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CHAPEL HILL – Stopping the run? Check. Pressure on the quarterback? Check.

Pass coverage? Not so much.

North Carolina’s defense did plenty for the second consecutive game Saturday, but its pass coverage had problems with both of Charlotte’s quarterbacks in a 38-20 Tar Heels’ victory at Kenan Stadium.

Chunk plays for the 49ers through the air were in abundance. The big plays consumed 34, 42, 28, 25, 37, 23, 30, and 40 yards. All but 50 of Charlotte’s 309 passing yards came on those six plays. And the average gain was 32.4 yards.

“Those are individual plays that we got to get better at or we’ve got to get more pressure on the quarterback,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said. “Everybody wants to blitz, but (you’ve got to) cover everybody. When you blitz, you got them back there by themselves, so you better get there.

“A couple of them were over Kaleb Cost and he’ll get better at it because the star position is a position that has to tackle, he has to blitz, and he has to cover their fastest guy.”

Cost is UNC’s starting star, also known as nickel, and he missed most of spring practice because he was on Carolina’s baseball team. He practiced just three times, but began fall camp in late July essentially as the starter. It’s one reason DeAndre Boykins, the starter there two years ago before missing last fall with a knee injury, was moved to safety.

Raising the bar on the concern level could be that much of Charlotte’s damage was done by true freshman backup quarterback Deshawn Purdie, who replaced starter Max Brown after he was injured late in the first half. Purdie was 9-for-19 with 134 yards and two scores.

Fortunately, for the Tar Heels (2-0), the early portion of the schedule has given them time to get some players up to snuff.

But that also includes Marcus Allen, who had two pass interferences at Minnesota last week, and was beaten a couple of times Saturday. Allen had a solid season last year, and with 11 pounds added to his frame, and NFL scouts taking an interest in him at practice last month, he was expected to have a big season.

The junior from Atlanta still can, as he’s learning to play more man coverage than he had previously. But, as Brown said, the Heels believe the issues are minor and easily fixable.

“I feel like it’s just the little things that we have to fix, whether it’s leverage or whether it’s communication pre-snap (and) post-snap, but I feel no concern,” sophomore linebacker Amare Campbell said. “We’ll get that cleaned up.”

UNC hosts FCS member North Carolina Central next Saturday. The game presents an opportunity to show how much progress is made this coming week.