CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina linebacker Tyler Thompson has a simple explanation of how he keeps getting to the quarterback.

“Really just effort and violence, bro,” he said after tallying seven sacks in four games. “Like, if you really want it, you’ll get it.”

These days, he could be speaking for the Tar Heels’ entire defensive front.

UNC’s pass rush has been an obvious sign of growth in the NFL coaching icon Bill Belichick’s first college season. It’s coincided with the Tar Heels regrouping from a debacle of an opening month to win two straight and inch within reach of bowl eligibility, with Saturday’s trip to Wake Forest starting a three-game stretch against in-state Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.

Belichick, who led the NFL’s New England Patriots to six Super Bowl

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