UNC Football: Key players to watch against East Carolina

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BERKELEY, CA – SEPTEMBER 01: Patrick Laird #28 of the California Golden Bears is group tackled by the North Carolina Tar Heels at California Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Dominque Ross

One of the bright points from the game against Cal was this defense and in particular Dominque Ross. The outside linebacker finished the game with five total tackles, one tackle for a loss but really excelled in pass protection with four pass break ups.

This linebacker group with Cole Holcomb, Jonathan Smith and Ross could end up being a strength for this defense. They showed against Cal that they all excelled in different areas with the pass protection of Ross from the ability to rush the passer by Jonathan Smith (who had 1.5 sacks) while Holcomb remains to be a tackling machine. He led this defense in that category the past two years and appears on his way to making it a third with a team-high seven tackles.

dark. Next. Bold Predictions for the Tar Heels in 2018

This game should set up to be another great opportunity for Ross to build confidence as this defense will be expected to keep the UNC football team in games with the tough stretch of games ahead.

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