Extra Points: Step One

Power Echols was weary by late June of parsing the reasons for Carolina football's defensive woes in 2022. A new schematic system under first-year coordinator Gene Chizik. A litany of injuries. An early season wipe out against Appalachian State, the football equivalent of a quadruple bogey that could spawn the mental gremlins into overdrive.

It was two long months from the season opener against South Carolina. For Echols, one half of the Tar Heels' dynamic linebacker tandem with Cedric Gray, the first whistle couldn't come soon enough.

"Now that we understand what we're trying to do and the objective, I feel like we can play freely and be who we truly are, really and truly show who we really are," he said. "The proof is in the pudding. I am tired of talking about it. It irks me we even have to have this conversation about the defense. I know how good we are. Now I just want to put it on the field."

Step one in that direction was taken with force, authority, precision and confidence in Bank of America Stadium Saturday night. The Tar Heels dominated the Gamecocks 31-17 and the defense was a major storyline.

The highlights: the Tar Heels stuffed the Gamecocks for two yards rushing, 4-14 on third downs and 0-4 on fourth downs. They had nine sacks for 65 yards and 16 tackles-for-loss. Seven Gamecock possessions were six plays or less. Kaimon Rucker was a terror from one edge with two sacks and 5.5 tackles-for-loss, and if South Carolina worried too much about him, Des Evans or Beau Atkinson or Amari Gainer were slicing and dicing for more big plays. The front line was augmented by the return of Tomari Fox, a behemoth at 300 pounds who gobbles up blockers in the middle.

"It was the best game we've played on defense since we've been back," said Tar Heel Coach Mack Brown. "The coaches had a great plan, and we were aggressive like we said we wanted to be."

"We've been a whole year in this new system with Coach Chizik," Gray added. "I think we had some personnel changes, blitzing a lot more this year. And mentality. We had a culture change on the defense. There were a few things that happened to us last year that we said weren't going to happen to us this year. So it was a combination of all of that."

Most significant were the statements the unit made to begin each half.

Alijah Huzzie, new to the program from East Tennessee State and slotted as the nickel back in the secondary in place of the injured DeAndre Boykins, bolted on the first play of the game to stomp a Gamecock swing pass for a two-yard loss. Echols nailed a quick slant for no gain. And there was Huzzie again with a break-up on third down as Rucker had QB Spencer Rattler running for the hills.

"It was a great message sent on the first drive," Brown said. "The defense was three-and-out all over them and could have had a sack. They were locked in and focused."

"That was huge," Huzzie added. "We preached about it all week. We wanted to set the tone."

The Gamecocks perfectly executed an onside kick to start the second half and took possession at their 47 yard line, the Tar Heels holding a 17-14 lead. But the constant pressure and ferocious pass rush forced Rattler into two errant throws on and first and third downs. South Carolina rolled the dice on fourth-and-4 and missed the connection on a quick-out pattern. The Tar Heel offense countered on a short field with an efficient drive of 53 yards for a touchdown that took control of the game.

"There was no bigger story of the game than us holding them on fourth down after the onside kick," Brown said. "The defense stepped up time and time again. After our two turnovers, the defense stepped up and allowed only three points. That was huge."

It has now been 370 days since that trip to Boone in Week 2 of the 2022 season, and if ever there were an opportunity to deliver a "poetic justice" payback, the time is nigh. The Mountaineers come to Kenan Stadium Saturday for a 5:15 kickoff.

Brown says that "South Carolina gave up on the run" and that the Mountaineers are a ground-oriented team with three senior offensive linemen returning from the unit that dominated the Carolina front a year ago.

"So we really won't know how were going to play against the run until this weekend," Brown says. "They totally embarrassed us last year defensively and changed the narrative of who we were. We were the laughing stock of defense in the country, giving up 40 points in the fourth quarter and 61 points. We have a load on our shoulders to go back and prove that the narrative we changed on Saturday night is real."

The Tar Heels will be applauded this week for their workmanlike debut. But they'll be drilled by Chizik and the coaches this week on Saturday's flaws, most notably in Chizik's mind "some coverage issues, some open field tackling issues, facing an athletic quarterback and letting him escape four times for 43 yards."

Last year only once did the Tar Heel defense hold an opponent to under 20 points. To smack down a quality team from the SEC and hold it to 17 points was a fine start indeed.

"What we put on tape last year wasn't up to par with what we wanted," Rucker said. "I feel like the first game set the tone of saying, 'Okay, we might need to keep an eye out for this UNC defense.'"

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (Carolina '79) is in his 34th season writing about Tar Heel football under the "Extra Points" banner and 20th year reporting from the sidelines for the Tar Heel Sports Network.

Players Mentioned

Beau Atkinson

DeAndre Boykins

Power Echols

Tomari Fox

Amari Gainer

Cedric Gray

Alijah Huzzie

Kaimon Rucker

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