University of North Carolina Athletics
Young Defense Shows Some Signs of Life
October 8, 2003 | Football
Oct. 8, 2003
The Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina's young defense showed some improvement in a loss to Virginia - for a half, anyway.
Still, for a team struggling for its first win, it's something to build on heading into Saturday's game against winless East Carolina.
The Tar Heels held their own in the first half against the Cavaliers, holding them scoreless in the first quarter and to 17 second-quarter points. But they fell apart in the second half as the Cavaliers finished with 515 yards in a 38-13 win.
The Tar Heels (0-5, 0-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) rank last nationally in scoring defense (41.8 points) and total defense (520.6 yards), but coach John Bunting said the defense did some things better than it had since the team's Peach Bowl season two years ago.
That's good news for a defense that faces a Pirates' offense averaging 8.4 points per game.
"I know that we're last in the country in defense," Bunting said Tuesday. "What's important is that we try to get better. We don't think about that statistic. We just try to get better."
The signs of improvement were small glimmers instead of eye-catching big plays.
For the first time this season, safety Dexter Reid was not the Tar Heels' leading tackler. That honor went to true freshman linebacker Larry Edwards, who finished with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery as the Tar Heels got better play near the line of scrimmage.
Reid had 10 tackles, followed by true freshman Fred Sparkman's nine at linebacker.
Edwards became the first true freshman to start at linebacker since Tommy Thigpen in 1989.
"Sometimes in a game, we get down and sometimes can't get up," Edwards said. "We try real hard, we play real hard and we practice hard. So hopefully we're going to come in (against East Carolina) with the attitude that we're going to force turnovers and come up with big plays."
The Tar Heels did that against Virginia early, forcing a fumble on the Cavaliers' first possession. They forced Virginia to punt on its second possession, leading to the Tar Heels' first scoring drive and a 3-0 lead after one quarter.
The unusually steady defensive play early helped the Tar Heels stay in the game despite a shaky performance from a normally reliable offense.
The Cavaliers took a 17-6 halftime lead, then took control of the contest by scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions after the break.
"I wish we could have put last week's defensive effort in the first half and combine it with a couple of the other first halves of offense," Bunting said.
NOTES: North Carolina's offense averages 24 points and 385 yards per game, but managed just 265 in the loss to Virginia. "We didn't play very well against Virginia, and it's a shame," Bunting said. "We picked the wrong time to have a bad output by our offense." ... Receiver Jarwarski Pollock leads the ACC and ranks fifth nationally with 7.6 catches a game. ... North Carolina has not started 0-6 since 1988.
