CHAPEL HILL – “Wrap him up,” or something along those lines, has probably been yelled from the sidelines a lot during North Carolina’s last two football games.
The request, or rather demand, has been for the Tar Heels on defense to corral opponents’ ball carriers and then bring them to the soil, ending plays and usually limiting respectable yardage gains. It’s paramount to success, as poor tackling teams are not ones that often end up in the victory column.
That’s why UNC’s last two performances have perhaps exposed a flaw in its defense, one that is getting a great deal of attention this week as the Tar Heels prepare to host No. 23 NC State on Saturday at Kenan Stadium. Carolina has missed too many tackles in its last two games, and another poor effort could be costly against the physical Wolfpack.
“Tackling's been a problem for, I think, a couple reasons…,” said junior linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel, who noted a lack of hitting in the pre-season due to the pandemic being one cause. “It's also every man doing his job.
"When a man is not doing their job and another guy has to take over for that and try to get in the fit, usually he's gonna swipe and miss the tackle because he's going out of his element and going out his gap to try to make someone else right.”
That’s the crux of it right there. This wasn’t particularly an issue the first two weeks, as, according to PFF, Carolina missed 22 total tackles, but the Heels were charged with 39 the last two weekends. And there wasn’t a leaning snap disparity for Virginia Tech and Florida State, quite the contrary. UNC faced 148 offensive plays versus the Orange and Eagles but just 132 the last two contests.
So, breaking it down even more: In opening wins over Syracuse and at Boston College, the Tar Heels missed a tackle every 6.7 snaps, but in the games against the Hokies and Seminoles, the Heels averaged missing a tackle every 3.4 snaps.
Gemmel continued his explanation.
“So, for us looking back on film, seeing all the missed tackles, it was a lot of people doing other people's jobs and then trying to make a tackle and missing the tackle,” he said. “I feel like really working hard, like (Tuesday) we had a tackle circuit, we worked on a lot of open field space tackle drills using the sideline as leverage.
"I think we just need to carry those techniques that we have in practice into the game, along with everybody doing their job.”
UNC Coach Mack Brown says it's a two-way street. Opponents have excellent players, too.
“A lot of credit goes to (Khalil) Herbert and (Hendon) Hooker,” Brown said, noting the Hokies that had success. “Those guys are really hard to tackle. So, a lot of times when you talk about tackling… it’s usually who you're trying to tackle.
“Saturday night, we missed 19 tackles, but Florida State missed 17. People are missing tackles on our backs and we're missing tackles on Jordan Travis and (La’Damian) Webb, their tailback, because they're really, really good players. So, we've got to improve in those areas, but a lot of times you’ve got to give credit to the people you're trying to tackle, too.”
Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman broke it down even more. Contrary to vast opinions, it’s not usually about toughness or even strength. The players on defense are all physically capable of bringing down anyone they will go up against, but there’s more to the art of consistently making tackles while minimizing the misses.
“It’s more of an angle and a finish-the-play situation,” Bateman said. “So, we work on our angles and every time the ball is in space, we work on our angles. And so I think that’s the point of emphasis. And another thing is as a coaching staff, we’re committed to it. That’s the first five minutes we spend every day.”
Among the many missions the Heels are on, wrapping them up and bringing them to the ground are at or very near the top of the list.
