MJ Stewart everywhere for UNC football

The only time sophomore cornerback M.J. Stewart has felt uncomfortable on the field with the North Carolina football team was during his first game last season, against San Diego State.

During that game, he said he felt like he was everywhere.

In a different sense of the word, Stewart has been everywhere for the Tar Heels, just four games into his sophomore campaign.

He leads UNC with two interceptions, three passes broken up and five passes defended. In those four games, Stewart has already matched his pick total from the 12 games of his freshman season.

“I don’t think it’s me, I think it’s more (defensive backs) Coach (Charlton) Warren,” said Stewart after practice Wednesday afternoon.

“(He’s helped) me to get hands-on receivers off the line in the press, and it’s allowed me to stay in front of receivers more.”

In addition to being a nuisance to opposing receivers, Stewart has already racked up 16 tackles — the fifth-highest on the team, and an impressive amount for a corner.

And while the attention might turn away from the cornerbacks with a run-heavy Georgia Tech team looming in Atlanta on Saturday, Stewart will still have the opportunity to be a decisive force in the game.

“You have to be efficient because you’re not going to get a lot of drives. And that’s just the way it’s designed,” said Coach Larry Fedora about the Yellow Jackets’ penchant for keeping the ball for long stretches at a time. “Defensively, we’ve got to create some takeaways.”

No one has been better at creating takeaways for the Tar Heels this season than Stewart. Against Paul Johnson’s triple-option offense, that means staying alert as much as anything else.

“Just don’t get dulled asleep,” Stewart said. “Because they can pass anytime. They love running the ball — triple-option is their thing so they run, run, run, run, run. And if a corner is undisciplined and falls asleep, they’ll hit you with a play-action pass for 50 yards. And that’s what they want.”

While the Yellow Jackets have yet to make that 50-yard pass, four of their nine receivers have season-long touchdown catches of 17 or more yards. The threat of the deep ball is there.

But the good news for Stewart — and the rest of the cornerbacks — is that there’s still less of an adjustment to make compared to any of the other defensive position groups.

“It’s all the same every week for those guys,” said defensive coordinator Gene Chizik. “Not a lot of difference. They still have to play great technique, they still have to play with great eye-discipline. And they have to have great reactions on the ball.”

Stewart has shown that he can react to the ball, and that much has been made obvious in the interception column on the stat sheet. As for his approach? Well, Warren has helped in that area as well — just ask Stewart.

“He’s kind of perfected my technique.”

Maybe that’s why Stewart has been everywhere for UNC’s defense this year.

@CarlosACollazo

sports@dailytarheel.com