Tar Heels will be seeing triple vs. GT

A typical defensive strategy for a football team is to swarm to the ball bringing as many players as possible to gang-tackle a rusher and keep him from getting into the open field.

North Carolina will not be doing much of that today.

Instead" the Tar Heels will approach today's game with a novel idea: just tackle everyone wearing a Georgia Tech jersey.

""You have to assume everyone has the ball and tackle everything you see" senior safety Trimane Goddard said.

If everybody tackles everybody" then everybody's down.""

UNC won't worry about who appears to be the ball-carrier" simply because they often won't be able to tell which Yellow Jacket has the pigskin.

That's because Georgia Tech runs a triple-option offense — a seldom-used strategy in the college game.

In this scheme there are three different players who might carry the ball" and who gets the call isn't decided until after the play begins.

It can first go to the ""dive back"" on a quick running play through the line.

Or the quarterback can read the defense and choose to keep the ball and run it himself.

Or he can start to run and then pitch it backwards and toward the sideline to a third option"" the ""pitch back.""

Confused yet?

Lots of defenders are left scratching their heads"" too.

""Their running back is really good" and they have the quarterback linebacker Quan Sturdivant said. So you never know which one is going to keep it" or he could hand it to the fullback or something.""

The UNC defense has been working through the bye week and into this week to avoid such confusion after kickoff.

Since most players have not seen a triple-option offense since high school" the UNC scout team has simulated the scheme in practice to mimic Georgia Tech's version.

The biggest key UNC defenders are realizing" will be that each member of the defense sticks to his own specific assignment.

""Playing this offense" you better be disciplined" coach Butch Davis said.

Guys have got to read their keys; guys have got to know exactly what their responsibilities are because they will make you pay big-time.

""If you're out of position" if you're cheating and leaning and trying to steal something" they're good enough to take advantage of it.""

The efficiency with which Georgia Tech executes this offense makes it even more difficult to defend. The Yellow Jackets have the best ground game in the ACC.

GT has rushed for 600 more yards and four more touchdowns than any other rushing attack in the conference.

Tailback Jonathan Dwyer is the leading rusher" and he has racked up 899 yards on the ground this season.

But the real key to the Yellow Jackets' offense is dual-threat quarterback Josh Nesbitt. His ability execute the triple option by faking the handoff and running with the ball forces defenses to avoid over-pursuit on either the dive back or the pitch back. Instead they are forced to stay in specific lanes.

Nesbitt has also demonstrated a capability to throw off of play-action" making the GT offense even more dangerous by keeping safeties and linebackers back in pass coverage for an extra split-second.

""Maybe if you're playing a traditional offense" if one person messes up you may have another person to cover up Goddard said. But against a triple option" you have to be very precise.""

The goal of the triple option is to maximize the possibilities and diminish the number of defenders pursuing the actual ball-carrier.

With fewer defenders to beat" a rusher could generate a big play simply by making one defender miss and then out-racing the rest.

This has allowed GT backs especially Dwyer" to break off large chunks of yardage at a time this season.

North Carolina defenders know they have less room for error this week.

""If one person gets out of position" they can go for a touchdown" Sturdivant said. So everybody's got to play their responsibilities.""