Gray, Brown Pleased With Defensive Progress

SAN DIEGO – A weekly punching bag on social media and message boards during the season, North Carolina’s defensive performance late in the campaign exceeded the narrative so broadly accepted by fans and media alike.

The numbers don’t lie, so no sugar coating: Nos. 116 (total defense); 86 (rushing D); 116 (passing yards allowed); 115 (pass defense efficiency); 102 (scoring); 96 (third down); and 128 (first downs allowed).

But it’s also unwise to get blinded solely by the full-season numbers. As UNC Coach Mack Brown said following his team’s wild 63-61 win at Appalachian State on September 3, the Tar Heels’ defensive numbers for the year were ruined that day.

He was right, though poor performances against Notre Dame and some others didn’t help, either. Neither did allowing too many quarterbacks to play out of character, not to mention losing to backups in three of the Tar Heels’ four straight losses concluding the campaign.

Progress is still progress, however, and it’s undeniable Gene Chizik’s group took steps in the right direction.

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“Our defense, they have continued to get better,” Brown said following his team’s 28-27 loss to Oregon in the Holiday Bowl last week at Petco Park. “After Appalachian State, everybody said they were so awful, so they didn’t give them a chance. Our defense held Georgia Tech to 21, that was enough. Our defense really didn’t give up that much to Clemson, it was our offense with three turnovers and a blocked kick.

“NC State, we have a corner just fall down and give up seven. We had another interception on a short field that gave them something.”

Just take the loss to No. 15 Oregon on Wednesday night as an example.

The Ducks entered the game No. 4 nationally in total offense averaging 508 yards per game, but the Heels held them to just 414. Oregon was Nos. 14 in rushing and 15 in passing, too. In scoring, Oregon was No. 8 averaging 39.7 points.

The only teams to hold the Ducks to fewer points this season were No. 1 Georgia and No. 8 Utah, and hold them to fewer yards were also the Bulldogs and Utes. Six Pac-12 teams allowed more than 100 yards to the Ducks than did the Tar Heels.

UNC kept Oregon out of the end zone for five consecutive possessions, a clear sign of progress. But it wasn’t in just that game. The Heels had positive stretches against Clemson, too, even though the Tigers earned a 39-10 victory in the ACC title game.

Yet, they only totaled 385 yards, as one touchdown was scored by the defense, another came on a 23-yard drive after recovering a UNC fumble.

“Clemson didn’t physically beat us down,” Brown said. “So as bad as that score was with three turnovers, I walked out of there saying, ‘You know what, we’re making progress.’”

Through UNC’s first 10 games, in which it won nine times, the defense allowed 460.9 yards, 31.3 points, and 24.7 first downs per game against teams with an average record of 6.5-5.5. Over the last four games, all losses, the Heels allowed an average of 375.5 yards, 29.5 points, and 18.8 first downs versus clubs with an average record of 8.5-4.5

There’s more:

*UNC allowed 24 runs of 15-plus yards, though just five over the last four games.

*UNC allowed 60 runs of 10-plus yards, though just 16 over the last four games.

*The Tar Heels had 136 missed tackles on the season, which is 9.7 per contest. The average was 10.4 misses through the first ten games, and 8.0 over the last four.

Even the blitzing, a subject of considerable scorn by the masses, was much more frequent and effective late in the season.

UNC blitzed 47 times through the first ten games, with opposing quarterbacks were 26-for-33 with 520 yards, seven touchdowns, and no interceptions. Over the last four games, Carolina blitzed 54 times, with opposing quarterbacks 25-for-47 with 199 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

The improvement is undeniable, if the numbers mean anything, and Cedric Gray says they do.

“This defense has always been improving all year,” the junior linebacker said after the loss to Oregon. “I’ve said this before, we had a rocky start, but this defense is relentless. It keeps chopping wood. It showed (bowl game).”

Brown was quick to acknowledge some areas of improvement in the hallway outside the press conference room in San Diego. Among the major concerns he voiced earlier in the season, defensive players’ angles to the ball got much better as the season went on. And that is reflected in the improved stats.

“We have changed, we have changed,” he said, noting the angles. “It’s totally changed, and they’re getting better. That excites me, too. The fact that most of these kids will be back, we’ve done a better job in the transfer portal than in our past, I feel.”

Nobody will confuse Chizik’s unit with the 1985 Chicago Bears, and even as positive as the Oregon game was, the Heels still allowed consecutive touchdown drives over the final seven minutes to lose.

But it would be disingenuous to ignore the fact that the defense progressed late in the season, and that could be a positive sign pointing toward 2023.