University of North Carolina Athletics
Ellerbe's Stops Key Defensive Effort
December 29, 2013 | Football
By Ben Brown
Late in the first quarter of the 2013 Belk Bowl, the North Carolina Tar Heels held a 7-0 lead over the Cincinnati Bearcats. After a Tommy Hibbard punt pinned Cincinnati at its own six-yard line, the Tar Heel defensive line was set up for a prime pass rushing situation on third down and long.
As Cincinnati quarterback Brendon Kay dropped back to pass, All-ACC defensive end Kareem Martin crashed to the right occupying both the left guard and left tackle. With Martin double-teamed, a massive hole opened up for ram Brandon Ellerbe to loop inside and help Martin swallow up and sack Kay in the end zone for a safety.
The play shifted all of the momentum on Carolina's side and was a perfect example of how the Carolina defense took advantage of the weak spots along Cincinnati's offensive line to dominate the Bearcats in the first half. “We just wanted to make the offensive tackles uncomfortable,” said Martin. “We saw that they had one of the biggest tackles in the world and I knew I could exploit that with my bull and power rushes. That's one of the reasons we were able to get so many hits on the quarterback and we knew what their weaknesses were from watching them on film.”
The safety pushed the Carolina lead to 9-0, which quickly increased to 16-0 when running back T.J. Logan returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown.
Trailing 23-3 at the start of the second half, Cincinnati was marching down the field with its opening possession of the third quarter. As the Bearcats neared field goal range, the Tar Heel defense forced another third down and long situation. This time, the defensive coaching staff dialed up a blitz in which Ellerbe crossed the offensive line to bust through and take down Kay for another sack. “That play was actually designed for Norkeithus Otis to get the pressure,” said Ellerbe, who recorded his first sack and half of the season. “I was supposed to loop around and get the offensive guard's attention, but I just saw the hole and attacked it. The offensive line couldn't handle our stunts all game on third down so I'm glad coach Vic (Koenning) kept calling them.”
Ellerbe's sack pushed Cincinnati all the way back to its own 48 yard line, which set up Ryan Switzer's 86 yard punt return for a touchdown. The score put the Tar Heels up 29-3 and gave the team plenty of breathing room to close out the win.
The constant pressure from Ellerbe and the rest of his defensive teammates from different spots on the field kept the Cincinnati offense off balance, and helped throw off the timing and accuracy of Kay.
“They (North Carolina) did a good job, they knew we were missing three starters on the offensive line and they threw the kitchen sink at us,” said Cincinnati head coach Tommy Tuberville. “They did all kinds of things up front. Our quarterback never set his feet, because he didn't have a chance. Our guy is one of those who is a big guy who likes to set his feet and step into his throws. They made the pocket move quite a bit and kind of got us off rhythm.”
The Tar Heel defense made big play after big play Saturday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium, but none were bigger than Ellerbe's sacks that helped put points on the board in the Carolina victory.
