By R.L. Bynum
DUBLIN — Things were said at halftime among players, likely some of it profane, and it reset North Carolina’s defense.
The unit that emerged in the second half of the Tar Heels’ 15–10 victory over TCU on Saturday night in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium seemed to have a stronger resolve, and it caused issues for the Horned Frogs offense. TCU went scoreless for the last 49 minutes of the game.
“We just came out with more intensity and had a great halftime talk,” defensive lineman Xavier Lewis said of the passionate words that came out in the dressing room.
Asked to detail exactly what was said in that locker room, Lewis kept it simple.
“Just go out there, stick to your fundamentals. We practice the stuff that they’re running. So let’s do it,” Lewis said before teammate Billy Edwards Jr. jumped in with a laugh, noting Lewis was “giving you the PG-13” version of events.
Whatever was said, it worked. TCU had gashed the Tar Heels with its outside running game in the first half, with Jeremy Payne piling up 102 rushing yards before UNC tightened things up after halftime, holding him to 40 in the second half.
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More on UNC’s win
— What went well and what needs work? Doc Kennedy dissects it all in his Good, Bad and Ugly Report
— Defense made a big difference in getting revenge against TCU.
— Billy Edwards Jr. wasn’t spectacular, but he was sold. He said the Heels left “meat on the bone.
Lewis, a sophomore from Raleigh, had five solo tackles, two assists, two sacks for 12 yards in losses, and 4½ tackles for losses for 18 yards in losses, in addition to one quarterback hit.
Coach Bill Belichick said the turnaround came less from a scheme change and more from his players adjusting to the pace of the game.
“It was the same plays, and I just think we probably did a better job of playing it. We got used to the speed of it,” said Belichick, who dodged a question about how often he was making the defensive calls. “This is a good outside running team. They certainly hurt us with that early in the game with some formation of the boundary and got us out of position. So we could have done a better job coaching that, I would say. But we got a few things settled down there, and then these guys play hard.”
TCU coach Sonny Dykes saw the same shift from the other sideline, and he did not hesitate to credit the Tar Heels for doing a better job defending the run.
“Early in the game, you dash them on the wide zone,” Dykes said. “It just seemed like they were getting more penetration and playing across gap spaces as the wide zone used the game around a little bit, and our running backs were a little bit confused where to run.”
Lewis said the adjustment was less about scheme and more about approach.
“Truly, what I’ve learned is just attack more, just be more aggressive against the run,” Lewis said. “I didn’t really get a lot of run or short-yardage snaps last year. So, the coaching staff put their trust in me for that. I was able to tag their line. It’s fourth and one or something like that. We know what they’re doing, they know what we’re doing, so it’s just beat them off the ball and make the play.”
Lewis, who helped force multiple fourth-down stops, was quick to spread credit to the rest of the defensive front.
“They make it great,” Lewis said. “It was a great team effort from the defensive line, from guys like Leroy Jackson, Isaiah Johnson, Trey Giddens. They also had a great game as well. It wasn’t just me. I had a little bit to do with it, but they helped me out a lot through their performance as well.”
Belichick pointed to that same collective effort when asked what allowed the Tar Heels to close out drives that mattered most. He didn’t want to focus on one player and characterized it as good team defense.
“If you play good team defense and force the runner to go, somebody’s there to tackle them,” Belichick said. Everybody just has to take care of their responsibility. Payne’s a good back, and it’s team defense. Somebody’s got to make the tackle, so whoever it is, it is. It’s just a result of good team defense that keeps those plays from being explosive.”
Dykes, meanwhile, pointed to his team’s penalties as compounding the problem UNC’s defense presented, saying TCU’s inability to stay ahead of the chains only made things harder against a defense that had settled in.
“When we moved the football, we didn’t have the penalties,” Dykes said. “We were able to run the ball. We were able to stay out of second-and-long and third-and-long situations by playing penalty-free. So, when we got in those long yardage situations where the run game wasn’t particularly good, I thought as the game went on, Carolina’s front got better. They played hard.”
For Lewis, a player who spent much of last season in a situational role, Saturday marked a shift in how he was used and what he showed he could do.
“Last year was just a start for me, just to get out on the field. I was a third-down, passing situational guy last year,” Lewis said. “Just to be able to come out here and have the staff put their trust in me to play on all downs, become like an all-down guy, I just embrace the role, to come out and ball out.”
Photos via @UNCFootball
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