CHAPEL HILL - UNC football coach Larry Fedora met with the media following Wednesday's practice to discuss his team's preparation for Georgia Tech, its success on 3rd downs, and more.
Practice was pushed back Wednesday because of President Obama’s appearance at UNC, which was essentially next to the practice fields the football team uses. In fact, the parking area next to the field hockey stadium the media uses to park when there’s post-practice availability is where the president’s entire motorcade was parked.
So, how much of a distraction was it to have the events so close to practice?
“Just pushed practice back, guys had to wait, but we had a little bit more time in our meetings,” Fedora said. “But they did a good job of transitioning once we got out here and got going. The older guys took care of it and made sure that we got our work done.”
The Tar Heels are converting 48 percent of the time on 3rd downs, what does Fedora attribute that to?
“I’d say one, our quarterback understands what we’re trying to do in every situation, our offensive line’s doing a good job in protection, (and) those guys are making plays,” he said. “We’re shooting for 50 percent, so we’re still not where we want to be. We feel like if we’ll be at 50 percent we’ll be one of the best teams in the country. That will keep us on the field quite a bit, so we’ve got a chance to do that.”
Senior running back T.J. Logan has also been the Tar Heels’ main kickoff return man the last couple of seasons. Though about a month ago, he was taken off the kick return team and is now listed third on the depth chart. Fedora said the move was made when junior running back Elijah Hood got exceedingly nicked up.
“At the time, Hood was down and T.J. was having to carry the load, so we took him out and put Ratliff back there, and Ratliff has a lot of skills and the ability to do it, and we’ve just been going with him now,” Fedora explained.
Hood has been nicked up all season with various boo boos and then he suffered a concussion during the win at Florida State. One thing Hood acknowledged after the win at Illinois on Sept. 10 was he wasn’t seeing things well, sort of a vision issue but also a recognition issue.
But following a 107-yard performance in a win at Virginia nearly two weeks ago – Hood’s only 100-yard game this season against an FBS team – he said he was feeling much better and vision was no longer a problem.
Has Fedora seen the same thing in Hood?
“Yes, I think so because I think he’s finally to where he’s getting back to 100 percent,” Fedora replied. “I don’t know that there’s been a point in the season where he’s been 100 percent, including the first game of the season. I think probably right now is the closest he’s been
Being 100 percent.”
The Tar Heels have not played a game since Oct. 22, so its closing in on two full weeks after they went at it for 12 straight weeks, including fall camp. Are the Heels getting a bit anxious to get out there and play in a game?
“I think they are,” Fedora answered. “You take them out of that daily routine they’ve been in and I think they’re anxious to get back out there. It’s like it’s been forever since we’ve played, and it’s been really forever since we played at home, so I think they’re excited to get back out in the Tar Pit.”
