In 14 games in 2022, the UNC football team recorded a paltry 17 sacks.
On Saturday night in Charlotte, against star quarterback Spencer Rattler and the powerful South Carolina offense, the Tar Heels more than halved that total: nine. UNC caused havoc in the Gamecock backfield all night en route to a 31-17 victory in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. It was head coach Mack Brown’s 100th win with the Tar Heels, making him only coach in FBS history with 100 wins at multiple schools.
𝐓𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬!#CarolinaFootball🏈 x #UNCommon x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/4V4zppSrms
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) September 3, 2023
“I’m proud of our coaches and these kids,” said Brown. “Tackles for loss, giving up fewer tackles for loss, sacks by our defense, giving up no sacks, all those things were better… I’m really, really proud of these guys. They didn’t fold. They kept playing. South Carolina’s got a really good football team.”
Edge rusher Kaimon Rucker starred all night, terrorizing the Gamecocks with eight total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. Rucker’s effort was part of 16 total tackles for loss on the night for the Tar Heels, the most in a single game since Brown came back to Chapel Hill in 2019.
“I was having fun, man,” Rucker said. “The biggest thing about football is having fun. Just throwing it back to when I was a kid. That’s all football is. Football ain’t complicated. People make it complicated.”
In a strange twist of fate, the outstanding defensive effort bailed out star quarterback Drake Maye, who threw a pair of interceptions in the second half as Carolina attempted to put the Gamecocks away. Maye still finished 24-32 for 269 yards and two touchdowns, spreading the wealth among nine different receivers. In the absence of Tez Walker, who is still fighting for his eligibility, Kobe Paysour led the way with seven receptions for 66 yards and a score. Maye targeted Paysour nine times, while not targeting any other receiver more than five times.
“I thought Drake played great,” Brown said. “He had a lot of pressure and he probably forced [the two interceptions]… he’ll be so hard on himself, because all he’ll think about is the two interceptions. He won’t think about all the other things he did. I thought for three quarters he handled the game as well as anyone could handle it.”
The Tar Heels controlled the game for the majority of the evening, only trailing for a span of 2:26 in the second quarter after a Gamecock touchdown. UNC answered that score with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Maye to Paysour to take a 17-14 lead into the locker room.
It appeared the Gamecocks seized momentum at the beginning of the second half by recovering an onside kick, but forced the first of four South Carolina turnovers on downs to end the threat and retain the lead.
The Tar Heels then scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the third quarter to stretch its lead to 31-14. The Gamecocks only managed three more points as they desperately tried to rally. UNC stopped South Carolina on fourth down on the Gamecocks’ final three drives of the night, pressuring Rattler seemingly each and every time he dropped back.
South Carolina managed only 11 yards on 31 rush attempts. UNC held the Gamecocks to 0-4 on fourth downs and 4-14 on third downs. On the opposite side, the Tar Heel offensive line allowed only one tackle for loss and zero sacks against Maye.
“I’m not surprised at all,” said senior linebacker Cedric Gray, who served as a captain for the game. “I knew that we had the ability to do this. This offseason, we really tuned into what we needed to do to get better as a defense, and it showed.”
“When you can’t run the ball, it makes it easier to get after the quarterback,” Brown said. “And we had to get after him.”
Rattler finished with 353 yards through the air, but no touchdowns. Both of the Gamecock scores came on runs of four yards and one yard. South Carolina’s longest run was a 15-yard scramble by Rattler.
The No. 21 Tar Heels have started 1-0 in four of five seasons under Brown since 2019, and are now 2-1 against South Carolina during that time. UNC will be back in action next Saturday against Appalachian State at 5:15 p.m. in the home opener at Kenan Stadium.
Featured image via Associated Press/Erik Verduzco
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