the early drills in each practice session are geared toward creating turnovers—from the "train wreck" drill where players hone their ability to strip the ball from a receiver running full-speed down the field to "jump ball" sessions were receivers and defensive backs fight for high floaters from the quarterback. The coaches talk in terms of "violent" and "tomahawk" and "ball-destruction" in pursuing a ball they consider as much the property of the defense as the offense.

"It's really an attention thing," Papuchis says. "When you're the second guy into the pile, your job is to strip the ball out. It's an awareness thing. As a coach, you get what you emphasize. If you're emphasizing takeaways, you have a better chance to get them. It's a huge point of emphasis."

Joseph, who's in his first year at Carolina after coming from Texas A&M to reunite with Papuchis and Eckler, has helped his players hone their ball-hawking skills and refine their mindset that they're not just covering a receiver, they're going for the ball themselves.

"We want to be aggressive, deny the ball and not give up a lot of easy throws," says Joseph. "That's a big point of emphasis, forcing guys to go out on an island and win 1-on-1 battles. There's no secret we have to get better stopping the run. To do that, we have to get guys who can cover 1-on-1 and make a safety or two available to help (vs. the run). We want to press when we get off the plane. Want to be in their face, make them make competitive catches."

Red-zone statistics are somewhat nebulous to analyze as opponents' success rates are so high. Carolina ranked in the top third nationally in red-zone prowess the last two years, but the Tar Heels still gave up around an 80 percent score rate (touchdowns or field goals) once the opponent got inside the 20 yardline. Vanderbilt was the national leader in 2016 at 63 percent. The Tar Heel coaches put more emphasis not on trying to improve on an 80 percent score rate, but instead on limiting touchdowns.

"Seven points versus three points is huge—particularly if you multiply it several times during a game," Papuchis says. "If we have a sudden change and our back's to the wall and we force a field goal instead of a touchdown, that's big. That's the mentality. We'll get a takeaway, block a field, pressure the guy into a bad throw, whatever. We'll get the job done and get off the field."

While takeaways, third downs and red zone are easily quantifiable with facts and numbers, the physical part isn't so neatly wrapped in a bow. It's more about strength and aggression and mindset.

"The whole defensive focus has been to be physical," senior end Dajaun Drennon says. "That's what we've been preaching—to be the most physical defense possible. Getting as many hats to the ball as possible, flying off the ball, dominating the man across from you—that's all part of it. Being physical starts with the D-line. We set the tone."

"The way to play physical is to practice physical," Papuchis says. "We've had a good camp, and we're getting more numbers and we're rolling more guys in and out at every position. Having fresh people helps that physical thing, too."

And in the end, the Tar Heel offense gets the ball back as it did against Miami—and didn't against Duke.

Lee Pace (UNC '79) writes "Extra Points" throughout the year and is the author of "Football in a Forest," an illustrated history of Kenan Memorial Stadium. Contact him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @LeePaceTweet.

Players Mentioned

Dajaun Drennon

Andre Smith

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