CHAPEL HILL – More toughness along the offensive line was one of the challenges requested at the outset of fall camp last month.

North Carolina Coach Mack Brown made it clear in late July and when the Tar Heels started practicing last month the group up front needed to be tougher. UNC didn’t have great success running the football in tight situations a year ago and there were some other areas of concern along the offensive line.

So, the mandate went out and if the first game is any indication, the line has heeded that call. The Tar Heels ran for 238 yards Saturday, with 232 coming on 38 combined carries from their talented running back trio of Javonte Williams, Michael Carter and Antonio Williams. They averaged 6.1 yards per attempt.

“As an o-line coach, I’ll probably never be pleased,” said UNC offensive line coach Stacy Searels. “There’s never a perfect game, we can always get better. But I am pleased with their effort and there are some things we can clean up, but as long as they’re playing hard we can fix the other things.”

What makes the group’s productive day even more impressive is that the five guys on the blue team didn’t even begin working together regularly until about 16 days before the opener. Marcus McKethan moved to starting right guard spot and senior Nick Polino slid over to center.

Ask any offensive line coach what the most important elements are to a properly functioning unit and chemistry will always be one of their answers. But it takes time to develop the degree of cohesion necessary for a game, especially facing an opponent with the defensive front like South Carolina’s.

But the thrown-together Heels did just that, and having plenty of want-to took them up a notch.

“The process has been since last spring, and we just continue to evaluate who’s the most consistent,” Searels said. “And Marcus kept playing well in summer camp even at tackle, and we wanted to get the best five guys on the field and he was one of the five. And then the way it gelled is those kids decided on Saturday afternoon they’re going to play hard and they did.”

Polino spent most of the spring playing center but started fall camp as the blue team right guard. He still got some regular work in on the ball, but when the decision was made to move McKethan to guard, Polino naturally stepped over to center.

Searels said most fifth-year offensive linemen, such as Polino, have lined up at all of the positions in practice at some point, so they should know them all. A key difference in playing center, however, as opposed to the other spots is the vocal requirement of the position.

Centers read what the defensive alignments in front of them and make multiple blocking calls in pre-snap situations, so there’s a lot on their shoulders. Polino admitted last month that part wasn’t coming as smoothly as the rest of the position.

That is apparently still the case, though Searels is pleased enough with how Polino handled that part of his job.

“We’ve got some improvement we need to do, but I thought he did a good job,” Searels said.

Polino played 51 snaps and backup center Brian Anderson, whom Searels said “did a really good job” played 26. He was in the game during UNC’s 98 and 95-yard touchdown drives. That was another positive development for a group seeking depth.

The line allowed three sacks, but they aren’t going to completely come together over night. Baby steps? Nope, their strides were longer, and that should bode well moving forward.