Davis finds answers for triple-option

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina had two weeks to prepare for Georgia Tech's triple-option offense. By the time the Jackets took the field Saturday, the Heels looked like they knew the playbook just as well, if not better.

The first play Georgia Tech ran was blown up in the backfield by linebacker Bruce Carter. On third-and-8, linebacker Quan Sturdivant stuffed quarterback Josh Nesbitt for no gain. The Jackets were suddenly out of options.

"We did want to make a statement that we know what you're doing, and you're going to have to do something pretty special for us not to stop you," Carolina defensive end E.J. Wilson said.

After that three-and-out, the Heels were on their way to a 28-7 win and a dominating defensive performance. The Heels did have a little history on their side. Or more accurately, on their sideline.

As the defensive line coach at Miami two decades ago, Carolina coach Butch Davis was part of a staff that beat Barry Switzer's vaunted Oklahoma wishbone three times in three seasons, capped by a 20-14 win over the top-ranked Sooners in the 1988 Orange Bowl for a national title.

With Miami using its team speed to smother every option, that win became known as "the game that broke the wishbone," and Davis can claim partial responsibility for the relegation of the triple-option to service academies and lower divisions of football.

"Back in the '80s, that was kind of the vogue thing," Davis said. "Even Lou Holtz at Notre Dame ran a little bit of a version of the wishbone. You'd see it all the time, and you'd wish it would hurry up and disappear. You'd wish it would go away."

Davis had a big hand in helping that happen. Still, the option lives on other forms -- the shotgun read-option popularized by Urban Meyer and Rich Rodriguez, most notably -- and at Georgia Tech, where Paul Johnson brought the classic flexbone with him from Navy this season.

He has made it work in the ACC -- the Jackets came into the game leading the ACC in rushing offense and scored 31 points against Florida State last week -- but not against UNC on Saturday.

Davis didn't tell the Heels about his history with the option ("That's the first time I've heard of it," Carter said), but defensive line coach John Blake shared his experiences from the other side of the line of scrimmage.

As a defensive tackle at Oklahoma during the glory days of the wishbone, its rhythms and intricacies are ingrained in Blake's defensive DNA.

"Coach Blake, he played around it, and he's been around it," Carolina defensive tackle Cam Thomas said. "Oklahoma back then, that's what they did. He had his little moments where he had flashbacks. He basically let us know what was coming."

Clearly, the Heels were listening. They devoted three 45-minute practice sessions to the Georgia Tech offense, using wide receiver Anthony Parker-Boyd to emulate Tech quarterbacks Nesbitt and Jaybo Shaw.

"Once we came out, it was just like practice," Carter said.

By the numbers, Georgia Tech had a typically impressive day running the ball. Their total of 326 yards rushing was their third-best of the season, and Jonathan Dwyer's late 85-yard touchdown run boosted the average to 6 yards per play.

But here's another number, the one that matters: The seven points allowed were the fewest in two-plus seasons under Davis. And while the Jackets went 6-for-14 on third downs, the Heels stopped them twice on fourth down, plays linebacker Mark Paschal equated to turnovers.

Davis and the Heels outschemed the Jackets by playing to their defense's strengths -- a deep, athletic defensive line to plug the middle; Carter and Sturdivant making plays on the outside; and Paschal piling up a game-high 10 tackles in the heart of the defense.

"There's so many different aspects to that offense," said Paschal, a senior. "I'm just so happy I don't have to look at it ever again."

Johnson's offense is a throwback to another era. Saturday, so was Carolina's defensive performance -- an era that ended 20 years ago.