UNC’s defense shows more than just offense can win games this season

North Carolina coach Mack Brown listed the pass rush as one of his big concerns entering this season. He wanted the defensive front to get pressure without needing to blitz. Frankly, after they totaled 31 sacks last year as a defense, Brown needed the blitzes to work, too.

In the No. 18 Tar Heels’ 31-6 victory over Syracuse on Saturday, Brown got both. The pass rush spearheaded arguably the most complete defensive effort of Brown’s reboot in Chapel Hill. Yes, it’s only a snapshot against a Syracuse team that has its own questions to answer offensively. But Carolina’s defense showed it won’t need the offense to carry the team this season. The Tar Heels can win on defense.

“We kind of took a chip on our shoulder going in knowing the kind of guys we got playing on the defensive side of the ball,” linebacker Chazz Surratt said in a postgame video conference. “I’m just really glad we played the way how we’re supposed to play, and I think we can be really good on defense. We got a lot of really good guys up front in the back, and I think the sky’s the limit of our defense.”

UNC recorded seven sacks, its most in a single-game since doing the same against Pittsburgh in 2013. The six points allowed were the fewest against an ACC opponent since holding Duke to the same on Nov. 7, 2009.

A key improvement also came on third downs. Last season, the Heels ranked sixth in the ACC allowing opponents to convert 37 percent of their third-down conversions. Syracuse was just 4 of 19 or 21 percent. UNC’s thorough defeat of the Orange left Brown to only nitpick. The starting unit did not create any turnovers. Safety Giovanni Biggers picked off Syracuse backup quarterback Rex Culpepper when the game had already been decided late in the fourth quarter.

UNC’s defense sacks Syracuse

UNC defensive end Tomari Fox intimated that the same Carolina offense that may have overshadowed the defense in the preseason was the reason why the defense was so confident it had improved.

“We practice against one of the top offenses in the country every single day — and we dominate them, too,” said Fox in a postgame video conference, which is sure to cause a rebuttal once his offensive teammates catch word. “So for me, it was just routine.”

Brown would surely enjoy if allowing just 202 yards total offense becomes routine for Carolina’s defense. It was the fewest yards given up against an ACC opponent since the Heels allowed just 198 to Boston College, also in 2009. It was also the lowest average yards per play (2.8) in the 14 games since Brown returned to lead UNC.

The Heels’ defense has matured from last season when it just didn’t have enough depth and often had players succumb to fatigue. Brown and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman don’t hesitate in using their backups so that the starters don’t have those late-game lapses.

“The biggest difference in our defense is that we’re two deep and we have fresh legs,” Brown said in a postgame video conference. “That really helps us more than last year. Toman Fox got really tired last year at times. But there’s a lot of guys out there that can rush the passer now, and I thought they did a very good job of that.”

Five different players got in on the sacks including Surratt and Fox, who had two apiece. Surratt gave part of the credit to the Heels’ secondary, whose coverage often made Orange quarterback Tommy DeVito hold the ball longer. DeVito finished with just 112 passing yards and his 22-yard completion to receiver Taj Harris was the only play Carolina allowed of more than 20 yards.

“Our secondary is really, really good,” Surratt said. “They kind of bide time for us to get back there and make plays on the quarterback.”

UNC’s defense without fans, crowd noise

Defense arguably benefits from having a crowd moreso than any other phase of football. A big hit, a quarterback sack, a turnover — all elicit an emotional response from defenders and roars from the crowd. With attendance limited to 25 tickets given to seniors because of COVID-19 crowd protocols in Orange County, Surratt said the Heels had to rely on themselves, “to get the juice going.”

“We did a pretty good job with that, but I think we can be better,” Surratt said. “We didn’t really know what to expect going in, but I think now we have a good grasp on how game day is going to be.”

The Heels’ defense had plenty to get excited about. Three turnovers allowed Syracuse to begin drives in Carolina territory. And all three times they were able to keep the Orange from scoring a touchdown.

After the first Sam Howell interception, the Tar Heels stopped DeVito on a fourth-down keeper to take back possession of the ball. When Dazz Newsome fumbled a punt and the Orange took over at the UNC 21, they gave up the first field goal. On Howell’s second interception, they held the Orange to another field goal despite Syracuse having first-and-goal at the UNC 4.

The only other time the Orange marched inside of Carolina’s 20, came because of yet another blunder. Komari Morales was called for roughing the punter to keep a Syracuse drive going. The Orange reached the UNC 11 before kicker Andre Szmyt pulled a field-goal attempt wide right.

“The big emphasis for (Syracuse) was being the best versions of ourselves,” Tomari Fox said. “... Our big emphasis was just, ‘Who are we?’ And make sure that’s what we’re showing on the field. I think we did that.”

This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 9:31 AM.