The final score is, of course, the most important thing, but it would be foolish to discount the defensive progress displayed in the first half. UNC coach John Bunting certainly does not.
"There are a lot of positives from this game, and we'll draw upon every single one of them to make this team better," Bunting said. "We really were tackling well in the first half, doing the right things on a lot of plays. We stopped them on third down. We were gang-tackling, we were running to the ball, we were doing a lot of great things. We have to draw from those positives."
It is strange that a half during which UNC yielded 93 rushing yards would be seen as positive, but relative to other performances this season, it was a solid effort.
Of the 12 halves of football UNC has played, the first half Saturday boasted its fourth-best rushing defense in a half.
"We did a fine job in the first half, and we were getting a lot of hats to the football," Bunting said. "McLendon, who's a tough runner, was getting hit by one, two, three guys."
North Carolina was able to focus on stopping the run because its corners were keeping Wolfpack quarterback Philip Rivers in check, despite State's early emphasis on the passing game. UNC's secondary limited Rivers to just 11 of 20 passes for 111 yards, prompting State coach Chuck Amato to lean more heavily on the run in the second half.
"I think they made an adjustment at halftime, saying, 'Hey, we're gonna run the ball,'" said UNC linebacker Malcolm Stewart. "Because they were trying to get deep with the big passing plays, but it wasn't happening. As a result in the second half they planned to run the ball, and they did that."
The Wolfpack did that to the tune of 165 rushing yards, UNC's worst half of rushing defense this season.
"We probably played, total, 33 minutes as a defense," said UNC safety Dexter Reid. "We can't win like that."
