University of North Carolina Athletics
Pace: Turning Hurries Into Sacks Next Challenge for Defense
September 6, 2004 | Football
Sept. 6, 2004
by Lee Pace, Extra Points Eleven times. Eleven times Saturday a Tar Heel defensive lineman or linebacker had a hand on Tribe QB Lane Campbell. Not once could they get him down. "It would have been an unbelievable day if we'd have gotten him on the ground every time we had a chance," defensive line coach Brad Lawing said. "At least we were close. Last year we didn't have a chance." First, give Campbell some credit. He's an outstanding quarterback and has a sixth sense for knowing when to duck and dodge. "He looked like Roger Staubach," John Bunting said. Second, Lawing is right in noting the frequency of the Tar Heels getting good pressure on the passer. Carolina was listed with 30 "QB Hurries" in 2003; they got a third of that total in one game on Saturday. The challenge now is to build on technique, experience and confidence and learn to convert when the opportunity is there. "We've got to get under control," Lawing says. "Part of it's coaching our guys over and over and over again. Part of it's growing up and getting experience in games. Part of it's developing confidence. Saturday showed our guys they can get there. The next step is to get there and then make the play." unting noted from his experience chasing quarterbacks as a linebacker that it's easy to become too anxious to make a big play. "When you close in on the quarterback and you see him and your eyes get big and you know you have a shot, you tend to over-exaggerate your stride," Bunting said. "Everything speeds up. Our problems can be corrected. I think we'll do much better next week. I just hope we can get to the quarterback as much." It was bad enough Saturday that the Tar Heels had Campbell dead to rights on numerous snaps. What hurt was he stepped out of the potential sack, found a receiver and completed a pass downfield. "When you see a guy should have tackled the quarterback for a five-yard loss and instead he gets a 20-yard pass downfield, it's hard to win games that way," Bunting said. One area in which the Tar Heels did show marked improvement over the last two years was in third-down defensive conversions. Opponents over the 2002 and '03 seasons converted nearly 50 percent of their third-downs. W&M converted five of 16, less than 33 percent. After the Tar Heels forged ahead 35-31 early in the fourth quarter, the defense converted on two consecutive series on third downs to get the ball back for the offense. Fred Sparkman made a crisp tackle on one third down, and Tommy Richardson pressured Campbell into a bad throw on the next one. "Third down is a critical down," safety Gerald Sensabaugh said. "The coaches put us in a great position to make stops on third down and we came through with some good plays." Campbell noted more defensive intensity from the Tar Heels in the second half. "We were going three-and-out, three-and-out, and they're scoring," he said. "That's not a good sign." Send your questions about Tar Heel football to Lee Pace at lpace@nc.rr.com . Please include your first and last names and hometown. His Q&A column will appear each Friday during the season.
