Cover Four: Gene Chizik and UNC’s Defense
The last two weeks have been a nightmarish start for the defensive side of the ball for UNC. How many games can they expect Drake Maye and the offense to bail them out over and over again? After taking the head coaching job at Iowa State, Chizik’s defenses between 2007-2012 never ranked higher than 53rd in the nation and that includes the title season at Auburn with Cam Newton. As good of a reputation as Gene Chizik has as a coordinator, his last two games leading the Tar Heel defense has been light years away from the defenses we saw during his time at Texas and Auburn (prior to being a HC).
I am not ready to panic; however, if the following four things do not happen today in Atlanta I am afraid we are going to waste another year at UNC with a future NFL quarterback leading the offense.
One: The defensive secondary should be banned from using the phrase “Rude Boyz” until they consistently get off the field on third down and stop allowing wide open receivers running through the secondary as if it were were an intramural game. What has been disappointing is how often the defensive backs are getting beat at the point of attack and the last moment of a route. They are not being physical at the line of scrimmage which would help throw the timing off for the quarterback. The Tar Heels need to win the first five yards which will also give the defensive line a little time to put some pressure on the quarterback. Dre Bly and Robert Williams were called blankets for a reason. They covered up receivers for the initial five yards of a route and finished at the end of it.
Two: There will be zero mention of the talent and expectation of the defensive line if they continue to get pushed off the line of scrimmage. When the DBs are able to win the first five yards, the defensive has given them little if any help with a pass rush. The defensive line has to control the LOS or the Drake Maye show will be the only hope of UNC winning any games the rest of the season.
Three: Power Echols did not have the greatest game last week; however, the style Georgia state plays should allow the second year linebacker to field double digit tackles. If the secondary is leading the team in tackles today it will mean point one and two of today’s Cover Four feature was thrown completely out of the window.
Four: One of the topics Tar Heel fans needle NC State about is the number of NFL signal callers that have come threw their program in the past twenty years without winning or playing for an ACC championship. The Tar Heels are moving closer to that storyline if you look all the way back to when Butch Davis arrived. The level of QB play with the exception of the two years following Trubisky has been pretty solid over the last decade in Chapel Hill. As good as Drake Maye has been in the past two weeks you cannot expect any Qb to put up 50 points week after week to simply give you a chance to win.
It is time to see the talk by the defense players and coaches put into action at noon on Saturday in Atlanta, Ga.
