CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell met with the media Tuesday evening to discuss what he saw on film from the loss at Georgia Tech, ball security, mounting discomfort as a game like that goes on when he’s constantly under duress, this week’s opponent Duke, and much more.
Above is the video of Howell’s Q&A session and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
*Howell lost three fumbles at Georgia Tech that led to 17 points for the Yellow Jackets. When he watches film of a fumble, does he scrutinize it similarly to when he watches an interception?
“That’s a good question, they both hold the same weight because it’s a turnover,” Howell said. “And that’s one area where I need to do a better job for this team is not turn the ball over as much. I feel like our two losses are due to me turning the ball over in those two games, and that can’t happen.
“It’s a little different because fumbling the ball is a lack of focus, honestly. Just letting the ball loose for a little bit, and Georgia Tech is a team that takes advantage of it. So ball security is definitely an emphasis all the time for us, and is just something I didn’t do a good enough job of on Saturday.
“When you watch the film, there’s not really a whole lot to look at like there is for an interception. From an interception, you just learn from it, for a fumble you just have to emphasize.”
*When under as much pressure as he was Saturday night, an evening in which he was sacked eight times, does it upset the comfort he has back there as the game goes on knowing he has to move around a lot, which can affect his performance?
“That’s a really good question,” Howell said beginning his reply. “I think throughout the game, it probably does affect me a little bit just from a comfortability standpoint. All that stuff affects you when you have a lot of pressure… I think it does affect you in the pocket, and for the whole game, honestly. Quarterbacks like to get into a rhythm and like to stand back there and set their feet the whole game. And when you struggle to do that, it’s not as easy. It’s just something I’ve got to work on.
“I’ve been trying to improve my feet in the pocket since I got here. That’s just something I’ve got to keep improving.”
*Howell missed a few deep balls Saturday night, what did he see on those when he watched the film?
“It was something different on each of those plays,” Howell said. “I just have to do a better job. They’re doing such a good job at receiver right now getting open deep, I just have to do a better job of finding who I can to get the ball to them.
“I was a little bit uncomfortable in the pocket, and that’s what led to my eyes not being in the right place at times. My eyes got a little worried about the rush at times, and it led to me missing some reads down the field. And that’s something I can’t do, especially in year three.”
*Duke has won three straight games and will have a lot of confidence this weekend. What has Howell seen on film from Duke’s defense that is different from what he saw last season?
“I think they’re just playing harder,” Howell said. “When you watched them last year, you could tell they were talented players, but they weren’t really flying around like they are this year. And (Duke) Coach (David) Cutcliffe has done a really good job of getting those guys motivated, and you can tell they’re having a lot more fun this year.”
*Sitting at 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the ACC, it appears that the Tar Heels’ preseason goals are at the very best a longshot now. So what is there to play for moving forward?
“Being in the building today and being at practice this morning, we still have a lot of juice, we’re still flying around," he said. "We’re still blessed, man, we’re here playing college football. We have an opportunity not many people have, and a lot of people want. So we want to take advantage of our opportunity.
“And we like to win. Everything we do here is to win games, and we have eight games left on our schedule. We can either put it in cruise control and hope it goes well, or we can put our head down and keep working and not worry about what’s gone on already this season and only control what we can control moving forward. That’s kind of the mindset of this team.
“We have eight games left to play, and we’re going to do everything we can to win every single one of them.”
