CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik met with the media Monday at the Kenan Football Center in advance of the No. 17 Tar Heels’ game Saturday at Pittsburgh.

Chizik was asked about using so many players in the secondary in UNC’s win over Minnesota, going two deep along the defensive line, specifically about Armani Chatman and Stick Lane, and Pitt’s offensive situation at quarterback.

UNC is 3-0 while the Panthers are 1-2 with a win over Wofford and losses the last two weeks at home to Cincinnati and at West Virginia.

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

*Sudden-change defense has been outstanding so far for the Tar Heels. UNC has turned over the ball four times and allowed an onside kick to be recovered by the opponent, and in the following five series, opponents have scored six points on two field goals.

Chizik attributes his defense’s ability to bow up in those moments to their experience, maturity, smarts, leadership, and understanding the defense.

*Armani Chatman played two snaps in UNC’s win over Appalachian State, but had a huge role in the win over Minnesota with an interception and three PBUs. He started 25 of the 49 games in which he appeared at Virginia Tech, but injuries and getting meshed with the culture at UNC took some time. But he stepped up when called on after Tayon Holloway’s struggles.

“He’s been with us for the entire spring and wasn’t allowed to do much because he was coming off of surgery. He got a good accumulation of reps in fall camp. So, what we’re trying to do now is build up some depth everywhere, and in the secondary certainly…

“He’s just been working. He’s been working hard, and when opportunity came, he delivered.”

“He’s been working hard, and his opportunity came and he delivered”

*21 Tar Heels got defensive snaps versus the Gophers, with 19 of them playing 13 or more snaps. Of those 19, 15 had grades of 60.0 or higher. Chizik credits using more players means there is a push for each to play better, plus they are simply fresher as the game goes on.

“More guys are involved, more guys are into it… More guys are bought in to what’s going on, ‘Hey, I’ve got a chance to play.’”

*Stick Lane played 27 snaps versus Minnesota and is getting back to form. Last week, Chizik spoke about Lane trying to catch up learning the communication of the back side of the defense since he missed so much time in August with an injury. Chizik anticipated it might still be a few weeks before Lane was fully caught up.

His play Saturday shows he’s on a really good pace. Five tackles and giving the defense plenty of activity was a jolt. But it’s something Chizik said they knew when they brought in lane. He has an attribute only some players possess.

“He’s instinctual,” Chizik said, noting they saw that in Lane last year when the Tar Heels played at Georgia State.

*Regarding Pitt, Chizik says there is no secret to what Pat Narduzzi’s team is all about on both sides of the ball. They are physical, “They hang their hat on that.”

As for the Panthers’ offense, it has been a struggle so far. Pitt ranks No. 112 nationally in total offense averaging 321 yards per contest. The Panthers are No. 80 in rushing and No. 110 in passing, plus No. 111 in passing efficiency. Pitt QB Phil Jurkovec has completed only 46.7 percent of his 75 attempts for 474 yards, four TDs and three INTs.

But in Pitt’s last two games, he is 18-for-52 (34.6 percent) with 260 yards. He threw three interceptions in Pitt’s 17-6 loss at West Virginia over the weekend.

“Everybody’s always going to point to a quarterback is there’s issues. Usually what happens, is what I see, is it’s one guy here, one guy there. It’s not always the quarterback… We know this: he’s extremely talented. He’s experienced, he has had a lot of success at other places, so he’s really good.

“Believe it or not, they use him a lot in the run game. He’s very talented in the run game for a big guy.”