CHAPEL HILL – Tuesday in game week means some Tar Heels meet with the media to discuss themselves, their games, and the upcoming opponent, which in this case is Georgia Tech on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

North Carolina hosts the Yellow Jackets for a noon kickoff and the game will air on The CW.

Below are videos of our interviews with center Austin Blaske, defensive end/rush Jacolbe Cowan, and quarterback Jacolby Criswell. Notes are also included.

UNC is 3-3 overall and 0-2 in the ACC. Georgia Tech is 4-2 and 2-2.

Here is what they had to say:

6-5, 310

*Played 158 snaps at Georgia, has played 329 snaps in five games at UNC

*Season grade is 72.2

*Has allowed 0 sacks and 1 hurry

*Even though Georgia Tech was a rival of UGA’s, Blaske doesn’t view the Yellow Jackets as a rival. In fact, he almost went to GT and likes its head coach Brent Key a lot, but Tech wanted him to play tackle, and Blaske wanted to play center, so he went to UNC.

*Blaske says he’s played pretty well this season, but the Duke game was by far his worst. He was also banged up a lot and limped around throughout the game. However, he said that wasn’t an excuse.

*In addition, Blaske discussed the offensive line getting comfortable with Jacolby Criswell behind center; how they can turn the season back in the right direction; on dealing with losing more at UNC than at UGA; and about the Jackets, how their defensive front strikes blocks, and more.

6-5, 280

*443 career snaps, 44 of which came at Ohio State in 2021.

*Career: 29 games, 23 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 3.0 TFLs, 13 STOPs.

*2024: 152 snaps, 11 tackles, 0 sacks, 1 hurry, 1 TFL, 7 STOPs, 2 targets allowing 2 catches for 19 yards.

*Cowan suffered an injury when he got to Ohio State and it simply didn’t work there. He played some two years ago for the Tar Heels but is not finally getting quality reps filling in for Kaimon Rucker, who missed four games but returned for the loss to Pitt playing just nine snap.

---Because of the former 4-star’s path, he is thrilled with and takes great pride in getting 54 and 59 snaps in the last two games, respectively, including his first career start at Duke.

*Cowan is a defensive end, but UNC needed some experience in Rucker’s place, as Tyler Thompson and Jaybron Harvey were still a year or so away from being ready for major snaps. So, Cowan was moved the week of the NCCU game and has been the regular there the last two weeks.

*In addition, Cowan also discussed his game, the team’s current stretch, and the importance of beating Georgia Tech for defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, who was the head coach there by fired two years ago.

6-1, 230

*Career: 204 snaps in his career before this season, 123-for-214 passing (57.5%), 1,505 yards, 11 TD, 4 INT, 66 rushing attempts for 231 yards.

*2024: 312 snaps, 88-for-156 (56.4%), 1,158 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT, 23 rushes for 54 yards.

*Criswell took a lot of hard hits during the Pitt game, so he spoke about treating his body on Sunday.

*The deep ball has been off for Criswell, which is something OC & QB Coach Chip Lindsey spoke about Mondy. Criswell talked about it and how it’s coming along. He said Tuesday was his best practice throwing the deep ball.

*With just a 56.4 completion percentage, Criswell was asked what is holding it back, and he outlined multiple ways he can get better. With that and the deep back being addressed, with both responses, he emphasized the importance of footwork.

*In addition, Criswell discussed Tylee Craft’s fight with cancer and the kind of guy he is; Georgia Tech’s defense and more.