Tar Heels looking to fill defensive gaps against Tech

By

Posted 3:43PM on Tuesday, September 24, 2002

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Chase Page believed his move from the offensive line to defense in the spring would be a piece of cake. The sophomore was fired up about pinning his ears back and attacking the ball. But Page and the rest of the young North Carolina defense has found out recently defensive football is more than just getting into attack mode. It has a lot to do with alignments and assignments. "When I first got out there I was coming off the ball 100 miles an hour and I was making some plays, but I was getting burned at the same time," Page said Tuesday. "I wasn't playing my gap. Now, I've calmed down a little bit and am learning how to read the offensive line better and react." Coach John Bunting spent the team's off week drilling his defense on the fundamentals after Texas rolled up 569 yards on the Tar Heels (1 (2)-. "We have tried to take an analytical approach to what we've been doing," Bunting said. "I wanted to be aggressive against Texas and I've got an aggressive staff and that's the way we're going to be around here. There were a few guys who perhaps blacked out, burned out, browned out, whatever word you want to use on a couple of assignments. Some of them were very simple and the players have to assume some responsibility here too, to get lined up on some simple things." It all comes down to trust and believing the defender next to you will follow his assignment. That's often hard to for a young defense to grasp. "But it's got to get cleaned up more," Bunting said. North Carolina's biggest problems so far on defense have been against the run and poor tackling. The Tar Heels head into Saturday's game against Georgia Tech 3 (1)- allowing 209.7 yards a game on the ground. Only Virginia is allowing more in the ACC. "It's all about playing your gap and staying low and if everyone is in their gap you can't run the ball," Page said. "Coach always says we've got to play fast and the only way to play fast is if you know exactly what you're doing at all times." Once again this week, Bunting will stress the art of tackling, which in turn limits big plays. "We've certainly talked about it enough, certainly emphasized it enough," Bunting said. "To me, it's more of a state of mind than being physically talented or gifted. "They've got to execute the technique they've been coached to do. If you can't tackle then you can't win. No great defense ever had a poor tackling team. We buzz around. We're fast enough to tackle. We've just got to go out there and do it." Page believes most of North Carolina's defensive mistakes have stemmed from players trying to do too much. "When you're a redshirt freshman or a sophomore who hasn't played too much and you're out there in front of 60,000 people, your parents are watching and the game is on television, you want to make some plays," Page said. "You're thinking, `Well, I can tackle that guy.' You're not thinking what's best for the defense." Bunting said he may have one or two players on defense that will play at the next level, but certainly no one like Julius Peppers or Ryan Sims. However, Bunting believes defensive togetherness can be just as effective an individual talent. "As good as we were individually last year, and some of those guys made great individual plays, we played good team defense," Bunting said. "We have done that at times this year, but we've got to do it more consistently." "We're much faster than we were last year," Page added. "If everybody does things right we're going to be like the no-name defense that shuts people down. You don't need all-stars all the time. If you have guys who are solid players and work hard and do what the coaches tell them to do we're going to win on defense." Another good test comes this weekend against the Yellow Jackets and former NFL head coach Chan Gailey, who earned his coaching stripes as an offensive coordinator. "He is a smart man and he'll try to make us accountable in terms of alignments and assignments," Bunting said. NOTES:@ Starting defensive end Issac Mooring broke two bones in his right hand Saturday in a fall near his apartment and is listed as doubtful for this weekend's game. ... Jarwarski Pollock is being held out of contact drills with a sore shoulder, but Bunting said the wide receiver will likely play Saturday. ... The Tar Heels have won just one of their last four ACC openers.