CHARLOTTE – The defensive players on North Carolina’s football team kept saying throughout August they were much faster, more physical, and overall a lot better than a year ago.

On Saturday night, they got to prove themselves right.

The No. 21 Tar Heels put on a show at times defensively in defeating South Carolina, 31-17, in the Duke’s Mayo Classic on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium.

While UNC’s offense scored on five of its first six possessions, Gene Chizik’s defense stole the show. Consider: The Heels racked up 16 TFLs (tackle for loss of yardage), of which nine were sacks. They stopped the Gamecocks on all four of their fourth-down tries, including on their final three possessions of the contest.

British Brooks ran for 103 yards and Drake Maye threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns, as UNC won an opening game over a non-ACC team for just the second time this century in 10 tries.

Here are 5 Takeaways from North Carolina’s win over South Carolina: