7 Tar Heels On Clemson, Growth, Georgia Tech & More

Note: Full player interviews are posted below.

CHAPEL HILL – Seven Tar Heels met with the media Tuesday evening to discuss more about last Saturday’s loss to Clemson and look ahead to North Carolina’s game this weekend at Georgia Tech.

In addition, the players discussed the young players in the secondary performing well, Myles Dorn went in-depth about rotating between the two safety positions, Jeremiah Gemmel and Chazz Surratt answered a lot of questions about the growth of that group and using three linebackers versus Clemson, Charlie Heck discussed his broken hand and the offensive line’s development, and quarterback Sam Howell hit on a lot of different topics.

Here are interviews with some excerpts from Jeremiah Gemmel, Trey Morrison, Storm Duck, Myles Dorn, Charlie Heck, Sam Howell and Chazz Surratt:

*Gemmel said the Heels put in some blitzes for the Clemson game they hadn’t used yet so the Tigers hadn’t seen it on tape, and Gemmel said that helped the defense some. In addition, he said the “move call” for the defensive line affected the Tigers, too.

“They’ll shift into the spots they need to be in and we got them to jump offsides like four or five times, and pushing them back I think helped us get off the field on third down.”

*Gemmel isn’t taking the Clemson game as a moral victory.

“I think it’s a test to see where we’re at and what we can actually be as a team,” he said. “And I said this after the game, but I hope everybody on our team takes this seriously to see where we could actually be as a team when we play together offensively and defensively on the same rhythm.”

*One of the reasons the Heels had success against Clemson’s contingent of elite wide receivers is because they were physical at the line of scrimmage disrupting the Tigers’ routes before they even got into them.

“Yes, we were,” Morrison said, agreeing with the above sentiment. “Me and Storm (Duck) were very physical with them at the line, so it (was) kind of harder for them to get open and everything.”

*On top of that, Duck and fellow true freshmen defensive backs Don Chapman and Cam’Ron Kelly were surprisingly physical all game, something Morrison saw and appreciated.

“I was really impressed with them.” Morrison said. “They’ve been coming out here and have been playing really good.”

*This was the first time Storm Duck has been made available to the media mainly because he got his first extended number of snaps in a game in the loss to Clemson. He played most of the first half in the opener versus South Carolina with Patrice Rene serving a suspension for the half and after Trey Morrison went down. But this was Clemson, he started and played 61 snaps.

“I felt like I played a pretty good game,” Duck said. “Coming into the game, I had a lot of confidence and had to be ready when my number was called. Came in the South Carolina game had to play the first half and had to come in with a lot of confidence in the game. I felt pretty good and like I had a lot of confidence guarding the receivers and had a positive mindset.”

*Duck said adjusting to the speed of major college receivers has taken some time, but what about adjusting to the combination of speed, athletic ability, length and hands of guys the level of Clemson’s receivers?

“I think that comes with film,” Duck said. “Watching their tendencies, watching what they do, feeling your opponent out seeing what he likes to do what he doesn’t like to do. It’s a bunch of different things guarding receivers.”

*Dorn rotated between the two safety spots Saturday, so what was the breakdown and what did he think about going back and forth?

“Quite a bit (and) it’s different, definitely,” Dorn replied. “I kind of got settled in toward the end of the game playing the boundary. It’s a little different. I think it was about 60-40.”

*Dorn also had to play with a true freshman at the other safety spot for most of the game, as Cam’Ron Kelly and Don Chapman got reps there. So at what point in the game did he realize the freshmen were going to be okay?

“Probably after the first few series,” Dorn said. “I kind of looked in (their) eyes, you can just feel it. They weren’t jittery, they were a little bit comfortable… When it clears and the first play is there, it’s just a different vibe than anything else.”

*The offensive line had one of its best games versus the Tigers, something aided by Heck’s return after missing the App State game with a broken hand. So what did the group do best in Heck’s opinion?

“We really didn’t make that many mental errors,” he said. “There weren’t many little mistakes that caused breakdowns throughout the team. I thought the o-line did a good job kind of knowing our jobs, going out and executing it and I think a lot of guys played really physical and gave it their all.”

*Heck said he broke his hand during the first offensive series at Wake Forest and played the rest of the game with it. He sat the App State game but was fitted with a protective hand “brace” last week and there was never any question if he would play. He said he barely feels the brake now and it should be healed within a month.

*Howell is the only scholarship quarterback the Tar Heels have available right now with Jace Ruder out indefinitely with an injury. So does Howell try to avoid taking as many hits so he can stay healthy.

“Either way, I still need to try to protect myself a little better than I’ve been doing,” Howell said. “I want to be out there for this team, so I definitely need to make sure I take care of myself.

“I wouldn’t really say much has changed now that Jace is out. It’s obviously a big loss for us on offense, but I need to do a better job protecting myself.”

*Recovering from the physicality is also extremely important, as Howell continues to look for the best way to get his body right after a game.

“Definitely something that’s new to me,” he said. “In high school we didn’t really have access to a lot of the stuff we have here, so I’m still in the process of trying to figure out what works best for me. So it’s kind of a process just learning figuring out what you need to do.”

*Surratt has the highest “havoc” rating from the box score of the Clemson game, so was it a good day of havoc for him?

“Yeah, I’ve never heard of that statistic,” Surratt said, smiling. “It was a good day as a defense, we played well, played hard, played good assignment football. It sucks we didn’t win but I think we can build on it as a defense.”

*Surratt said he’s getting increasingly physical with each game, so how much does he enjoy that part of the game?

“I enjoy playing linebacker, it’s fun,” he replied. “You just run to the ball, read the guard and tackles, read the pass, protection, blitzing. And the way (defensive coordinator) coach (Jay) Bateman draws it up for us ‘go make a play’ and he puts us in positions to go make plays. So it’s really fun out there.”

*The Heels are getting a lot of positive attention from nearly beating Clemson, but what will they have to do back up that performance with a good one this Saturday at Georgia Tech?

“I would say our effort to detail in practice – it starts in practice and the film room, to be honest,” he said. “The energy we bring to practice and the amount of time we put in extra in the film room after practice and here in the afternoons, I would say is the biggest thing.”