UNC’s Defensive Grades Revealed After Win Over Syracuse

After a busy stretch covering basketball—including North Carolina's 94-54 win over Central Arkansas and the resolution of the Luka Bogavac eligibility situation—I was finally able to review the Pro Football Focus grades from last week's game against Syracuse.

The Tar Heels snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 3-5 with a 27-10 victory over Syracuse on Halloween night at the JMA Wireless Dome. North Carolina gained 425 yards while holding Syracuse to just 147, the fewest yards allowed by UNC since 1997. The win marked the team's most complete performance of the season.

With that being said, here is how PFF graded the performance of North Carolina's defense in its win over Syracuse.

Here's an explanation of how PFF's grading works:

On every play, a PFF analyst will grade each player on a scale of -2 to +2, ranging from a pick-six to a late touchdown pass, with expected plays graded as a 0. Each game is graded by two different analysts and any discrepancies are settled by a senior analyst. Grades are then normalized to account for game situation and converted to a 0-100 scale.

Overall PFF Defensive Grade

North Carolina’s defense delivered another dominant outing, allowing just 147 total yards—the team’s lowest mark of the season. The Tar Heels held Syracuse to only 39 passing yards, as quarterback Joe Seoh Filardi completed four of 18 attempts. It marked the fourth straight game in which North Carolina has limited its opponent to 120 rushing yards or fewer.

UNC's pass rush was dominant once again, recording three sacks, including a strip sack by defensive end Melkart Abou-Jaoude. Abou-Jaoude led UNC with six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. He now has a team-high seven sacks on the season.

Defensive end Tyler Thompson also picked up a sack as well. He has four sacks on the year.