CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik met with the media Monday at the Kenan Football Center to discuss his unit’s performance in a 46-42 loss at Georgia Tech on Saturday night.

The Tar Heels allowed all 46 points, 537 of the 635 yards they allowed, and 23 of the 29 first downs surrendered in the second and fourth quarters combined.

Chizik spoke in-depth about that, what the issues were, struggles making adjustments, and staying in nickel with GT running the ball at will in a fourth quarter in which the Yellow Jackets amassed 246 yards on the ground.

Above is video of Chizik’s presser, and below are some notes from what he had to say:

*Chizik says the fourth quarter “was a coaching problem” and they didn’t adjust well to the tempo.

*He says there are three things that have to happen better:

---“We have to put them in better position to be successful. Some of that can happen with some difference calls and some things we could have done better for sure.”

---“The next thing it comes to the run fits and how we fit things, we have to do a better job of coaching that in some critical moments where things are happening fast, and they’re giving you some unique runs.”

---“And then we’ve got to do a better job of coaching these guys and giving them more opportunities in practice to tackle in space.”

*Georgia Tech got the ball at will against the Tar Heels in the fourth quarter, yet UNC stayed in a nickel defensive package. Did that open the door for Tech to keep running right at the Heels?

On if they opened the door for GT to run the ball by going to nickel and staying in nickel, Chizik said. “No. this day and age, you have to be prepared to stop both”

*One of UNC’s themes the first six weeks of the season was the defensive regularly making in-game adjustments that worked. That hasn’t been the case the last two weeks. The stress of the moment makes it more challenging to get those adjustments communicated and to work, Chizik said.

“Yeah, I think sometimes guys press a little bit. I think when things are happening really fast and there’s tempo involved, and there’s stress going on in the moment, I think sometimes has played a part of it. But in the end, all of this is coaching. All of this is coaching.”

*Chizik took full blame for what happened in Atlanta, asked how he communicated that to the team Sunday while dealing with the balance on them understanding what they did wrong, he said it’s about “truth and trust.”

The conversations were open and completely honest.

*Senior LB Cedric Gray said Saturday they had trouble in pre-snap, and Gene said just now he thought they’d gotten past that.

*With 14:52 left in the game, Tech started a possession at its 12-yard-line and the Heels leading 35-24. Get a stop there, and UNC likely wins the game. Just like a week before when leading Virginia 24-14 in the third quarter.

UVA marched 74 yards for a touchdown and eventually won. Tech marched 88 yards on nine plays in just 2:50 to score, plus it got the 2-point conversion.

“That drive was a disappointing drive…,” Chizik said. “That was kind of their go-to thing running outside zone and tempo.”