UNC's Defensive Nitty Gritty Versus Notre Dame

North Carolina went to somewhat of a youth movement for its meeting with No. 2 Notre Dame on Friday, as six true freshmen played 160 snaps on defense in the 31-17 loss to the Fighting Irish.

The Tar Heels also turned in a better overall performance than in some other games this season, so there was some progress made on that side of the ball.

So here is a breakdown of UNC’s defensive statistics from its loss to Notre Dame:

Player grades (only players with 10 or more snaps and graded out at 60.0 or higher are noted): Clyde Pinder 66.5; Trey Morrison 6.3; Tomon Fox 66.0; Ray Vohasek 64.6; Chazz Surratt 62.4; Tyrone Hopper 62.1; Myles Murphy 61.3; Tony Grimes 60.8; Cam Kelly 60.6; Ja’Quarious Conley 60.3.

Tackles: Kyler McMichael 7; Surratt 7; Don Chapman 5; Conley 4; Morrison 4; Jeremiah Gemmel 4; Hopper 3; Vohasek 3; Tomari Fox 3; Tomon Fox 2; Chris Collins 2l Grimes 2; Pinder 2; Murphy 2; Khadry Jackson 1; Desmond Evans 1; Jahlil Taylor 1; Kevin Hester 1.

STOPs (plays regarded as failures by the offense): Surratt 5; Gemmel 4; Tomari Fox 2; Vohasek 2; Tomon Fox 2; Hopper 2; 1 each for Pinder, Murphy, Chapman, Morrison, Conley, Collins and McMichael.

TFLs: Surratt 1; Tomon Fox 1.

Missed tackles (7): 1 each by Tomari Fox, Tomon Fox, Rucker, Grimes, Collins, Ladaeson Hollins, and McMichael.

*Notre Dame ran the ball 36 times for 199 yards, an average of 5.5 yards per attempt. With two sacks for minus-15 yards, its adjusted rushing numbers are 34 attempts for 214 yards, which is an average of 6.3 per attempt.

*The Fighting Irish had 6 runs of 10 or more yards, 10 of their 25 first downs came on the ground, and 124 of their yards came after contact.

*Left end: 3 attempts for 53 yards (17.7 ave), 1 first down, one 10-plus run, long of 47 yards.

*Left tackle: 1 attempt for 2 yards.

*Left guard: 2 attempots for 4 yards (2.0 ave), long of 4 yards.

*Between LG&C: 4 attempts for 14 yards (3.5 ave), 2 first downs, long of 6 yards.

*Between C&RG: 6 attempts for 28 yards (4.7 ave), 1 first down, one 10-plus run, long of 16 yards.

*Right guard: 2 attempts for 8 yards (4.0 ave), long of 5 yards.

*Right tackle: 2 attempts for 11 yards (5.5 ave), long of 9 yards.

*Right end: 7 attempts for 58 yards (8.3 ave), 2 TDs, 4 first downs, two 10-plus runs, long of 33 yards.

*Jet sweep right: 1 attempt for 13 yards, 1 first down.

*QB keeps: 2 attempts for minus-2 yards.

*QB scramble: 2 attempts for 22 yards (11.0 ave), 1 first down, one 10-plus run, long of 18 yards.

*Notre Dame QB Ian Book was 23-for-33 with 279 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 2 drops, 3 Tas, 2 sacks, 14 first downs, 2 scrambles and an NFL QBR of 102.5.

Sacks (2): Surratt 1; Tomon Fox 1.

QB hurries (9): Tomon Fox 3; 1 each for Murphy, Tomari Fox, Grimes, Collins, McMicahel and Hopper.

*Book dropped back to pass 27 times under no pressure and was 18-for-25 with 210 yards, 1 TA, 2 drops, 2 scrambles, and 11 first downs.

*Books dropped back to pass 12 times when under pressure and was 5-for-9 with 69 yards, 1 TD, 2 sacks, 2 Tas, and 3 first downs.

*Books was blitzed 9 times and was 5-for7 with 6 yards, 1 sack, 1 TA, 1 scramble and 3 first downs.

*Book was 5-for-6 with 16 yards and 1 TD on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage.

*Book was 13-for-14 with 129 yards on passes thrown between 0-9 yards downfield.

*Book was 3-for-7 with 38 yards on passes thrown between 10-19 yards downfield.

*Book was 2-for-4 with 96 yards on passes thrown 20 or more yards downfield.

*Gemmel was targeted 6 times allowing 4 receptions for 29 yards, 2 first downs with a long of 16 yards.

*McMichael was targeted 6 times allowing 4 receptions for 75 yards, 1 first down, 1 PBU with a long of 53 yards.

*Surratt was targeted 3 times allowing 2 receptions for 19 yards, 1 first down, with a long of 11 yards.

*Chapman was targeted 3 times allowing 3 receptions for 56 yards, 2 first downs, with a long of 43 yards.

*Grimes was targeted 3 times allowing 2 receptions for 19 yards, 1 first down, with a long of 12 yards.

*Morrison was targeted 2 times allowing 2 receptions for 5 yards, with a long of 5 yards.

*Conley was targeted 2 times allowing 1 reception for 15 yards and 1 first down.

*Collins was targeted 2 times allowing 1 reception for 21 yards and 1 first down.

*Hopper was targeted 1 time allowing 1 reception for 13 yards and a first down.

*Hollins was targeted 1 time allowing 1 reception for 12 yards and a first down.

*Evans was targeted 1 time allowing 1 reception for 4 yards and a TD.

*Tomon Fox was targeted 1 time allowing 1 reception for 10 yards and a first down.

*Some of these stats are courtesy of PFF.