After a 6-0 start to the season, the North Carolina Tar Heels football program has suffered a setback with losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech as two-score favorites in back-to-back weeks.
As we get set to go into Week 10, the Tar Heels have a lot of questions with most of them on the defensive side of the football.
The losses to the Cavaliers and Yellow Jackets saw the Tar Heels’ defense struggle, giving up 228 rushing yards to Virginia and 348 rushing yards to Georgia Tech. They flat out couldn’t stop the run and it’s caused some serious problems.
It’s also led to defensive coordinator Gene Chizik having conversations with his defense that he revealed were “tough” and “honest” as he stated Monday afternoon:
Chizik said he had tough and honest conversations with the defense. He is taking responsibility for the performance Saturday, say it’s on the coaches. I asked about the balance in accepting blame to the players Sunday and also articulating where they went wrong. He said It comes…
— Tar Heel Illustrated (@HeelIllustrated) October 30, 2023
Honestly, that was needed. This defense needs a wakeup call heading into the month of November where they will host Campbell this Saturday before a tough three-game stretch against Duke, and then Clemson and NC State. The games against the Tigers and Wolfpack are both on the road to close out the year.
If UNC wants to finish off positive, they are going to need the defense to step up in a big way.
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