University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: The Defense Delivers
November 5, 2007 | Football
Nov. 5, 2007
by Lee Pace, Extra Points
They gave up scads of yards early in the season--470 to East Carolina and 428 to South Florida. They struggled to get off the field on third down--seven of 16 successful third downs by ECU, 11 of 20 by Virginia. They have started six different players at linebacker and have played five at left cornerback. Freshmen have accounted for 38 listings in the starting lineup.
Through it all, the Tar Heel defense has scratched and clawed its way to respectability. It's played smarter, tougher and more consistently. Saturday against Maryland, the Tar Heels delivered their best game yet they held off the Terrapins 16-13 for their third win of the year against six losses.
"The story of the day had to be our defense," Tar Heel coach Butch Davis said. "It was maybe the best defensive performance we've had from the standpoint that a lot of guys contributed to the win."
"You can't ask for a better ending," added senior tackle Kentwan Balmer, who helped pressure QB Chris Turner on Maryland's last-gasp offensive drive. "That's what we train for, to be on the field at crunch time. We came up a big as a team. We never quit. Our conditioning was great. And we showed that fourth-quarter mentality you've got to have."
The Tar Heel defense stuffed Maryland's offense to three yards on nine plays in the first quarter and held a good running team to less than 100 yards on the ground and an average of 2.8 yards a carry. Carolina allowed 302 yards total and has moved to No. 28 nationally in total defense with 334 yards per game. The Tar Heels were hit on just four of 14 third-down attempts by the Terps, and they rejected one Maryland thrust inside the five yard line by forcing a field goal.
Most significantly, Carolina limited the big play. Throughout the year, one splinter in the side of coordinator Chuck Pagano has been the long gainer--the 78-yard pass by ECU on third-and-long; the 53-yard reverse by Virginia Tech on the game's first snap; the 97-yard bomb by Miami. Through seven games, he counted 26 opposing runs over 10 yards and 31 passes over 15 yards.
"Cut those in half and you're talking major yards and points on your defense," Pagano said. "Great defenses don't give up those kinds of plays."
The Tar Heels surrendered only two passes to Maryland for more than 20 yards, one for 34 and one for 35, and the Terps squirted just one sizeable run, that for 17 yards.
One element of the defensive puzzle has been the development of depth and options along the front four. The intensity of the hand-to-hand combat and fighting off double-teams in the trenches makes it important to have a reservoir of players at end and tackle and to use them throughout the game.
A second component is the very opposite at linebacker at secondary, that is, the establishment of healthy and quality players who are building some cohesion and getting nearly all of the snaps. More is good at the front line. Less is best in the back.
Balmer and Hilee Taylor are the seniors along the defensive line. They have played with heart and production all year and are getting a lot of help from neophytes who are improving by the snap and by the game. Marvin Austin and Cam Thomas have had good games at tackle; against Maryland, Thomas was out with a recurrence of an ankle injury, so Aleric Mullins stepped up and played well. Sophomore E.J. Wilson had the best performance of his career against Wake Forest. Red-shirt freshman end Greg Elleby entered with the goal-line personnel group in the second quarter and nailed Terrapin runner Lance Ball with an important loss of four yards.
"Nearly every possession, somebody came up with a big play," Davis said. "Kentwan and Aleric had sacks. Hilee pressured the quarterback. Greg Elleby's stop on the goal line was a big, big play. It put them off track and made them settle for a field goal."
For two straight games, the Tar Heels have played essentially no one at linebacker beyond senior Durell Mapp at the weakside, freshman Quan Sturdivant in the middle and freshman Bruce Carter at the strongside, with Carter leaving the game in passing situations. Davis admitted a couple of weeks ago that moving Mapp around earlier in the year was detrimental to his development and that he's gotten much better in pass coverage since he has settled at one position.
"We put something of a curse on Durell by having to play musical chairs at linebacker," Davis said of youth and injury issues early in the season. "There was no way he could learn to play pass coverage. We handicapped him early. He's gotten better and settled in and is more comfortable. His ability to play the pass is allowing him to make 10, 12, 15 tackles a game."
Carter is healthy after being slowed with a leg and hand injury earlier in the year, and he and Sturdivant are now seeing the same things again in week eight that were brand new in week three and four.
