Fall Camp Practice Report: Day 8 (Heels Scrimmage)

CHAPEL HILL – Practice number eight for North Carolina during fall camp was actually the Tar Heels’ first scrimmage since the spring game in April.

The scrimmage was at times situational and lasted around two hours, so it wasn’t a full game. But the players believe they made a lot of progress getting after it at game-like speed inside Kenan Stadium.

It was closed to the media but THI was on hand afterward to speak with the players and get some information on how things went.

Note: No stats are available and head coach Mack Brown did not meet with the media Saturday, but he will following Sunday morning’s practice. Also, the Tar Heels today simulated they were facing Appalachian State, which will visit Chapel Hill on Sept. 21, because each time they scrimmage in some capacity they simulate facing one of their early opponents.

The offensive and defensive fronts have battled all week trading places each day with whichever side got the best of the other. One might say it evened out by Friday, so who got the best of it during Saturday’s scrimmage?

“I think the defense came out and put our best foot forward and were able to show how we’ve developed,” senior defensive tackle Aaron Crawford said. “We were physical in the running game, the back seven was flying around, stopping the pass. So, I felt like we definitely gave our offense something to try to work against.”

Senior linebacker Jonathan Smith said the defense was ready to go and played with game-like intensity and energy.

“I feel like as a defense we came out with the juice,” he said. “Through camp, the more and more days you go in the more guys want to let up, and I feel like today we came out with a lot of juice, attention to detail and played pretty good.”

Nothing stood out to Smith regarding players making big plays. He said they did what they were supposed to.

“Everybody did their job, and usually when that happens everyone’s in the (assigned) spot and everyone’s making their plays,” he said.

Jay Bateman’s defense requires a high level of constant communication, both before and after the snap. With this team’s first extensive live test, senior safety Myles Dorn was pleased with how that went.

“I think we played together well,” he said. “Communication was good, we were all on the same page.”

Most of the players in the secondary have been shuffling around in practice, learning different positions as a means to better understand the defense but to also build depth. It’s one thing to give guys reps in a variety of positions in practice, but what about in an important scrimmage?

“We had a few guys move around,” Dorn said. “But the scrimmage wasn’t too long, so we couldn’t really rotate like we normally do in practice.”

Trey Morrison started at nickel last year and made a huge impression as a true freshman. He has worked a lot at cornerback in camp and also spent some time at safety. Dorn was asked where Morrison played Saturday.

“He played both corners today,” Dorn said. “He played boundary and field, and he’s played safety and nickel in practice. It’s no telling. Whoever rises as the other four we’ll see, but he’s going to be on the field, he’s a good player.”

Perhaps the group with the most question marks entering fall camp was linebacker and it likely will remain that way until the Heels gets on the field and play a game. The general takes regarding he group from the players throughout camp so far have been positive. How did they perform Saturday and how are they coming along in Dorn’s perspective?

“They played really well,” he said. “They’re smart, that’s one thing, they’re super smart and they’re fast. They may not be the biggest linebacker group in the ACC, but they’re fast. You can’t really tell the difference in speed between the secondary and our linebackers.”

As noted above, one of the storylines of the week was the defensive front getting the better of the offense in some inside run drills Monday with the offense responding gashing the d-line the next day, and the same thing sort of happened Thursday and Friday. It’s been back and forth, so how did things play out in the scrimmage?

“The defense did a great job again,” senior offensive tackle Charlie Heck said. “They’ve come so far since the spring. They’ve got great playmakers on the d-line – it’s a challenge for the (offensive) line every single day.

“We did some good things. We were moving the ball down the field but then we were getting in situations where we were hurting ourselves and we have to eliminate that.”

Senior running back Antonio Williams thinks it was a draw.

“I think both sides played very good,” he said. “Defense comes out every day ready to fight, offense comes out every day – everyday is just a big collision in the trenches and I think both sides today, it was pretty even.”

One thing we’ve heard about this month is the difference between spring speed and August speed, and August speed is something that’s always getting faster. The intent is to get into a game-mode, which means a volume faster than what these players have ever run before.

So, what kind of test was Saturday for the offense’s work toward reaching the designed speed?

“It was good (but) we can always get faster,” Heck said. “We’re trying to push the ball as fast as we can. We’re trying to go as fast as the refs will let us so there’s always room for improvement there. We were doing a good job getting lined up.”

Scrimmages are opportunities for everyone in the program to get a better idea of strengths and weaknesses collectively and with respect to individual players. What did the offense learn Saturday?

Something we definitely learned is we can move the ball, we’ve got playmakers,” Heck said. “But we’ve got to execute when it matters.”

Williams agreed, noting the importance of redshirt freshman guard Ed Montilus and sophomore center Brian Anderson in the offense hitting its potential. They enter this season with a combined 27 snaps played as Tar Heels, so their development is hugely important.

“They’re going to be a big part for the offensive line, and we need those guys to be the best they can be every day…,” Williams said. “They’ve developed tremendously and are at a really good place right now. The more they do the better we’ll be.”

How important was Saturday for the offensive players gaining more trust in running such a demanding system?

“It was good,” Williams replied. “We scrimmaged back in the spring some, and that was early on in the new system (but) I think this is the most real scrimmage we’ve had, we’re kind of in it now. So a lot of guys have confidence.

“It wasn’t a script, he was calling it off the top, so you just know the signals, you’re locked in and it made you realize how it’s going to be on game day.”

As for the quarterbacks, the players aren’t saying much about Jace Ruder, Cade Fortin and Sam Howell, they’re leaving that to Brown and understandably so. Dorn knows what each can do, as he’s defending them each day, so he was pressed about it some following the scrimmage, and he at least offered the following take:

“They’re all crazy accurate,” he said. “I think it will be just a matter of who can step up and be a leader and step up and take command of the huddle. They’re all talented, they all can run, they call can throw, they’re all accurate.

“Whoever can just take control of the offense and whoever can get them rolling at the right time will play.”