CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey met with the media Monday at the Kenan Football Center to field questions about his unit’s performance from its win at Minnesota, Conner Harrell taking over at quarterback, and more.
UNC hosts Charlotte on Saturday at 3:30 PM. The game will air on the ACC Network.
Above is video of the Q&A session, and below are some notes and quotes from what he had to say:
*The Tar Heels had just 93 yards of offense in the first last at Minnesota, with just 28 coming through the air. But in the third quarter, they had scoring drives of 17 and 12 plays consuming almost the entire period. Why did the team suddenly move the ball?
“I think the big thing in the third quarter we got into some rhythm. I think in the first half we weren’t in a lot of rhythm, and that was our own fault in some instances, or most instances. I was really proud of the way our guys responded after halftime.
“We made the point we had to sustain some drives. Going into that game, you know you’re going to be limited on possessions by the way that Minnesota plays and their style of play. In the first half, I think we had a pretty good drive early and didn’t get any points down there.
“So, from our standpoint, the third quarter was huge, and I’m really proud of our guys.”
*The Tar Heels scored just one touchdown and got the win in part because Noah Burnette hit field goals from 29, 42, 45, and 52 yards out. Lindsey said they must be more effective when in the red zone. Touchdowns win games.
“I think that’s the number one focus for us, is I think technically we had three trips in the red zone and were one of three on touchdowns. So, we’ve got to score touchdowns.”
*Toughness travels, and that’s the mantra on offense. It is also how Lindsey described the offensive line, which overcame the adversity of not having OL Coach Randy Clements for the first week-plus of practice and having four first-time starters there, including true freshman Aidan Banfield, who had a bum ankle and almost didn’t play.
“I’m really proud of that group… We’ve got some young, talented guys in that group, and they play tough, they’re physical, they bought into ‘toughness travels.’ That’s kind of our mantra on offense, and we knew we would need that going to Minnesota playing a Big Ten opponent on the road to open the season.
“They bought into all of that. We weren’t clean all the time. We know we obviously made some mistakes, but really proud of that group, and I thought they kept their composure.”
*With Max Johnson out for the season with a broken leg, Conner Harrell takes over at QB. Lindsey got quite a few questions about him. We will feature Harrell in a separate piece later this week, but some of the talking points were:
---Creating explosive plays is key on offense, and Lindsey said they have to identify how to best utilize who they have to do that. With Harrell, Lindsey said he had great spring and fall camps, his confidence is up, and he knows all that’s going on, so he expects they will find ways to get some explosives with him behind center.
---In addition, Harrell was thrust into the Minnesota game in a difficult situation, and other than the fumble, ‘he was pretty solid.”
---Also, “I think you’re going to see him evolve.”
