CHAPEL HILL – Tuesday evening in a game week means North Carolina’s players are available to the media to discuss their recent game and the one coming up that following Saturday. And for the Tar Heels who were off last week, the focus was almost exclusively on Notre Dame, which visits Kenan Stadium for a 3:30 PM kick Saturday.
UNC (3-0) faces a Fighting Irish team that lost a close game at Ohio State in the opener before a stunning home loss to Marshall. They rebounded to defeat California this past weekend.
Five Tar Heels were made available to the media, as our defensive report included lineman Ray Vohasek and safety Gio Biggers, and offensive report included lineman William Barnes and tight end Bryson Nesbit.
Quarterback Drake Maye was also available, as he is every week. Maye discussed what he worked on during the bye week, what getting Josh Downs and Antoine Green could do for the offense this week, the value in how they can use their whole offensive bag when they run well on early downs, and Notre Dame.
Above is the video of Maye’s Q&A session, and below are some notes, pulled quotes, and time markings of what he had to say:
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*1-min mark: Notre Dame is the best defense UNC has faced so far, so Maye discusses some of the challenges.
“I think so,” he replied to a specific question asking if the Irish are the best defense UNC has faced so far. “They’re the best all around. They’re physical up front, their front six or seven are pretty strong, and they’ve got some athletes back there in the secondary.”
*1-min mark: Did Notre Dame recruit Maye? Sort of, he said.
*2-min mark: UNC may get its top two receivers back for this game, as Josh Downs is expected to play, according to sources, and Antoine Green is trending that way. Maye let in a bit on that, while also discussing how big it will be if the Heels get them back.
“It will be huge,” he said. “Two great players, and it goes to show what we have in the skill room. J.J. (Jones) and Kobe (Pasour) are still gonna get some reps, they’ve proven themselves they can make plays and make catches. So I think just it adds to the weaponry, adds more weapons for me to get the ball to.”
*2-min mark: Maye says Green is a “smooth route runner, and he’s got a good feel for playing outside receiver” among other things.
*3-min mark: Of course, getting Downs and Green back will make the group fresher, so they should be able to run crisper routes later in the game.
*3-min mark: How big is the Notre Dame game? What’s the buzz around campus?
“Any time a traditional program like Notre Dame comes to town, it’s going to create some noise,” Maye said. “And we’re excited having them home again. Hopefully (we’ll) get some revenge. They’re a good team, and we’ve got to come ready to play.”
*4-min mark: Any concern having a bye week before such a big game like this?
*4-min mark: What did he do during the bye week?
“I got an extra week to look at Notre Dame,” he said. “(I) picked up some things with me technique-wise from some of the previous games, some of my habits I was forming I have to get rid of. Mostly, they played Ohio State, watching that game, and Marshall, and watching the past game on Saturday against Cal.
“Studying up Notre Dame. That was the main focus.”
*5-min mark: Maye discussed true freshman running back Omarion Hampton. He said he doesn’t need to show him where to go anymore, playing off a joke from a few weeks ago.
*6-min mark: UNC OC Phil Longo said Monday the running back must be more consistent on first and second downs, so Maye explained how that helps the offense use just about everything in their bag.
*7-min mark: Does Maye practice sliding in practice? Nope. He’s a baseball guy, so he says he already knows how to slide.
“Coach Longo tells me I need to, and Coach Brown as well, but I feel pretty comfortable sliding,” he said.
*7-min mark: Maye says Notre Dame doesn’t beat itself with mental or fundamental mistakes.
“Technique and tenacity,” he said is different about the Irish. “They’re going to be in the right spot. They’re well coached, and they aren’t going to have blown coverages and blown assignments in the run game.”
*8-min mark: Maye is going to put his body on the line to get first downs and touchdowns. He sees players like Josh Allen do it in the NFL, so he’s going to because it’s who he is.
“Going airborne is not the smartest thing,” Maye said. “But I tell people all the time, it’s third down, we need a first down, I need to do a better job knowing where the chains are at; 6-5, try to go up and get the extra yardage. But I need to be smart about that.”
He did say at the goal line he’s got to “put myself out there.”
*9-min mark: How fun is it being the QB at North Carolina?
“It’s awesome,” Maye said. “Being a Carolina kid, something I always dreamed of. Just winning out there would be more fun.”
*10-min mark: Maye said seeing Sam Howell’s early success in the offense is one of the reasons he eventually flipped from Alabama to UNC. He went on to talk about why wouldn’t he want to go to UNC, while making a joke about NC State. It should be noted that Maye later tweeted an apology for what he said about State.
