Last season, the North Carolina football team allowed Georgia Tech’s offense to score at will in a 68-50 loss.
Leading up to this season’s meeting between the two teams, coach Larry Fedora identified three ways in which UNC’s offense and special teams can lighten the load on the defense — eliminate turnovers, finish drives and move the chains.
The Tar Heels committed two turnovers in last year’s game — a Bryn Renner fumble and later an interception — and surrendered the ball at their own 27-yard line on a failed fake punt.
Georgia Tech turned those mistakes into 17 points, which made all the difference in the shootout.
“I know everybody jumped all over the defense, and we’re not sitting there condoning the way the defense played, but it was not a one-sided deal,” Fedora said. “It was not just the defense that gave up problems or created problems for us. It was the entire team.”
As for finishing drives, the Tar Heels were successful in their 50-point outburst last season, but last week’s game against Middle Tennessee State featured three three-and-out drives and two drives in which UNC settled for field goals.
“With an offense like (Georgia Tech’s) that is very, very productive and very difficult to defend, you cannot give them extra possessions and you can’t give up points on special teams,” Fedora said referring to last year’s mistakes. “You really don’t have much of a chance to win if you do that.”
Long drives have not typically been a trademark of Fedora’s no-huddle offense, which often scores quickly, but Fedora said he doesn’t see the no-huddle as a burden on the defense.
“I don’t think that we have to change what we do offensively to slow the game down to give our defense a better chance,” Fedora said.
