Preseason All-ACC Martin, Boston anchor UNC defense
It is always tough in the first game of a season to plan for the opponent’s defense.
Offensive line coach Shawn Elliott admitted it will be a challenge for the Gamecock offense at first if North Carolina comes out with a defense that they have not seen before.
“We have no idea what type of scheme they’ll come out in,” Elliott said. “They may wholesale change everything from a year ago. We’ve got to be quick thinkers, make decisive decisions and stick with them. And if things arise that we haven’t seen, we have to make adjustments.”
Elliott acknowledged that the Tar Heels have a talented front seven, but North Carolina has lost some of last year’s defense. Their best run stopper, defensive tackle Sylvester Williams, was a first-round pick for the Denver Broncos in the 2013 NFL Draft.
North Carolina lined up last year in defensive coordinator Vic Koenning’s 2-4-5 defense on most plays, and everyone will see Thursday night if they will do the same this season.
Junior defensive tackle Ethan Farmer and senior defensive tackle Tim Jackson will pick up the slack with Williams gone. They will try to close down running lanes the Gamecocks’ backs, sophomores Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds.
North Carolina has several unique positions on defense. The “bandit” position on is one that can line up in a three-point stance on the defensive line or drift back and be a linebacker. Junior Norkeithus Otis will line up in that spot against South Carolina.
The Tar Heels also have a “ram” position, which is a player who does a little bit of everything. He has to be athletic enough to play man coverage and physical enough to stop the run. Junior Brandon Ellerbe will fill that spot for North Carolina.
The most dangerous weapons on the Tar Heel defense are a pair of seniors who were voted preseason All-ACC selections this year. Defensive end Kareem Martin, at 6 feet 6 inches tall and 265 pounds, has a similar build to the Gamecocks’ Jadeveon Clowney.
Martin can make plays like Clowney, too, with his athleticism. Last season, he broke up three passes and logged four sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss.
The other player to keep an eye on is safety Tre Boston. He had a strong year last season with 86 total tackles, six pass breakups and four interceptions, one of them returned for a touchdown.
Even with all its talent, the Tar Heel defense was prone to giving up high scores last season.
They lost to Georgia Tech 68-50, and even in wins, North Carolina gave up 38 points against Maryland, 35 against N.C. State and 34 against Virginia Tech.
South Carolina quarterback senior Connor Shaw acknowledged UNC’s athleticism on defense but said he believes the Gamecock offense has what it takes to disrupt the Tar Heels.
“We feel like we can hurt them on some things,” Shaw said. “But we have to come in prepared and execute.”
Davis said he was also excited to line up against the Tar Heels on Thursday.
“I just look at their defense and see they’re fast, they flow well, they get to the ball quick,” he said. “They have a great defense, but we should be ready.”
Junior wide receiver Bruce Ellington may not play Thursday, but has been helping the other receivers study the Tar Heels’ pass defense.
“They run a lot of different combos,” Ellington said. “We got to adjust to it, and you know Connor and Dylan, they’re going do a great job running plays for us to catch the ball and get open.”
Redshirt sophomore right tackle Brandon Shell said he knows the Tar Heels’ front seven is talented and definitely will not take them lightly. Shell added that he has a lot of faith in the offensive line to slow them down.
“We’ve been working on everything,” he said. “Coach Spurrier is going to put us in the best predicament to run plays and win the game.”