UNC 'excited' to face Georgia, Nick Chubb in season opener

As one of the most highly-lauded running backs in the country, Georgia’s Nick Chubb is expected to demonize defenses throughout the season.

The North Carolina football team will be the first to take on the backfield beast when it faces the Bulldogs in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta on Saturday.

The Tar Heels should be scared — so why are they so excited?

First, look back to last year. The Tar Heels had the most improved scoring defense in the country in 2015, but that was overshadowed by criticism of the team’s inability to stop the run.

“(The players) see where our shortcomings were; I see where our shortcomings were,” defensive coordinator Gene Chizik said. “It’s not all on the players. It’s a lot of the way that we called defenses and the way we designed a lot of things based on winning games.

“You can’t pin it and say (we) can’t stop the run. That’s not true.”

Despite an 11-1 regular-season record, the Tar Heels struggled to reach elite status after their end-of-season performances. UNC lost its final two games of the season —including a bowl loss in which Baylor stomped on the Tar Heels’ defense with 645 rushing yards.

Getting a chance to face a player like Chubb is exactly what UNC needs if it wants to eliminate the doubt from the end of last season.

“(Failure) always motivates you to success at a high level,” said defensive line coach Tray Scott. “If you don’t perform as good as you want to perform, you want to improve it, don’t you?”

The Tar Heels have tried, building up physically and mentally in the offseason. And for that, the weight of the final two games might have been just what the players needed.

“Especially with the last two games, our rushing defense really got tested...” senior defensive end Mikey Bart said. “Stopping Chubb will be a lot easier compared to what we were going up against last year, because there were so many factors that were not creating success for us.”

The Tar Heels prepare for every game by focusing inward, but a player like Chubb requires some extra attention.

“We’ve been really working on tackling, because (Chubb) is a big body and he can run fast,” Bart said. “He’s one of the best backs in the nation... He could run over an NFL team with the talent he’s got.”

Despite this talent, the Tar Heels are ready to nix the doubts of last season when they face Chubb and the Bulldogs on Saturday.

“We are excited,” said sophomore linebacker Andre Smith. “We definitely are going to answer all questions, and we are definitely going to stop the run.”

@James_Tatter

sports@dailytarheel.com