Dominant ending meant more for much-maligned Tar Heel defense

He’d take the win any way the Tar Heels could get it, but make no mistake, it meant just a little bit more for Myles Dorn that it was the North Carolina defense that ultimately drove the final nail into South Carolina’s coffin with two fourth quarter interceptions.

“It almost brought me to tears,” Dorn said. “It was great to see the work that we put in paying off in the game. You really didn’t see that in the past few years and just to see it all come true and it being on the back end, it makes me happy because I see the guys at work and I see that we put in so much extra hours outside of practice and outside of workouts, to see it come to the back end and see us make that play to end the game, it really makes me happy.”

There’s been plenty of blame to go around in the past two seasons for the Tar Heels, but after losing seven games that they either led or had tied in the fourth quarter, the defense certainly felt its share of responsibility for the missed opportunities.

It started in the first game of the 2017 season, allowing California to take control in the fourth quarter before a similar breakdown the next week, when the Tar Heels held a 28-27 lead over Louisville and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson before the Cardinals exploded to take a 47-28 lead.

It’s happened against Duke and N.C. State, and perhaps the most memorable collapse, last season when Virginia Tech turned a late fumble into an 18-play, 98-yard scoring drive that included converting three third downs and one fourth down as the Hokies won 22-19 to drop Carolina to 1-4.

Date	Opponent	4Q tie/UNC lead	Final
Sept. 2, 2017	California	24-20, UNC	35-30, Cal
Sept. 9, 2017	Louisville	27-27, UNC	47-35, Louisville
Sept. 23, 2017	Duke	17-13, UNC	27-17, Duke
Oct. 13, 2018	Virginia Tech	19-14, UNC	22-19, VT
Oct. 20, 2018	Syracuse	27-20, UNC	40-37, Syracuse (OT)
Nov. 3, 2018	Georgia Tech	28-28	38-28, GT
Nov. 24, 2018	N.C. State	28-21, UNC	34-28, NCSU (OT)

Needless to say, it’s been a while since the Carolina defense had something positive happen in crunch time of a big game, making Saturday’s ending a moment of catharsis for the Tar Heels.

Defensive line coach Tim Cross was in tears on the field after the game as he hugged his fellow assistant coaches while senior defensive lineman Aaron Crawford was emotional as he knelt on the field. Elsewhere, the celebrations were more joyous as senior safety Myles Wolfolk, who had both interceptions, put on the new turnover belt.

“It was something that people judged us on for the past two years, talking about how our defense was bad,” Wolfolk said. “It’s just amazing to go out there and do what we did at the end of the game, come in the fourth quarter and dominate.”

Indeed, the past two years have been rough, as the Tar Heels have an average ranking of 102 nationally in total defense, finding themselves among teams like South Alabama and Bowling Green last season as both went 3-9 in Group of Five conference.

To be fair, it appeared the defense could be headed in that direction again on Saturday, as the Tar Heels allowed South Carolina to roll up 128 yards in the first quarter, rushing nine times for 90 yards.

Instead, though, Carolina’s defense settled in and adjusted to bottle up the Gamecocks the rest of the way, allowing a total of 142 yards over the next three quarters as defensive coordinator Jay Bateman had the Tar Heels tighten up the details rather than make wholesale changes.

“Really just making sure we’re doing the little things right,” Wolfolk said. “There was nothing crazy that we changed for the gameplan. If you watch the first half, there was a lot of errors on us, just not being in the right place, missing tackles — just emphasizing the stuff we emphasized in camp to go out and get a win.”

Not only did the defense tighten up, but it saved its best for last, as the Gamecocks managed 23 yards on 18 plays, coming up short on all three of their third down attempts and turning the ball over twice.

It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was a step for a defense that hasn’t had much to celebrate in the fourth quarter lately.

“The comeback in the fourth quarter was something that will really help our football team because it helps them buy into who we are as coaches,” Coach Mack Brown said. “We kept telling them, ‘Be in great shape, win the fourth quarter,’ and when you do that in a close ballgame, it reinforces the 10 months we’ve been preparing these guys for that game.”

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