Without a definite reason at the time, Kaimon Rucker was announced out before the first home game of the season for UNC football last weekend against Charlotte. Despite his absence, the team went on to dominate the weaker opponent in a 38-20 win.
However, the absence of Rucker was still felt, primarily because of the inexperience of those replacing him. The time was essentially split between Tyler Thompson and Jaybron Harvey in reserve, two redshirt freshmen.
The shoes that Rucker leaves empty are not easy to fill. In his first game this season, Rucker had four tackles with one sack and two tackles for a loss. He also dropped back and got himself a pass deflected as well.
According to InsideCarolina:
Mack Brown said that while Thompson and Harvey didn’t make the “game-changing plays” that Rucker makes, they did well with what they were asked to do. Geoff Collins said that Thompson and Harvey benefited from seeing Rucker’s behind-the-scenes preparation.
The preparation that they will get in these next weeks while Rucker is sidelined will be invaluable to their success with the program in future years.
Defensive coordinator Geoff Collins also didn’t see the moment being too big for either player in Rucker’s absence.
“I didn’t feel like the moment was too big for them,” Collins said on Monday. “Tyler getting his first start in college, and then Jaybron playing a bunch of reps. I thought they handled it very well. There’s been a consistent maturation in both of them over the past eight months, and I think they were ready for the moment. They went out there and played really, really well. They both (are different) styles of player, but both very effective at what we’re asking them to do.”
Which one do we see step up this week?
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