Meet the engine that drove UNC football’s emergent defense in win over Stanford

It wasn’t too long ago — just a few days before North Carolina’s loss to Cal on Oct. 17 — that UNC head coach Bill Belichick quipped he and general manager Michael Lombardi had only “three defensive linemen” when they first reported for work in Chapel Hill.

“I mean, you can’t practice with three defensive linemen,” Belichick said that week. “We signed players who didn’t have offers or slipped through the cracks in the recruiting process. We signed players in the transfer portal that were available. We were late in the running on a lot of them — late on relationships, late on contacts. We ran out of time. We did the best we could.”

Now, as the Tar Heels’ offense continues to struggle, that rebuilt defensive front appears to be the engine of UNC’s season.

In Saturday night’s 20–15 home win over Stanford, the Tar Heels’ defense dictated the game. When the offense managed just 47 yards in the first half, the defense kept UNC in reach. By halftime, the Tar Heels had six sacks — double the number of first downs their offense had managed (three) — and had kept the Cardinal out of the end zone. By game’s end, the sack count had swelled to nine, as Melkart Abou Jaoude and Tyler Thompson powered another dominant showing that pushed UNC to 4–5 (2–3 ACC).

The linebacker duo of Abou Jaoude and Thompson each finished with three sacks. Abou Jaoude, a former walk-on from Delaware, now leads the ACC with 10 sacks. That’s the most by a Tar Heel since Kareem Martin had 11.5 in 2013.

Over the past three games, UNC has piled up 19 sacks, with Abou Jaoude responsible for eight.

“I’m just happy we get to show you guys and everybody else the work we’ve been putting in,” said linebacker Khmori House, who led UNC with 13 tackles and an interception. “We’re gonna continue to to this.”

House pointed to the bye week following the 38–10 loss at Clemson — a game in which the Tigers racked up 28 first-quarter points — as the moment the switch flipped for the Tar Heels’ defense.

“It came with, you know, realizing that we were a new team early on, and we got to hone in now, because everybody’s weighing on it,” House said. “We know we’re a good team, and it just comes with a matter of attention to detail and things like that.”

Earlier this season, UNC’s pass rush was nearly nonexistent. The Tar Heels managed just four sacks in their first four games, two of them against overmatched nonconference opponents in Charlotte and Richmond.

Since then, the transformation has been staggering.

“I’ve said 1000 times that we’ve improved significantly over the course of the season — individually and collectively,” Belichick said.

North Carolina now ranks 28th nationally in total defense, allowing 321 yards per game — a leap driven, in large part, by the pass rush. Thompson, one of the few holdovers from the Mack Brown era, has emerged as a critical force opposite Abou Jaoude.

Thompson has seven sacks in the past four games. Prior to that, he’d never recorded a sack in his career.

Belichick credited Thompson’s offseason work ethic “going all the way back to the spring,” saying the junior slimmed down by 15 to 20 pounds.

“He’s worked really hard on his pass rush,” Belichick said of Thompson. “He’s gotten a lot stronger... he’s explosive, he’s strong and his fundamentals and techniques — rushing the passer — have been something he’s refined and worked on.”

Belichick emphasized that the recent surge isn’t just about individual improvement — although he did credit Thompson and Abou Jaoude, among others, for their efforts — but situational opportunity. To him, it’s a byproduct of playing from ahead and executing better overall coverage.

“The score has a lot to do with it. It’s hard to rush the passer against Clemson when you’re down by four touchdowns, things like that,” Belichick said. “You know, we’re behind against Central Florida. So it’s just hard to rush in those situations, because they control the game... so you know, it’s good team defense: good coverage, better coverage, better rush.

All works together.”

For now, the Tar Heels’ offense is still searching for rhythm behind Gio Lopez. Still working to finish drives, to execute in the red zone. But, for players like wideout Jordan Shipp, the defense has provided something steady to lean on.

“Them boys balling... they’re making sacks, they’re working on their moves,” Shipp said with a smile. “Tyler’s been working so hard, [Melkart] has been working so hard. It just feels good to see them boys get the glory for it.”