The North Carolina football team began preparing for Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech this spring.
And to be successful against the NCAA’s best offense on its home turf, the Tar Heels might need all the help they can get.
The Yellow Jackets have averaged 675 yards of total offense per game so far this season — a stat that interim coach Everett Withers said signifies a potential challenge for his team.
“This offense makes you, if you’re not disciplined, act like you’re disciplined,” Withers said. “It’s one of those offenses that you’ve got to spend time, not game week working on them. You need to be working on them in the spring, in the summer, which we have.”
Every spring, Withers said, the team selects specific matchups on which to focus its attention. And year in, year out, the Tar Heels always choose to put in extra man hours preparing for the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech is famous for its triple option offense, which can be a challenge to defend because it gives the offense several options to move the ball.
Withers said the key to success against Georgia Tech is scoring touchdowns every time the Tar Heels have possession.
“Offensively, we’ve got to keep the ball,” Withers said. “We’ve got to run the clock. We’ve got to make sure we’re scoring points when we’ve got the opportunity to score points. This week probably becomes more team oriented maybe than any other week.”
The Yellow Jackets also run a 3-4 defense — starting four linebackers and three defensive linemen.
