Reality check

Sporting News, The, Sept 15, 1997 by Tim Peeler

Though the offense could have problems at tailback and in the line, the defense looks like it's made of steel and should be able to mask any offensive shortcomings, right? Maybe. Give Brown credit: He turned a unit that had grown stale and passive into an aggressive, pressing defense that is the envy of many programs.

Coordinator Carl Torbush, the lone remaining member of Brown's original staff, began those changes after the 1994 season. But it wasn't until veteran assistant Ron Case, Torbush's college coach at Carson-Newman (Tenn.), joined the program in January 1996 that the transition was complete.

Case taught cornerbacks Dre' Bly and Robert Williams how to play smothering man-to-man coverage. The results were stunning. Bly, a sophomore, led the nation with 11 interceptions in the regular season and added two more in the Gator Bowl. Williams, a junior, was spectacular in a different way, batting away a school-record 23 passes. By the end of the 1996 season, the defense had earned unwavering respect from every staff in the conference.

"Our coaches all agree that North Carolina had the best defense we faced last year," Bowden says. "It is probably in the top five of all the defenses we've ever faced."

But this year's defense won't be as good as last year's because of some big losses in the line. Two of last year's top four linemen are gone and one of the starters at tackle, Russell Davis, is new to the position. Furthermore, there is no proven quality depth.

The defense also will encounter the wrath of every offensive coordinator it faces, now that opponents have had an offseason to devise ways to beat the press. Look for teams to use the option to beat it. That's right, the option, an offensive device that has become as rare on campuses as flattop haircuts. But Bowden and others think it's the best way to overload the pressing-style defense and take advantage of its extreme aggressiveness.

"An option team will hurt it bad," Bowden says. "I don't think that defense wants to see an option."

Well, the Tar Heels better have their chin straps buckled when they play NC State, Clemson and Georgia Tech, all of which have the ability to run the option.

Despite the buzz of anticipation this year, it has never really mattered to the majority of UNC fans whether the Heels were great in football. In college basketball's hallowed land, football still is viewed by many as a way to kill time before the Blue and White hoops scrimmage.

Brown has tried to change that, raising goals whenever he can. And he has done a lot of good at North Carolina. His success has played a large part in the recent $40 million expansion of Kenan Stadium, which included adding 8,000 seats, a preferred seating box for boosters and a football center. (If there is anything besides winning basketball championships that gets UNC alums giddy, it's getting a big return on an investment.) Under Brown's watch, the Tar Heels are the nation's 12th-winningest program of the 1990s, posting seven consecutive winning seasons and going to five bowls.