CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik met with the media Monday at the Kenan Football Center to discuss what was learned from watching film of his unit in the Tar Heels’ double-overtime loss to NC State on Friday night, the emergence of new defensive players, and also look ahead to the ACC championship against Clemson this coming Saturday in Charlotte.
The Coastal champs, the No. 24 Tar Heels meet Clemson, the Atlantic Division champs, on Saturday night to determine the ACC champion and representative in the Orange Bowl. Carolina is 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the ACC. Clemson is 10-2 and 8-0.
The game kicks off at 8:00 p.m. and will air on ESPN.
Above is the video from Chizik’s presser, and below are a few notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
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*UNC injuries are becoming an unfortunate trend; cornerback Tony Grimes did not [play versus State, safety Cam Kelly and cornerback Storm Duck were injured in the second half and did not return.
Down the stretch against NC State, Will Hardy was plugged in as a safety for Kelly, Lejond Covazos started in place of Grimes, and Marcus Allen was in for Duck. Allen and Hardy are true freshmen, and Chizik was pleased with their play.
"Proud of all three of those guys," Chizik said. "It’s hard for true freshmen to come in, in an environment like they did Saturday, and play well. Both of the young guys, Will and Marcus, both played very well. I was very proud of them.
"The moment was not too big for them, they played a lot of plays and they played in critical times in the game where they had to make plays, and both were able to do that. I thought Lejond did some really nice things as well"
*Chizik says they will get reps moving forward.
"We are counting on those guys moving forward to finish up the rest of the year and get some snaps for us,” he said. “It was good to see those guys get the opportunity and do well when they got the opportunity"
*Allen made great plays at the end of the game, winning his one-on-one battles and making a huge tackle for a loss. Chizik said that Allen has been making the same plays in practice and that he intended to play Allen before the injuries deluge.
"I have been watching Marcus, giving him more reps in practice,” he said. “It was not a shock to me that he got into the game and performed well. He is extremely competitive.
"He has been growing as a player in terms of learning the defense all year long. We have seen that happen in practice and obviously injury forced our hand to be able to play some more young guys Saturday night but we were planning on playing him before that because of his progress"
*Chizik speaks very highly of Allen and is very confident in his 6-foot-1, 175-pound freshman cornerback heading into this week's conference championship game.
“I think he is going to be a really good player,” he said. “I think you will see him show up as the next two games unfold. I think you will see him show up a bit because he's a really talented young man.”
*Getting a pass rush to pressure without leaving the secondary vulnerable has been a major issue for UNC this season, particularly late in the season. The defense has only seven sacks in the past seven games, and just 15 on the season, fourth worst in FBS.
"You've got to win your one-on-one battles," Chizik said. "Typical on just about every play you have about three one on one battles and a four man pass rush."
*Diving deeper into the thought process, Chizik explains what factors he uses to determine what plays to call for pressure on the quarterback.
"I'll use Saturday night as an example; we had a three-man rush a lot because I felt like dropping eight was going to be effective, which we do a good bit of.
"Some of it is the design of the defense, I think we have to do a better job winning our one-on-one battles up front and every game is different in terms of what your objective is in terms pressuring the quarterback, sometimes you can do it with significant pressure and blitz in things of that nature but then again you have to make sure your good on the backend with your cover guys."
*Due to injuries that necessitated the addition of new defensive players in the secondary, Chizik explains how he intends to assist his defensive backfield throughout the course of his game plan.
"Regardless of what your plot is with your defense line and injuries and things of that nature,” he said. “Everything starts with how well you can cover back there. Then from there, we decided how aggressive we can be where you're leaving these guys in a lot of one-on-one situations.”
*Chizik is aware that the secondary will be considered when preparing for Clemson and how they will attack the Tigers.
"That will always be at the forefront of everything we want to do when we design what we want to do defensively," Chizik said. "Where I always start, how can we hold up back there, will be ok, what can we do to make sure we are not putting guys in a position to fail. I will have to evaluate that as this goes on as well.
*Kaimon Rucker has been playing the jack position ever since UNC’s Noah Taylor went down with season-ending injuries in the Pitt win on October 29. Chizik assures the media that Rucker is fully involved with the pass rush at the Jack position.
"The Jack spot is still a part of the rush, and he did a really great job of that Saturday night,” he said. “I think he had four or five pressures. He forced a couple of throws in there that were errant throws because of his ability to rush the passer, he has a knack for that, we understand that.
“Rucker has been a vital piece in the UNC defense and pass rush. His pass rush presence has tallied only 32 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, and 2.5 sacks despite being moved around on the defense to fill injury voids.
“He is at the jack position, and sometimes he is in coverage—not a lot—but he is still part of the four-man pass rush. So, we always keep that in mind because he is one of the better pass rushers we have.
"I am proud of him because there are some nuisances to the position that he has had to learn, and he's moved over there full time for obvious reasons. We would never put him in a position where he is just going to be a guy that drops; we will never do that because he is really good at what he does.”
*On defense, Rucker's preparation and play give him certain veteran privileges on the field.
"We give him the option," Chizik said. "He can have his hand down, he can be up, he can do whatever he wants when it comes to rushing the passer, and he was really effective with that the other night, and we know that."
*Chizik takes pride in players developing individual special abilities, per se, and it shows the trust he has in junior defensive player.
"That's part of the thing I enjoy,” he said. “When guys are really good football players and have a knack for doing certain things, we give them a lean way to give them to be able to put theirself in a positions that they are most comfortable with.
"I think he likes doing both; I think he's equally good at both, but when the shoe fits, he can wear it. He can do what he wants to do, and he's really smart. He's a good player, so we trust him in that regard.”
