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The Daily Tar Heel

WVU presents new challenge

7:45 P.M. FRIDAY DEC. 26 CHARLOTTE -- It's easy to look at North Carolina's opponent in Saturday's Meineke Car Care Bowl and think that all the Tar Heels have to do to win is shut out the West Virginia offense.

Indeed the Mountaineers boast game-breakers in two of the most important positions: quarterback Pat White and tailback Noel Devine. One of them would give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares. Put them together" and coaches don't have to worry about bad dreams - they can't even fall asleep.

But lost in the shuffle resides one of the more fierce defensive units in the nation that relies on a ""3-3 stack defense"" -- three defensive linemen"" three linebackers and five defensive backs -- to maximize the speed and athleticism of its players.

""You don't see a lot of 3-3 stack defenses" what that does is put is it puts an awful lot of very fast athletes on the field and gives you the versatility that they can bring North Carolina coach Butch Davis said Friday at the Car Care Bowl's media day at uptown Charlotte's Fuel Pizza.

They can bring as few as three and drop eight into coverage and at any given play they can bring as many as six" seven and eight.""

Not many teams in the nation have the type of athletes to run such an unconventional defense.

For the defense to operate at such a high level" you need big fast outside linebackers who have the ability to play on the line of scrimmage or drop back into coverage. You need a plethora of versatile defensive backs that can tackle as well as they can cover.

But above all" you need smart players that can adapt to the demands of the 3-3 stack -- a scheme that can even confound the very players who play in it every game.

""I don't know how really to explain it" WVU linebacker Mortty Ivy said of the defense. It's just a defense that's very confusing. It's even confusing for players when you first come to school. But if you pay attention to detail and do what you're supposed to do" then it's not so hard.""

Ivy" who played safety in high school" said that it took him close to two years to become comfortable with his role with the Mountaineers and that it's tough for teams to game plan for their style.

""It's just confuses players" he said. It confuses teams if you don't see it enough" then it's hard to just pick up off of a few weeks.""

The statistics tell as much. West Virginia ranks No. 9 in the nation in scoring defense" allowing only 15.9 points per game. That's better than any team UNC has faced thisyear.

But don't think the Tar Heels offense is at a competitive disadvantage Saturday -- these Mountaineers aren't exactly up to the caliber of Southern Cal or even mid-major Texas Christian.

There's a reason the 3-3 stack hasn't spread throughout the nation to the degree the WVU spread option has. At times teams have piled on yards -- and sometimes points -- on the Mountaineers.

The key against WVU is the running game. In three of its four losses West Virginia gave up 140 or more yards which allowed the opposition to control the tempo and keep the ball away from White and Devine's dynamic duo.

Much of the ground success can be attributed to West Virginia's 3-3 and that the team elects to use one less lineman in favor of having an additional defensive back. That leaves the defense one man short in the box and susceptible to a strong running game.

But WVU defensive lineman Scooty Berry said that if players stay in their gaps" they can prevent long runs.

""The 3-3-5 is a gap-control defense" he said. If you like to take a lot of chances you won't be successful in this defense" because everybody's attached to a strength and if you mess up the person behind you most likely will mess up. So we all gotta be in synch.""

But whether North Carolina figures out how to attack the Mountaineers and put points on the score board will be decided at Bank of America Stadium.

""We haven't played anything like that so far this season" UNC wide receiver Hakeem Nicks said. But that's the thrill. That's the new challenge for us guys gotta step up to the challenge" and we're looking forward to it.""


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