If you followed college football in the Carolinas last season, you’ll recall there wasn’t much defense being played outside of the nation’s top-ranked unit in Death Valley.

Missed assignments. Shoddy tackling. Unit-wide struggles against the run. Cataclysmic follies led to lots of points for the opposition and disappointing performances across the board in the ACC and SEC.

Lapses defensively became a widespread epidemic at South Carolina and North Carolina where the Gamecocks and Tar Heels ranked 94th and 120th, respectively, in total defense nationally.

Reputation repair’s been a primary talking point throughout the offseason for both teams and emphasized with new hires Jon Hoke in Columbia and Gene Chizik in Chapel Hill.

A glance at last season’s numbers indicate major changes were needed:

South Carolina North Carolina
Total Defense 432.7 YPG 497.8 YPG
Scoring Defense 30.4 PPG 39 PPG
Yards Per Play 6.2 6.5
Rush Defense 212.2 YPG 240.5 YPG
Pass defense 220.5 YPG 257.4 YPG

Steve Spurrier handpicked Hoke, a former staffer during the Head Ball Coach’s time at Florida, to generate pressure up front and tighten the Gamecocks’ secondary near the boundary. Chizik could be the answer needed to pro-long Larry Fedora’s future with the Tar Heels after the worst statistical season defensively in program history.

Chizik beat Spurrier three times during his stint at Auburn (2009-12), including twice during the Tigers’ 2010 national championship season.

“It’s helped, obviously I have some prior experiences with coach Spurrier,” Chizik said at practice last week. “Football’s football though. You watch enough film and whether you’ve played somebody or not, you’re still studying the film and getting all the little nuances and tendencies you can get.

“But it’s certainly helpful to have some sort of background against these guys.”

Chizik’s 4-3 base defense will attack a South Carolina offense starting redshirt sophomore — and North Carolina native — Connor Mitch under center and a bundle of unproven wideouts behind All-American Pharoh Cooper.

“(The opener) is always a great measuring stick for where you are, especially with a new staff,” Chizik said. “We’ll know on Sept. 4 where we’re at and where we needed to be headed.”

South Carolina’s matched against one of the nation’s fastest offenses, one co-defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward called ‘second to Oregon’ earlier this month.

North Carolina’s led by dual-threat senior quarterback Marquise Williams, four-star 2014 signee tailback Elijah Hood (who flushed nick Saban’s offer down the toilet) and several playmakers at receiver.

Williams set 18 school records last season during the best statistical campaign for any North Carolina signal caller in recent history.

“We’re pretty much an unknown team,” Spurrier said on Sunday. “North Carolina is a pretty much seasoned team on offense. Their quarterback has played very well and Quinshad Davis is a big-time receiver. It’ll be a good test for us.

“We believe we’re going to play a lot better defense and hopefully that will show up once we kick it off up there in Charlotte.”

North Carolina Tar Heels closer look

Top returning player, offense: Marquise Williams, Sr., QB — North Carolina’s career record holder for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,510) and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (22), Williams threw for 3,068 yards as a junior and set the single-season record for total offense (3,856 yards).

Top returning player, defense: Jeff Schoettmer, Sr., LB — Two-year starter at middle linebacker who led North Carolina with 74 tackles last season and returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

Top returning player, special teams: Ryan Switzer, Jr., WR — One of the ACC’s most dangerous threats in the return game, Switzer earned All-American honors as a freshman in 2013 when he tied the NCAA record with five punt-return touchdowns. Last season, he emerged as one of the team’s top wideouts, finishing with 61 catches for 757 yards.