CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina finally held its first scrimmage of the preseason Tuesday, and the results weren’t much of a surprise to Mack Brown.

UNC’s head coach understands defenses are always ahead of offenses at this stage of the preseason every August, especially since it knows what the offense is doing much of the time. The benefit, however, is considerable, so the Tar Heels got plenty out of Tuesday’s effort at Kenan Stadium on both sides of the ball.

Here are some notes and quotes about the scrimmage Brown discussed during a Zoom interview with the media Wednesday afternoon:

*Brown’s opening remarks about the scrimmage:

“Special teams was inconsistent, which is usually expected for a first scrimmage, so we've got to get better in that area. Our offense was also inconsistent. There were some big plays, but there weren't a lot of consistent drives. And, as you would expect in a first scrimmage, the defense was better and more consistent than the offense. It's funny, the offensive coaches say, ‘Well they've been watching our plays man for two years’ and I said, ‘Yeah, well, that's the same way everywhere, so don't change it.’ There's no game plan, so there's some good plays, bad plays, but that's part of an opening scrimmage.”

*Inconsistencies in a scrimmage in fairly late August might be cause for concern, but not this year. Things are just different right now.

“We've already had 13 practices because we started earlier than we normally would have, simply because they moved our game back to the (inaudible) instead of the first Friday in September, so we feel like we've gotten enough practice,” Brown said. “The distractions are going to be there this year and that’s the way it's been in our lives since spring break. So, we've told our guys, absolutely no excuses.

“You just gotta handle it and you’ve got to play through it and this is gonna be a great opportunity to handle tough things in your life and learn how to lead… The way we handle the distractions, the way we handle the differences than our norm and move forward as a team and improve will really determine what kind of year we have.”

*Sophomore QB Sam Howell got all of the reps with the blue team, which is the starting unit. Backups Jace Ruder (third-year sophomore) and true freshman Jacolby Criswell split the reps with the white (second) and grey (third) teams. They are currently in a battle for the number two spot behind Howell.

“Both are doing really well,” Brown said. “Jace and Jacolby are both competing hard… “We feel like that competition is really, really good at backup quarterback. We all forget, without spring practice, Jace has been hurt both falls. He hasn’t played a lot of football. He gets better every day, but we are also very excited about what we see out of Jacolby Criswell. And they alternated with the white and the grey team throughout the day yesterday.”

*A mission Brown spoke about in the spring, and has almost every time he’s been available to the media, is the importance of developing depth at wide receiver. Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome each registered more than 1,000 yards receiving last season and Beau Corrales also turned in a really good campaign, but the staff wants them on the field for around 20 fewer snaps a game, which will keep them fresher for late-game situations and perhaps even more productive per snap.

The secondary, which is loaded, gave the receivers a huge test Tuesday and have been making them work all month. Brown loves how that’s making his route-running pass catchers better.

“We've got great competition from those defensive backs and our wide receivers,” he said. “So, it's really good for us and we're being challenged at a very high level offensively. So, they're going to be really good, but we've got to get our consistency back. And again, with the heat, early season we didn't get to substitute much last year as a team.

“That's a real priority for us this year. So, getting Emery Simmons ready and Khafre Brown ready and Toe Groves. We're trying to get as many people ready to play so we don't have anyone out on the field that just wore out, and last year we had that some.”

*Among the many things learned from the scrimmage is that Brown’s belief the Secondary and linebacker are the team’s strongest position groups had a few exclamation marks added to them. They stood out.

He said Storm Duck is playing his best football since arriving at UNC and was fantastic Tuesday. Kyler McMichael also played very well and Patrice Rene was terrific, too. Brown raved about the secondary’s depth and abundance of front-line talent. Don Chapman had a very good scrimmage, as did Cam’Ron Kelly, Trey Morrison can play all five positions and did really well, and even players such as Giovanni Biggers and DeAndre Hollins also played well.

*So how did the trio of true freshmen wide receivers do?

True freshman WR Tylee Craft has been consistently solid since he stepped foot in Chapel Hill, and that was the case during the scrimmage, too. What about fellow true frosh Stephen Gosnell? And of course, highly touted newbie Josh Downs?

“Stephen’s had a sore knee but caught two or three balls yesterday and did a good job,” Brown said. “He’s going to be a really good player. And Tylee Craft will end up being a really good player for us, too. But Josh will play in the opening game and he’ll probably play a lot. He’s a really good player.”

Downs has also impressed as a return man on special teams. Brown didn’t specify if Downs will be on the kickoff return team or punt return team, or both. Based on how he’s talked this month, and in particular Wednesday, Downs could be in the running to see time on both units.

“Josh has got great speed and quickness, so I feel like that’s a position he may very well jump into this year,” Brown said.

*The defensive front, especially the interior, is the number one question mark on the team. So how did the Heels look there Tuesday and how has the group looked in the preseason?

“I’m still really excited about Ray Vohasek. He and Tomari Fox, Tomon Fox, and (Tyrone) Hopper, those guys are doing the best job because they’ve all played, they’re experienced now…," Brown said. "(Tyrone) is playing at a high level. And the two Fox brothers, they have such a good motor. And we felt like we played Tomon too much last year and got him beaten down some during the season along with (Jason) Strowbridge and (Aaron) Crawford. We just didn’t substitute.

“So, our job now is to see how many plays a Chris Collins, a Kaimon Rucker, a Des Evans can play. We’re getting back to where Jahlil Taylor, who had the shoulder operation in the spring, is starting to play more. So he’d be in that regular rotation. And Kevin Hester has done some good things.

“All those guys right now are playing at a pretty high level and we just rotated them Tuesday. We didn’t worry about who was out there first, we just said, ‘Go play.’

*Michael Carter and Javonte Williams form one of the best running back duos in the nation, but who will serve in the important third-back role for the Heels that Antonio Williams handled so well last fall? Josh Henderson is a former 4-star prospect but British Brooks, whose experience in the program despite originally coming in as a walk-on, may have a slight leg up in that competition, as the scrimmage further revealed.

Add true freshmen D.J. Jones and Elijah Green to the mix, though it appears they have some developing to do before getting on the field.

“The young backs are talented,” Brown said. “You’ve got Josh Henderson, you’ve got British Brooks, who have experience and they know how to block and they know how to pick up blitzes, and (defensive coordinator) Jay (Bateman) brings a lot of people everyday in practice. The biggest adjustment for young backs is learning how to pick up the blitz. So we’ve still got to work some on their pass protection before we can put them in the games.

“But, both young backs are talented and we like what we see.”