CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina defensive coordinator John Papuchis saw plenty he liked during the Tar Heels’ overtime loss at Syracuse last Saturday and plans on using it to build the unit moving forward.
On one hand, his defense was effective executing its game plan against Orange quarterback Eric Dungey, one of the most productive players in the ACC. In fact, over the final seven series Dungey was in the game the Orange totaled just 54 yards on 28 offensive snaps.
Sacks, pressure, forcing errant throws, coverage, everything went as Papuchis drew it up the week before.
Then, Syracuse made a change, inserting freshman Tommy DeVito into the game in the fourth quarter and the Tar Heels went from stymying Dungey to getting torched by DeVito. It was the difference in the game in Carolina’s 40-37 overtime loss.
All Devito did was pass for 181 yards and three touchdowns, including one in the second overtime giving Syracuse the victory.
So, what’s the balance for Papuchis in what he took away while trying to build moving forward?
“With every game I’ve ever had with these guys or anywhere I’ve ever coached, the postgame reaction, whether it’s the next day or the week following is very to the point, very honest (about) the things that were good, the things that were bad, and that’s in a win or a loss. That’s no different this week," he said following UNC's practice Tuesday at Kenan Stadium.
“Obviously, this is very frustrating. It’s frustrating for our players who work really, really hard every week. It’s frustrating for everybody in our program because we have been very close and been standing there with opportunities to win games the last two weeks and haven’t found ways to get it done.
“Were there some things that were positives, certainly. And we do need to make sure we accentuate those, but then there’s obviously some things that we need to get cleaned up. And that’s the objective every single week.”
*Now that Malik Carney has fulfilled his suspension, he can play the rest of the season. That’s huge for the UNC defense, and is obviously comforting to Papuchis knowing perhaps his best player will be on the field these last five games.
“Having Malik back is great,” Papuchis said. “It’s disappointing that we haven’t been able to be a full complement, and I think that group can be pretty special up front. If we ever had AC (Aaron Crawford) and Tomon (Fox) and Allen Cater together, and it turns out now that’s not really going to be the case.
“So this week Malik’s back and I’m excited because he’s brought a lot to the table, and we’ll have these guys ready up front to play again this week.”
*With Cater out, Papuchis deflected a question about the possibility of UNC trying to get a waiver for Fox wince Tyrone Hopper is also out.
“I’ll let Coach Fedora handle waivers and those things,” Papuchis replied. “But, right now the plan is to continue on as of before. So, Malik being back and we’ll see what we do with Tomon.”
*The rest of what Papuchis discussed can be heard in the video interview above.
