Kareem Martin leads dynamic UNC defense

PITTSBURGH — The night before the North Carolina football team’s 34-27 win against Pittsburgh, the Tar Heels held a meeting.

Saturday’s game was designated as the dedication game, and each player picked a person to honor.

Kareem Martin, who honors his deceased father by writing his father’s name on his wrist before every game, chose the game to also recognize his mother.

By choosing his mother, Martin said, he knew he couldn’t turn in a disappointing performance.

Eight tackles and three and a half sacks later, it was obvious that Martin was playing with a purpose.

“I wanted to dedicate this one especially to her because of everything she’s done for me in the past,” Martin said. “She’s just a hard worker.

“That’s where I get my work ethic from. She’s been working her entire life and I’m trying to put myself in a good position so she can get in a good position because as I succeed, she succeeds.”

Martin led a stout first-half defense that held Pittsburgh (5-5, 2-4 ACC) to three rushing yards and 145 passing yards before halftime.

Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage was sacked each of his five carry attempts in the first half and on seven of eight attempts for the game.

“I was riding Kareem all game and then I found out he had three-and-a-half sacks,” coach Larry Fedora said. “What a game for him. Especially in that first half, he was a difference maker.”

But in the second half, a defense so highly praised in the first crumpled under the Panthers’ offensive pressure, giving up 211 yards, three touchdowns and one field goal.

“I felt like we weren’t having fun,” said junior bandit Norkeithus Otis. “We were turning the ball over on offense and the guys were mad because things were getting in the way. I gathered them up, calmed them down and told them we should get back to our style of football.”

After allowing a 2-yard touchdown run with 8 minutes 52 seconds left in the game, UNC’s defense dug in, forcing the Panthers to punt after three plays on its next drive.

On that punt, true freshman Ryan Switzer complemented the defensive effort, dipping and dodging Panther defenders en route a 61-yard punt return for the game-winning touchdown, putting UNC (5-5, 4-3 ACC) one game away from bowl eligibility.

There were still nearly five minutes left in the game after Switzer’s touchdown and the defense had to go to work yet again to prevent Pittsburgh from finding the end zone.

The Panthers charged down the field on their final drive, but were stopped just short of the red zone when they were forced to convert a fourth-and-one at UNC’s 26 yard line.

As Pittsburgh’s James Conner tried to pick up the single yard to keep Pittsburgh’s hopes alive, Otis and the Tar Heel defense formed an impenetrable wall.

UNC denied Connor the final yard and took over on downs with just more than a minute to play, securing the win.

“Defensively, that fourth-and-one, there it is right there,” Fedora said. “Those guys, again, they’re finding a way to get it done.”

sports@dailytarheel.com