UNC Football: Alijah Huzzie makes impact in debut

UNC Football cornerback Alijah Huzzie was important for the defense in the win over South Carolina and recently completed a Q&A with Inside Carolina.

After playing for East Tennessee State for four years, UNC football cornerback Alijah Huzzie transferred from the Buccanneers during the 2023 off-season to join the Tar Heel defense. In 2022, Huzzie led all of FCS with six interceptions while racking up first-team FCS All-American honors.

Given the faults that the Carolina secondary had in 2022 and a few departures, it was a no-brainer for the UNC football coaching staff to recruit Huzzie to come to Chapel Hill. On Saturday night in Charlotte, in his Tar Heel debut, Huzzie was one of the most impactful players on the defensive side of the ball. Following the 31-17 Carolina victory, Huzzie spoke with Jeremiah Holloway of Inside Carolina to discuss his play on the field and the defense’s impressive performance.

His eight tackles were tied for second on the team, including a tackle for loss on the game’s first play. Holloway asked Huzzie about what happened on the first play when he tackled Xavier Legette on what appeared to be a trick play for the Gamecocks:

"Last year, they did a similar play to that. Coming out, the first play of the game, we were already thinking like a shot or trick play because of the personnel they played with. So when he came in a little orbit motion and the little orbit screen off to the side, I kind of saw him fumbling with the ball like he was trying to get the laces to get a good throw to it. So that kind of just gave me a little… I sensed it. Then my receiver didn’t go down the field, so obviously he’s just blocking. So I just made a play on the ball."

On the same drive, just two plays later, Huzzie collected his first pass deflection as a Tar Heel on third and long for the Gamecocks to force a three and out to start the game. UNC football fans could feel how big of a moment that was for the defense, but what did it mean to Huzzie and the players?

"It was huge. We preached about it all week and that day. We wanted to set the tone, especially for the DBs. That’s what Coach (Charlton) Warren preaches, setting the tone. Every game that we go through, it’s going through us. Making plays on balls and guarding our dudes, that’s what the game’s gonna come down to.So honestly, the first job was just to set the tone and start the year off right. We didn’t want to start off slow or sluggish. We just wanted to get a good jump on the year and the game last night."

Prior to kickoff, it was announced that junior defensive back DeAndre Boykins had suffered a season-ending injury and would be out. As a result, Huzzie was forced to move from corner to Star (similar to a Nickel position). How did he make the adjustment to learn the position so quickly?

"Before going into the game, with ‘Dre going down, I kind of figured they would bump me down and make me play star. So we wanted to put our best DBs on the field to give us the best opportunity to compete and play at that level. But we have a couple of packages that I go into star, so it wasn’t really too much of a difference.Just going into the game, I knew I was either gonna have to get with it and learn it and pick it up as fast as I can, or kind of look like a fool on national television (laughs). So I kind of chose Plan A, and I had to just adjust to it and learn and pick up everything as I went."

This could be a position we see Huzzie in most of the year with the injury to Boykins. Huzzie touched on just how much he thinks we will see him at Star at the end of his interview with Holloway.

"If I could take a wild guess, probably the remainder of the year, unless we move around a couple of people, or I could bump out to corner. I’m not sure, we’ll just have to see how the season goes and hopefully we get no more injuries. But you know how football gets. It’s a tough game. So you never know what will happen.”"

It’s been some time since the UNC football program hasn’t had to worry about secondary play and covering talented receivers. It is important for the defensive line to get pressure up front (like they did last night), but it is just as important for the defensive backs to cover long enough to allow the front seven to create that pressure.

Last season, it seemed neither unit was doing their job, leading to no pressure and no coverage. In game one of 2023, there was a nice balance of coverage sacks and pressure created by the defensive line leading to nine sacks and 16 tackles for loss. Huzzie may have come from an FCS school, but no one should overlook him for the rest of the season. Expect him to make highlight reel plays week in and week out for the Tar Heels in 2023 and be one of the major impact players in the defensive backfield.

Follow us @KeepingItHeel on X (formerly Twitter) and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of UNC football news, updates, and recruiting.