Brown Discusses First Spring Football Scrimmage

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina held a two-hour, full-contact scrimmage last Saturday, one head coach Mack Brown said, “was like a game.”

Tuesday morning, following UNC’s ninth practice of the spring, Brown discussed the scrimmage. When asked, he went into detail sort of going around the dial of the roster.

Below is almost all of what Brown said about the scrimmage with some notes woven in. He did say earlier in his Q&A session the defense dominated the scrimmage, but that’s not unusual in the spring.

*No injuries. “We it for two hours, so that was really good… We had a game. We’ve had live punt, punt blocking/return, two live kickoffs Saturday. So, we’re really trying to get better in our kicking game. And we’ve got to develop more depth. We’ve said it every year and we haven’t done it.”

*Both quarterbacks looked good. We didn’t run Omarion very much, so the two running backs that were out there, Darwin (Barlow) did some really good things. And he did better Saturday than he had done in the other practices, so that was good in a game setting.”

---Barlow transferred in from Southern Cal where he played two seasons. He was at TCU for two years before that. He has one season of eligibility remaining.

*The offensive line has been impressive, they’re getting better. They’ve got a ways to go, but they’re getting better, and we’ve got those two huge tackles. Austin Blaske’s done a good job like what we had with (Corey Gaynor) our center last year. He’s continued to grow. And Willie (Lampkin), he’s been tough as nails, and he’s a good leader, so that’s really helped us.

“Still looking at the other guard position. But you’ve got guys like (true freshman) Aiden Banfield, that’s a tough young guy that’s really stepped up and doing some good things. You’ve got RJ Grigsby. But you’ve got (Jonathan) Adorno and Malik McGowan, and both of them are playing and doing some good things. So, it’s fun to watch them.

“And then you’ve got guys at tackle; Trey Green’s playing much better than he’s played. He’s stayed healthy, number one, but he’s lost a lot of weight. He’s really done a good job.”

--- The two huge tackles Brown referred to are North Texas transfer Howard Sampson, who is listed at 6-foot-8, 325 pounds, and third-year sophomore Trevyon Green, who is listed at 6-foot-7.5, 340. Austin Blaske transferred in from Georgia. He was slotted to play quite a bit as the Bulldogs’ sixth offensive lineman last season, but an injury cost him much of the year.

“Your two starters (at tight end), so it’s been really good for Jake Johnson to get a good look. And wide receiver, you’ve got a bunch of young ones. Chris Culliver made one of the best catches I’ve ever seen in the end zone Saturday. It was one of those one-handed deals. And (true freshman) Jordan Shipp continues to impress.

“You start looking at (true freshman) Alex Taylor’s really good, and (true freshman) Vari Green’s really fast. Those guys are what we thought they were when we came in.”

--- Bryson Nesbit and John Copenhaver are the starting tight ends who are out this spring. Johnson transferred in from Texas A&M along with his brother, QB Max Johnon. It should be noted they were not a package deal.

“Defensively, we’re just better. We’re being really aggressive. He’s (new DC Geoff Collins) blitzing a lot. He’s disguising a lot and blitzing, which surprises the quarterbacks. Des Evans has stepped up. He and Beau Atkinson both can play where they are. We’ve got to find a guy behind Kaimon at the jack position.”

--- Kaimon Rucker had surgery on his right hand (middle finger) Monday and is out for the rest of spring. He plays what is now called the “Rush” position, which was the “jack” and is essentially a rushing outside linebacker.

“Inside, you start looking at guys, we know Kevin Hester, but I mentioned Travis (Shaw) and Jahvaree Ritzie, and also, Joel Starlings has made some plays. He’s stepped up and done a good job in some areas.

“We’re playing (true freshman) Jani Norwood both ways. He played defensive tackle the first eight practices, and now today he moved over to offensive tackle. So, he’ll be at the end of the spring we’ll look at it and see where he fits the best. But he’s really a good athlete.

“The young linebackers are making some plays. So, it’s fun to watch these guys play and try to figure out who’s going to be there.”