"Those guys have gotten the jitterbugs out, they're ready to play," Mapp says. "Sometimes as freshmen, you miss a play, hang your head and lose your focus. They're getting better every week."
"Neither Quan nor Bruce played linebacker in high school, so every game is a learning and growing experience for them," Davis said. "The more they play, the better they play and the more confidence they have."
Trimane Goddard has started all season at strong safety, Deunta Williams at free safety and Kendric Burney at right corner. Charles Brown has now played two games at left corner in Carolina's base defense following the injury to Kendric Williams and suspension of Jermaine Strong. Richie Rich was in at the left corner on every snap Saturday when the Tar Heels went to their nickel (five-back) defensive package, as Brown moved inside to cover a slot receiver. They have used a dime package (six defensive backs) at various times throughout the year, with Da'Norris Searcy joining the secondary. When Carolina played its dime package against Miami a month ago, five of six players in the secondary were true freshmen or red-shirt freshmen.
Goddard had an interception Saturday toward the end of the first half that set up a late field goal by Connor Barth. He had one pass break-up, as did Carter, Brown and Wilson. Burney played tight bump coverage at times, picking up one interference call. But sometimes a penalty of aggression is not a bad thing.
"We made some breaks on the ball, at times created some collisions and we got a chance to get our hands in there and slap some balls down," Davis noted.
If the Tar Heels can remain healthy at the back end, they can continue to develop some continuity and stability that will serve them well the final three games of the season as they travel to N.C. State and Georgia Tech and conclude the year at home against Duke.
"We had less than 10 or 12 mental mistakes Saturday," Davis said. "That sounds like a lot, but it's almost a manageable number. Our execution is getting better as guys have played a lot. Still, so many new things come up every week.
"We can rep them all week, but you can just about suspect that everything you prepared for, the opponent will run but it will look different with shifts and motions. And then there is going to be 20 percent that is brand new. That's the part that hurts you. The one big play by Maryland in the passing game was a play we hadn't seen. With the exception of that one big play, our defense had a pretty good grasp of what they were doing."
The Carolina offense controlled the ball in the first quarter with 11 minutes of possession, six first downs and 99 total yards. Johnny White was running the ball well, with 67 yards. But Maryland shut Carolina down in the second quarter and for parts of the second half.
"Early in the game, we had a lot of success running the ball," Davis said. "Then they started coming with a fire zone, slanting the line, changing their defensive alignment almost every play. They were stemming and slanting and we didn't do as good a job as we needed picking that stuff up. We've got to do a better job with the stunts and blitzes the next three games. We've got to communicate better along the offensive line and react to the changing fronts."
Another positive sign for Carolina beyond its defensive effort was the improvement in its kick-off cover unit after an abysmal performance at Wake Forest. A couple of personnel moves were made in the squad that is comprised of four red-shirt freshmen and two true freshmen, and the Tar Heels did a better job with lane assignments and fighting off blocks. Barth nailed two kick-offs into the end zone for touchbacks, and two returns made it only to the 18 and 25 yard-lines. The other was a squib kick near the end of the first half.
The Tar Heels battened down the kick-off cover hatch this week, but punter Terrence Brown and his mates on the cover unit weren't as efficient as they were against Wake Forest. With Carolina facing fourth-and-two at the Maryland 36 early in the fourth quarter, Davis opted against having Barth kick a field goal into the wind and instead hoped Brown could nail a coffin-corner kick inside the 10. But he hit a poor kick to the 13 yard-line, and the coverage players apparently assumed Danny Oquendo was going to call a fair catch and they relaxed. But Oquendo fielded the ball and squirted through the Tar Heels for a 13-yard gain.
This team harkens a scene from "Jurassic Park II" when you consider the ebb and flow of the season. The mad scientist says, "Don't worry, I'm not making the same mistakes again." The hero replies, "No, you're making all new ones."
Such is the nature of a team so young. But as the Tar Heels left the field to fireworks and sweaty hugs Saturday night, you got the feeling that the worst is in the rear-view mirror.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace is in his 18th season writing "Extra Points," a colorful and in-depth look at Tar Heel football. He'll answer your questions about the Tar Heels regularly during the season in his "Extra Points Mailbag" column and on the Tar Heel Sports Network's pregame show. Email him your questions (please, no recruiting questions) about the Tar Heels at leepace@nc.rr.com and he'll answer the most interesting ones.
