CHAPEL HILL – As North Carolina prepares to take on top-ranked Clemson this Saturday at Kenan Stadium, the Tar Heels are also working on fixing some of the things that haven’t gone right over the last two weeks in losses at Wake Forest and at home to Appalachian State.

Several Tar Heels were made available to the media Tuesday evening to discuss facing the Tigers and some of the things the team must do better. Here is what Myles Dorn, Jordan Tucker, Jeremiah Gemmel and Sam Howell had to say along with their interviews:

Myles Dorn was recruited by Clemson but chose Carolina because he wanted to be a part of building something, plus his father was a standout for the Tar Heels back in the 1980s, so he’s been a UNC fan his whole life. But Dorn admitted Tuesday he had some regrets at one point in his career that he chose Carolina. Not anymore, though.

“Looking back on it, none,” he said, saying he has no regrets right now. “Going through it the first two years it was like, ‘Yeah, I should have made a different decision.’ But looking back, I have no regrets. I wouldn’t rather be no other place simply because I think the growing pains have made me who I am today.

“It brought me to this point, it got me to where I am mentally and also physically. And you can’t learn no other way, failure is the best way to learn.”

*Mack Brown noted Monday his concerns about the defense not handling sudden change situations the last two weeks, meaning when the offense turns over the ball the defense hasn’t defended its end zone that well.

Wake had a two-play, 20-yard touchdown drive and App State had a four-play, 26-yard touchdown drive after UNC turnovers. How do the Heels fix this?

“Not worrying about what happens on the offensive side of the ball is big.,” Dorn said. “They turn the ball over, great, it gives us another opportunity. That’s the mindset you have to have is that you have another opportunity to showcase what your defense is about and what better way to do it than with your back against the wall? Bend but don’t break, I think that’s a great term.

“You’re at the 20, back against the wall, just don’t break, force a field goal and don’t let them score. And just keeping a positive mindset. Not smacking your teeth or giving a big sigh when you have to get back on the field. You take it as an opportunity."

Offensive coordinator Phil Longo said Monday that with UNC’s offensive line so young and inexperienced, the staff has simplified things some. Tucker said it’s more what they run and how certain plays are tailored each week.

“In practice, we run everything we can since day one in the spring,” he said. “Every game it’s something different, so there’s a new scheme (where) it could be this play one week or this play it’s out. It’s really just based on who we’re playing.”

He also said some plays have been out to the side for now.

Brian Anderson took over at center full time when Nick Polino went down with an injury during the Miami game and a notable area of improvement in his game has been his calls at the line of scrimmage. Centers must be vocal, and Anderson is handling that responsibility well, offensive tackle Jordan Tucker said.

“He’s definitely stepped up with his calls,” Tucker said. “I can hear him clearly on the field whether it’s home or away. He’s done a great job with being loud and making sure the whole o-line is on the same page.”

How vital is it that Anderson makes those calls so the entire line can hear him before every snap?

“For me, it’s extremely vital because his call determines what I do sometimes,” Tucker said.

*UNC has not recovered a fumble this season. The Tar Heels have registered four interceptions, but no fumbles. Jeremiah Gemmel was asked Tuesday how the defense can go about getting some fumbles.

“For backers, it’s not always the perfect time to go after a ball like when you’re meeting the running back one-on-one in a hole, you’re not really thinking about swiping at the ball, you’re thinking about making that tackle,” he said. “But, if there’s a play leaking out on the sideline or a defender's looking at another player and trying to stiff arm or something, absolutely I’m trying to look and see if I can get the ball out."

*Tackling was an issue at times Saturday, especially on third downs. This has been a point of emphasis for the Tar Heels since fall camp started, so how are they going about improving in this obviously vital aspect of the game?

“We’ve been working on it in practice, we’ve just got to wrap up,” Gemmel said. “We need to use the sideline as a 12th man. Looking back on the field, we were trying to tackle and we were in an easy spot where we could've just made a hard hit and shoved them out of bounds and we weren’t using the 12th man as a sideline like we’re supposed to.”

*Sam Howell threw the first two interceptions of his career Saturday, so what did he see when he looked at the plays on film?

“I kind of forced a screen,” he said. “I thought I could get the ball over the d-lineman, he made a good play on it. And, the second one, I tried to throw a post route and the backside linebacker ended up coming and picking it off. Just two plays I’m going to learn from.”

Does he look at the mistakes over and over or move on once he’s learned from it?

“Once I learn from the mistake, I move on from it,” he replied.

*A point of emphasis for Howell since the South Carolina game has been getting down when he runs the ball and avoiding the extra hits he took against the Gamecocks. He’s made some progress in this area but says he needs to make more.

“I think it varies, sometimes I take the extra hit, sometimes I get down,” he said. “I just need to be more consistent with it.”

Is this still him fighting against instincts?

“Yea, I think it’s something that will definitely get better with time, just doing it more,” Howell responded. “Just because my natural instinct isn’t to get down just because I did that for four years in high school. I feel like it will just come smoothly with time.”

*Facing the defending national champions and top-ranked team in the nation in his fifth game as a college player is an awfully big task, but Howell is embracing it.

“I’m definitely excited for the challenge,” he said. “Just playing Clemson, they’re the number one team in the country and with challenge comes opportunity. So, I’m excited for the opportunity we have this weekend.”