Note: Brown's full press conference is below this report

CHAPEL HILL – Even though his team came oh-so close to defeating top-ranked Clemson on Saturday, North Carolina Coach Mack Brown said Monday his team can still play much better than it did.

The Tar Heels were coming off a disappointing loss at home to Appalachian State and very few people gave them a chance to beat the Tigers. Most didn’t even think Carolina would compete.

It did, but their coach is nowhere near being satisfied.

“The good thing is we can do better, we can play better than we did Saturday,” Brown said during his weekly press conference inside the Kenan Football Center. “There’s a lot of things that we could have done that we didn’t do and that’s something that we should continue to build on.”

*Brown doubled down on his decision to go for the two-point conversion Saturday. He didn’t want his tired defense that had some guys banged up trying to stop Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, whom Brown compared to Vince Young. So he opted to go for the conversion and possibly win the game right there with 1:16 left to play.

“We felt like a one-play shot as better than taking a chance on them kicking a field goal because they’d already missed on then taking a depleted defense into overtime.

“The play that we ran was a zone read. You get an opportunity to hand it to Javonte Williams, you’ve got an opportunity for your quarterback to keep it and you’ve got n opportunity to pitch it to Dazz Newsome – all three are really good players.

“So when the play call doesn’t work the play caller gets criticized. Even my 8-year-old grandson said, ‘why that play, pops?’ So I said, ‘okay, Tyler, let it go, bud.’ But even he said it.”

*Going for the two-point conversion reflects an approach that has been consistent since the opener versus South Carolina. The Tar Heels are now 9-for-11 on fourth downs and 3-for-4 on two-point conversions. They are getting after it, a message Brown clearly wants to send to his team, recruits and the fans about the attitude his program will play the game with.

“I’m at a stage in my life where I don’t care about anything but winning and doing it within the rules,” the 68-year-old coach said. “So, if anybody wants to criticize me, who cares. I don’t care, I’m not looking for another job. I think the biggest thing is it’s freedom to be this age and to have won this many games and be able to do what’s best.

“And the interesting thing is, I’m the only one that’s sat there and knew how our defense looked and how they felt. I’m the only one that watched the offense, and the offensive coaches, that felt like they had a play that they thought was going to win the game, nobody else has that. So, anybody else that’s making decisions on what I should have done doesn’t have the information I have.

“That’s why it’s kind of comical when people say, ‘I wouldn’t have done that.’ Well you’ve got no clue, you have no information. You wouldn’t have done it after we lost, you would have done it if we’d won, I’d have been coach of the year. So, I don’t care about that kind of stuff anymore. But, for the kids, I want them to know I came back to help them win. It would have been less criticism on me if I had kicked the extra point and let it play out than if we lose. I wanted to win.”

Some of the Tar Heels said after the game they received Brown’s message loud and clear with him decisively choosing to go for it. He’s preached to them all along they are there to win games, and that decision simply backs up 10 months of talk.

“I don’t care what the score is so, if we’re behind, I’m going to keep taking risks to try and catch up. If it makes the score two more touchdowns down, I don’t care,” Brown said. “It’s all about winning and, if I’m going to be passive, then they’re going to be passive. We’ve had a tough couple of years around here and we’re off to a good start in my estimation because we’re fighting every week and now we’ve got to finish these things and win. But the message to them was, absolutely we’re coming to win, we’re not coming to lay up.”

*The Tar Heels ran for 146 yards compared to Clemson’s 144, so they had an edge in an area few thought could happen. But if you remove Sam Howell’s three sacks the Heels ran for 4.9 yards a snap on 33 attempts. The offensive line was clearly much better than it had been in recent weeks, and did so against the best defensive front it will face all season.

“I thought the offensive line, who’s been criticized a lot for being soft, did a good job,” Brown said. “We out-rushed Clemson, and nobody would have thought that going into the game, either. So we protected better and… it helped us that Charlie Heck was back even though he had his hand in a cast ad had a thumb and s finger free.

“He’s a tough guy to come out there and play as well as he did.”