CHAPEL HILL – Mack Brown met with the media following Wednesday morning’s practice for the final time before North Carolina makes the quick trip to Durham on Saturday afternoon for a noon kickoff with rival Duke in Wallace Wade Stadium.
It was a shorter press conference than usual, with the UNC coach fielding questions for around 15 minutes, hitting on a handful of topics, including Duke’s strengths, the Victory Bell, the grocery store rivalry and much more.
Here are some notes and quotes from what Brown had to say:
*Currently sitting at 2-5 overall and 1-5 in the ACC, the Blue Devils have struggled so far this season. Still, they have won two of their last three games and are coming off a 53-19 blowout victory over Charlotte, a team Carolina was originally scheduled to play earlier this year.
So, what does Brown think are some of Duke’s strengths going into Saturday’s matchup?
“Duke’s got a really good run game, we haven’t stopped the run well,” Brown said. “They’ve got very good special teams, we haven’t been very good, we haven't been consistent. Their front seven is really good. The two ends are as good as we'll play and the secondary is much improved over last year.”
Brown also sees similarities between Duke and the two opponents the Tar Heels have lost to this season.
“Their team, to me, is very much like a situation we had with Virginia and Florida State,” Brown said. “They're better teams than their record. And, if Duke hadn’t turned the ball over so many times, their record would be much, much better. So, we’ve got our hands full and we’ve got to play good on Saturday to have a chance to win.”
*One of the Blue Devils’ biggest strengths this season has been their defensive line, something Brown made sure to point out during his opening statement on Wednesday.
Defensive ends Victor Dimukeje and Chris Rumph II currently lead the ACC in sacks, having racked up 7.5 a piece through their opening seven games. This is a cause for concern for Brown, especially since his offensive line has struggled pass blocking at times this season.
“Those two guys are really special pass rushers,” Brown said. “They are hard to block and their numbers show that. Their numbers are so much better than ours at that position, so they’re very good players.”
*Despite sitting at 4-2 and falling out of the top 25 this week after a dismal loss at Virginia last Saturday, Brown hasn’t lost faith in his group. He is anxious to see where this program goes in the future and believes it’s not a matter of if the Tar Heels will put all the pieces together, but when.
“I'm excited about this team moving forward,” he said. “They're resilient, they're tough, they've handled this COVID stuff incredibly. We've had a lot of kids that have made a mistake in the game and it really hurt us and they keep fighting back and do it with tremendous pride. So, we're about to be really good. I don't know when it is, but I'm excited about the future of this team.”
*Typical game day routines and traditions have obviously been different for UNC and teams across the country this season due to COVID-19 and that likely won’t be changing anytime soon.
The biggest tradition of the Duke-Carolina rivalry is the Victory Bell, something the Tar Heels reclaimed last season for the first time since 2015 after their dramatic 20-17 win over the Blue Devils in Chapel Hill.
With all that in mind, where the bell will be placed and how postgame celebrations with it will be handled during this COVID year is something Brown hadn’t considered until today.
“I've got a whole lot on my plate and I’ve got a lot of things I've got to fix and the Victory Bell is not one of them, where it is during the game,” Brown said. “But I did suggest last year that we keep it away from the bench of one of the two teams. So, after the game, that one's not fighting with the other over it. So, thanks for bringing that up, I haven't thought about it. I'll bring it up this afternoon to the administration.”
*During his weekly press conference earlier this week, Duke Coach David Cutcliffe called this rivalry the grocery store rivalry, saying, “It doesn’t matter where you go, people are going to talk to you about that game.”
Brown was asked about Cutcliffe’s statement and here’s what he had to say:
“David’s right,” Brown said. “You see them at church, you see them in the grocery store, you see them at work, and it's bragging rights for your fans and your family. And these don't go away. You lose some games and people might remember it, like Art (Chansky) remembering Virginia from 27 years ago or something.
“For some people, they never go away. But usually, when people ask players from one of these schools, they'll say, ‘What was your record against Duke? What was your record against NC State when you played? What was your record against Wake?’ And those hold a little bit more weight than some of the others.”
*Brown has admitted many times since he arrived in Chapel Hill that he didn’t deal with wins or losses as well as he would have liked during his time at Texas, especially towards the end of his tenure.
So, coming off a tough loss in Charlottesville, how’s Brown feeling this week?
“I'm doing well,” he said. “I get down on Saturday nights after tough games and I'm doing really well if we play poorly and win. I'm appreciating a win, it's really, really hard to win. As I said the other day, we're like a lot of other people in that top 30, top 25, so we have to play well every week to win. We can't ever walk out there and not play well and my job is to continue to fix things. And that's what we're having to do right now each week.
“But like always, Monday, you go back to work and get ready for the next week. And I'm enjoying trying to help these young people learn from winning so they can be stronger after a win and not get full of themselves and not play as well the next week and also fight back after a tough game and a loss and not let one loss beat you twice. So, that's my job along with the COVID and the social injustice.”
