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CHAPEL HILL – Monday means North Carolina coordinators were available to speak with the media, so Phil Longo and Jay Bateman spent some time discussing some of what they learned from the win over Wake Forest and to look ahead to the game at Pittsburgh this Thursday.

Here are the full videos of their pressers as well as some notes and pulled quotes from what they had to say:

*With three regular season games remaining, running back Ty Chandler has reached his career-high in rushing yards, rushing attempts, rushing touchdowns, and receiving yards. Longo has seen a steady progression with Chandler.

"When he (Ty Chandler) got here in the spring, we felt like he was the talent that we thought he was,” said Longo. "He took the spring to learn the offense, and it's a little bit different. You gotta get into a rhythm, but he's gotten better just about every week, and he's really dangerous when he beats the line of scrimmage. I think when we do a good job physically at controlling the line of scrimmage, you really get an opportunity to see.

“His true talent is when he's heading downhill, and he's across the line of scrimmage, whereas Michael Carter, for instance, could do a lot of things. He could erase mistakes and do a lot of things and get himself out of trouble and earn yards that we didn't block for in our backfield. I think as we secure the line of scrimmage and Ty beats it, he's special, and he's hard to tackle. He is a downhill kid, and he has tremendous speed, as you saw on Saturday. I hope these last three regular-season games you see the same out of Ty. "

*Over the offseason, UNC stated its goal was not to allow no more than 20 sacks this season. However, through nine games, UNC has allowed 34 sacks. Pittsburgh ranks top ten in the country in total sacks with 31. Longo thinks the key to protecting the quarterback is establishing the line of scrimmage and running the ball.

"I think we are going to continue to do what we've done and that picks our spots about when we want to hold the football,” Longo explained. You gotta be strategic about it. We're gonna keep calling the quick hit stuff and get the ball out of Sam's hand. I always think it helps you when you establish the running game really early in the ball game. You control the line of scrimmage, and it helps you throw the football through play-action and off RPO's (run-pass option), and you don't have to strictly rely on throwing the football off the straight dropback action.

“When you can do that, you minimize the number of times that Sam has to sit back there and hold the football. The other thing is we're doing a great job right now. We're top ten in the country at avoiding third downs. Right now, I think we're top ten in third-down conversions, but my more favorite stat is staying out of third-down, and that means we're more productive on first and second down. We're getting ourselves into manageable type situations if we get in the third down, so the percentages of converting are higher.

“We're staying out of those third and eight-plus, third and 12 plus situations where people can pin their ears back and just tee off. I think as we minimize those, we will minimize more of our sacks. That aspect of our game is definitely gotten better as the seasons gone on, and the TFL's (tackles for loss), and the negative plays, and the sacks, as they decrease, I think our point outputs go up. That's what's been going on here the last two weeks, and I would expect it to continue."

*In the past two games, Antoine Green has had eleven receptions, matching his season total, through the first seven games. Also, sophomore receiver Justin Olson has 70 of his total 80 receiving yards in the last two games. In addition, promising freshman Bryson Nesbit is getting more comfortable with the college game, and sophomore tight end Kamari Morales has been steady, snagging a career-high four touchdown catches. Longo knows the more people that step up, the more complex the offense is to defend.

"One of them is just the skill guys the cast around him (Sam Howell) is getting better,” he said. We improve. I say this all the time, it's not to promote our staff, but we do have a good staff here and we have tremendous leadership, obviously. When you run a program that way, the program gets better every week, and things improve every week. Our guys on offense right now.

“I think they've done a terrific job of sticking to the plan, even when there was some adversity. We got better at what we want to do offensively, and it really promotes the strengths that we have with our kids. We're playing good football right now. We're playing in a rhythm, so that helps. I also think we are predicated on taking what the defense is going to give us. We threw for 550 yards against Wake Forest because that's what they gave us this ye. We ran the ball for 330 yards because that's what they gave us defensively.

“That's how the offense is designed, so it's hard for me to say, hey, look, we are going to run the ball or throw the ball this many times each week because I don't know what the defense is going to do and it really comes down to that. That's why we want to be able to distribute the ball to players so that we can attack the entire field, and we want to be able to run and throw the ball with the same efficiency so that when somebody decides to take one away, we can continue to be prolific on the other side. I have no idea what Pittsburgh will do with us. We know what they do defensively, but I don't know what they choose to do once we get out there on the field, and it'll be a matter of where they give us grass, and Sam will make those decisions, and we'll decide where to distribute the football."

*Saturday, Bateman called the game from the press box for the first time since 2012 when he was defensive coordinator at Ball State. The birds-eye view helps Bateman get a better grasp on offensive schemes.

“The main reason I wanted to go up there is, I felt like, especially in the run game, I wasn't getting a great grasp of how they were blocking some things in previous weeks games,” Bateman said. “Then on third downs, third downs are so important in defensive football. Jovan (DeWitt) was up there as the special team's coordinator, and he's gotta get the punt return team ready and all those kinds of things.

“I wasn't getting some of the feedback that we needed, and so I went up there. I think it was good for us. Early on, I was a little late with some calls. If anything, that was probably the biggest negative about it, but I do think I was able to see things better. I think we executed better. I think we were in the right calls a little more. I think it was good, and I think for the foreseeable future, that's what we will probably do."

*Last Saturday, defensive leader Jeremiah Gemmel was disqualified from the game for targeting. True freshman linebacker Power Echols stepped up in Gemmel's place and finished the game with seven tackles and a quarterback hurry in 64 total snaps. These snaps will prove to be extremely valuable as the young linebacker continues to develop.

"Jeremiah, obviously, is a really good player for us,” he said. “A great leader and the guy who helps us out there. When he got ejected, it was like, ‘uh-oh, what we do?’ But honestly, I wasn't that concerned. Power is prepared, and (LB coach) Tommy (Thigpen) is doing a good job with him. There are some things we had to take out. There are some things that we had planned to go to in the second half with Jeremiah, that we didn't feel as comfortable with Power doing.

“He went in and played really well, and I thought Wake Forest identified that he was out and went to some different run schemes than they had been running trying to get him out of whack, and I thought he did a really good job. I was very confident he was going to go in there and play and play well, and he did. I thought he played really well."

*After a promising freshman season when Storm Duck appeared in all 13 games, starting nine, Ducks' progression slowed due to injury. Saturday, Tar Heel fans got to see the Storm Duck, who was once considered among the best cover corners in the ACC, as his coverage was critical to the defense getting the most important stop of the game.

"I love Storm Duck,” an emotional Bateman said. "The most frustrating thing I'd say has been physically. A kid who looks like he looks and runs like he runs when he's healthy. And he has not been able to get over the hump of this injury. I think we're there now. I think it says a lot about a kid who's got aspiration to play professional football to come out and say, hey coach, I need to go, and I'm going to do it, with four games left. That that kid is a stud man, I'm glad he's with us."