CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Football Coach Mack Brown met with the media Monday at the Kenan Football Center in advance of the Tar Heels’ home game against Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon.
Brown discussed what he and the coaches staff did during the bye week, some aspects of his team, the Demon Deacons, and fielded plenty of questions, mostly about the vibe around the program and roster management.
UNC is 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC and has won its last two games by a combined score of 76-25. Wake is 4-5 and 2-3. The game kicks off at 8 PM and will air on the ACC Network.
Above is video of Brown’s presser and below are some notes from what he had to say:
*Per UNC: RB Darwin Barlow (lower body) will miss the game Saturday; there is no change in Bryson Nesbit’s status, so he remains out.
*Brown said the plan is to redshirt senior running back Caleb Hood. He has played in three games so far, so he can still play in one more regular season game and the bowl, as rules permit players to appear in a maximum of four regular season games to redshirt, and that all players can play in bowl games without it counting against their eligibility.
*Saturday is Military Appreciation Day, so a theme all week for the players is to learn more about why it’s important to honor those who have served.
*UNC unveiled a new “Tylee Strong” logo that will be on the Kenan Stadium field for the last two home games. Brown said Craft’s mom, September Craft, will be at the game Saturday.
*Carolina’s coach said the second bye week in a short period of time was good for his program. They are fresher – Omarion Hampton didn’t get hit at all last week, so he’s fresh. It also gave them a little extra time to prep for Wake, which “has a unique offense.”
*The bye week also gave the staff time to speak with each player about how they view their futures: Are any considering transferring, going pro, not going to play in the bowl game, etc. Brown said none of the players indicated they will enter the transfer portal, but he qualified that by saying he wouldn’t expect them to now.
*The conversations with the true freshmen who have played sparingly focused on if they should redshirt or not. Some, such as offensive guard Aidan Banfield, running back Davion Gause, and kicker Lucas Osada, obviously will not redshirt. But a healthy number of Heels said they wanted to.
We ran a story Monday morning noting the playing time and stats of each true freshman on the roster. Looking at the list helps to gauge what players likely will not play again until the bowl game, if there is a bowl game. UNC still needs one more win to be bowl eligible.
*Two interesting stats Brown noted: ---UNC is one of 5 power 4 teams to average 200 yards passing and rushing
“We’ve been very, very balanced. I think we’re 24th in the country offensively. We’ve done a good job staying balanced.”
---UNC 32 sacks is 4th nationally
***UNC has 17 sacks in its last two games
“We’ve had 17 in the last two games, which is phenomenal. And that’s something that we’ve got to try to continue to do as we finish the season.”
*Brown said one of the main reasons for the recent success and defensive domination, holding consecutive opponents to fewer than 300 yards on the road for the first time since 2007, is the play up front.
“It all starts with dominance up front. Our defensive line’s been dominant. They’ve been physical, they’re stopping the run, they’re forcing the quarterback to get the ball out of his hands faster, and that obviously helps your secondary.”
*When the Tar Heels take the field at Kenan on Saturday, it will have been five weeks since they last played a home game and five weeks since Craft passes away. Brown discussed how much has changed since then, about the vibe in the football building, more about what he learned from Craft, and how the team is as loose as they’ve been all season.
*Carolina has 17 sacks in its last two games. Beau Atkinson had 3.5 at Florida State and had 2.0 the week before at Virginia. So, defensive star Kaimon Rucker has dubbed him “Beau Sackinson.”
*Brown mentioned playing in a bowl game multiple times, and as noted above, the Tar Heels must win one of their last three games to qualify. Buit he thinks they will do more than that.
“We feel like we have a chance to win the last three games, and the way college football is, as crazy as it is, we obviously have a chance to lose them. We could have won seven or nine as easy as we could have won five…
“We’re planning on winning every one of them and we’re planning on going to a bowl.”
*Wake Forest comes into Kenan this weekend following a 46-36 loss at home to California last Friday night. Prior to that, the Deacs won three of four games including at NC State, at Stanford, and at home against UConn.
“(Wake) is always well coached. They’ve done a great job in recruiting, they minimize their mistakes, they know who they are and what they want to do and they do it. I’ve always admired that so much about (Wake Coach Dave Clawson).”
