THI TV: Brown App State Week Presser | More Thoughts About Saturday's Win

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Football Coach Mack Brown met with the media Monday for his weekly press conference in advance of the Tar Heels’ home game Saturday versus Appalachian State.

UNC is coming off an impressive 31-17 victory over South Carolina in Charlotte, a night in which it registered 16 TFLs, of which nine were sacks, and held the Gamecocks to minus=2 yards rushing.

Carolina and the Mountaineers kick off at 5:15 and the game will air on the ACC Network.

Above is video of Brown’s presser, and below are a few notes from what he said:

*Injury notes: OL Ed Montilus (lower body) will be evaluated during the week; WR Nate McCollum (lower body) will practice at some point and be monitored.

*UNC’s Players of the Game:

-Defense was Kaimon Rucker, who had 8 tackles, 2 of which were sacks, and 5.5 were TFLs. In addition, Rucker had 7 hurries, according to PFF, and 6 STOPs, which are plays that result in failures by the offense.

-Offense was British Brooks, who ran the ball 15 times for 103 yards in his first game in 20 months since the Tar Heels lost to South Carolina in the bowl game in December od 2021.

-Special teams were PK Ryan Coe (one FG, four PATs, several touchbacks), and punter Ben Kierna for his two late-game punts.

*The Tar Heels have gotten a lot of national attention for the play of the defense, to which Brown said: “They had a great plan… one of the best performances I’ve seen on defense for sure.”

*Yet, even with the thorough victory, Brown said the team made plenty of mistakes, as there is a great deal to fix. Of note:

-Containment issues at times on defense; some of the pass coverage; the offense’s inability to tack on points in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we got too conservative,” and should have been more aggressive in trying to score. He later added, “We made too many mental mistakes” and said they are going to coach the team like they do after a loss. “We are going to be very hard on ourselves.”

*Brown loved how the offense opened the game using a screen pass and running the ball well inside. He thought it set a tone for the game, in which the Tar Heels scored on five of their first six possessions.

He called the first series “a thing of beauty.”

*UNC hosts App State this week a year after winning in Boone, 63-61. Brown spent one season as the HC at App in the early 1980s.

“I’ve admired App State since I coached there… They’ve got a tremendous program, play with an amazing amount of pride.”

As for 53 weeks ago, it was an embarrassing defensive performance by the Tar Heels. They allowed 40 points in the final quarter, which set the narrative about them for the entire season.

“We were a laughing stock on defense.” That is clearly the message to the team this week. One of them, anyway.

*Now, after turning in a polar opposite defensive performance against South Carolina, the test for the Heels is clear: Can they “be celebrated” and come out and back up the performance again this weekend?