Football: UNC linemen start strong

North Carolina’s defensive line played so well on Saturday that it surpassed even its own ambitious goal.

“We wanted to hold them to 1.8 yards per rush,” defensive end E.J. Wilson said.

“We looked at who the No. 1 run-stopping defense in the country is, and we got 1.8, because that would make us the best run defense in the country.”

The Citadel’s rushing stat line: 20 carries, 30 yards for 1.5 yards per carry. And passing didn’t work much better for the Bulldogs.

Every time Citadel quarterback Bart Blanchard dropped back from his starting position in the shotgun, it seemed like Wilson, Robert Quinn or another lineman was running toward him.

“Those guys did an excellent job. They’re so deep on the defensive line that they don’t get tired,” said safety Deunta Williams, who grabbed two interceptions.

“Our linebackers are feeling the benefit of it, and definitely pass coverage is feeling the benefit of it.”

Through the first quarter, the Tar Heels held The Citadel offense to fewer than three yards on nine out of its 14 plays, and the defense continued rolling from there.

The four turnovers were all products of the pressure the defensive line put on the quarterback.

Wilson recovered the fumble after a Quinn sack, and Wilson hit Blanchard before he threw a lame duck pass right to Williams.

“We’ve got the ability to keep the heat on people because I think we could legitimately play as many as seven to nine different guys,” coach Butch Davis said.

“Tonight the defensive ends got a lot of notoriety, but our defensive tackles were collapsing the pocket and forcing that quarterback to run for his life.”

The two Citadel scoring drives, directly caused by muffed Tar Heel punts deep in its own territory, totaled only 19 yards before they settled for field goals, and on four separate occasions, Citadel punted after losing yards on a drive.

“Our D-line was really the key factor tonight,” Williams said. “Them getting pressure and holding the lineman off our linebackers. Quan (Sturdivant) did an excellent job of sniffing out screens and alerting guys.”

The Citadel tried to test North Carolina by stretching them from sideline to sideline, forcing the linebackers to make plays on the ball and testing the defensive line’s pursuit.

The most telling play might have been the first one. UNC linebacker Zach Brown chased down a screen and held Citadel wide receiver Andre Roberts to a three-yard gain, despite being out of the play initially.

“In practice, we don’t tackle a lot of guys to the ground, but boy, do we fly to the football,” Davis said. “We wrap them up and thud them up, and we try to get 4, 5, 6 guys around the ball every single day in practice, and I think that was evident.”

While the defensive line was only able to drag Blanchard down for sacks twice, they were able to collapse the pocket and force him to throw the ball before he wanted to.

“If we didn’t have guys back there capable of making plays on the ball, then we would have to go sack the quarterback every time,” Wilson said. “As long as we’re getting pressure in his face …, I think we’ll be okay.”


Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.