055: Lack of rush defense
North Carolina has allowed over seven yards per rush attempt 11 times since the 2009 season.
Georgia Tech ran for 246 yards on 22 attempts in the fourth quarter en route to beating North Carolina 46-42 on Saturday.
It’s the Yellow Jackets third straight win against North Carolina. All three wins have come as a double-digit underdog.
The Tar Heel defense allowed 348 yards on 48 rushing attempts. The 7.25 yards per attempt is the eighth most by an opponent in a single game since 2009.
North Carolina has allowed over seven yards per rush attempt 11 times since the 2009 season. Here is a list of those 11 games:
Four of those 11 games have come under the same defensive coordinator. There aren’t any words of wisdom that can explain these types of performances, especially when Carolina tries to trust its defense.
For example, UNC elected to kick a 39-yard field goal on 4th-and-7 with about seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter last night. A successful attempt would put Carolina up only six points and mean it needs to rely on its defense.
Carolina missed the field goal attempt and the Yellow Jackets started its next drive on its own 21 yard line.
Georgia Tech’s next three plays: 52 yard run, 10 yard run, and 14 yard run. The Jackets scored the go ahead and game winning touchdown a couple plays later.
Play-by-play, including crying Jordan meme, courtesy of gameonpaper.com1:
North Carolina’s lack of preparation has become routine. Outright losses as a double-digit favorite, blocked punts, penalties negating big plays, heart-breaking losses, timeouts before even running a play, and more. It’s a tough watch.
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