CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media Monday for his weekly press conference to discuss what was learned from the win over Virginia and look ahead to the game at Georgia Tech on Saturday in Atlanta.
The Tar Heels are coming off a 59-39 victory over the Cavaliers on a night they gained 699 total yards, which ranks as the sixth most in program history. The Heels also allowed 554 yards passing to UVA quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who threw for 71 more yards than anyone ever had previously versus a Carolina team.
UNC is 2-1 overall, 1-1 in the ACC and is ranked No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 20 in the Coaches’ poll.
Above is video of Brown’s full presser and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
*Tyrone Hopper missed the UVA game with a lower body injury and will miss the Georgia Tech game as well.
*Several other players are dinged up, none of whom UNC mentioned by name Monday, and all will be under evaluation this week.
*Offensive players of the game were Ty Chandler (198 yards, two TDs), and Josh Downs (eight catches, 203 yards, two scores).
*Defensive player of the game was Kaimon Rucker, who had five tackles, including two sacks, and forced a fumble. “He rushed the passer very, very well throughout the game,” Brown said.
*Special teams player of the game was Josh Downs, who had a 38-yard punt return, plus he and Garrett Walston did a nice job of keeping an eye on UVA’s onside kick so no Cavalier would have been able to pounce on the ball if they got close.
*UNC scored 59 points for the second week in a row and racked up 699 yards versus the Wahoos. Against Georgia State, Carolina amassed 608 yards. The Heels had 35 first downs against UVA, as well. Ty Chandler ran for 198 yards and two touchdowns, Josh Downs had eight receptions for 203 yards and two scores,
Sam Howell ran for 112 yards and passed for 307 and five TDs. He’s hit he 300/100 mark in consecutive games, which has only happened one other time in ACC history, and that was by Lamar Jackson at Louisville.
Needless to say, Brown was pleased with his offense after reviewing the film.
“This was our sixth most yards ever in our program history,” Brown said. “So, we’re getting back on track and we’re getting an identity and we’re more of who we want to be. Fifty-nine points two weeks in a row is impressive.”
*Carolina began Saturday’s game with starters sidelined dealing with injuries to offensive line starters Brian Anderson, Josh Ezeudu, and Jordan Tucker. In their places were Quiron Johnson, Ed Montilus, and William Barnes, who started for the first time in his UNC career. Barnes played 40 snaps, Montilus played 43, and Johnson played 51, and they played very well.
“We’re starting to develop some depth,” Brown said. “I worried a lot that we didn’t have three starters practicing last week in the offensive line. And Ed Montilus stepped up and had his best game by far. And the same with William Barnes. The other guys played some, but they didn’t have the pressure to play 70-80 snaps during the ball game.
“Good for (offensive line coach) Stacy Searels and his development of the other offensive linemen. We thought we had eight, nine, maybe even 10 that we could play in preseason. Instead of sitting around and griping about who we don’t have, programs need to talk about development of players and opportunities for new players, and not use injuries as an excuse because you want to win so badly, and you want to win for the guys, and you want to win for the fans you’re your university.
“Then somebody asked me, ‘How’s it going?’ And the first thought you have is three offensive linemen are out, so it’s not going well. ‘We’re not running the ball well and we’ve got three guys out, what are we gonna do on Saturday?’
“And the truth is, you have another guy ready. And usually, you put a guy in he gains confidence by playing and he becomes a better player, you have better team morale and you’ve got less likelihood that you get people hurt. That helps us as well.”
UNC was 7-for-7 on third downs in the second half and had six touchdowns in seven trips inside the red zone, with the one time they didn’t cross the goal line was Sam Howell’s lone interception.
Anderson ended up playing 19 snaps, Ezeudu played 27, and Tucker played 30.
*Sam Howell has been historic the last two weeks. Only once in UNC’s 132-year football history had a player passed for 300-plus yards and run for 100-plus yards in a game, and over the last two Saturdays, Howell has done it twice. He ran for 104 yards and passed for 352 in a win over Georgia State, and against UVA he ran for 112 and passed for 307 (and five TDs). The only other ACC player to do this in consecutive week was Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, who did it in 2016, the year he won the Heisman Trophy.
They are the only two players to do this from FBS programs since 2004.
“Sam’s playing as well as he’s ever played, after we didn’t help him much and had the tough start at Virginia Tech,” Brown said. “He’s one of only two Power 5 players to in consecutive weeks to throw for more than 300 and run for more than 100. The other one is Lamar Jackson, and that’s pretty good company.”
*The conventional run game took a huge stride forward Saturday night, as the Heels ran for 392 yards, but what was most impressive was how improved the Heels were running the ball between the tackles. Versus Georgia State, they averaged just 3.3 yards on 23 attempts between the tackles, against UVA the Heels ran 29 times between the tackles averaging 9.0 yards per attempt.
Ty Chandler ran for 198 yards and two scores on the night, true freshman Caleb Hood ran for 66 yards and scored his first career touchdown, and Josh Henderson reeled off a 14-yard dash on the night.
“Same thing with our running back room with the depth,” Brown said. “Ty Chandler stepped up and had his best game by far. We haven’t had that many transfers, but I do think it takes time for him to get chemistry with the team, and learn the offense so he’s like a freshman coming in.
“He’s got experience at Tennessee but not with us in this place on this campus with these coaches. So, I see him getting better every day, so that was really helpful. But with D.J. Jones being out, it let Caleb Hood step up and get 66 yards. And Caleb got banged up during the game and Josh Henderson came in and did some good things.
“Again, recruiting, development of players is helping us.”
*Josh Downs had eight catches for 203 yards and two touchdowns, one that went for 59 yards mostly with his legs, and the other a diving catch in the corner of the end zone for a 37-yard score. Downs has 24 receptions for 399 yards and four touchdowns on the season. He has played at an extremely high level, as Brown said he expected during the offseason, but has done stuff in addition to his role as UNC’s slot receiver.
“Josh Downs played great again,” Brown said. “The catch that he made down in the corner (near) the Blue Zone was a difference maker in the game. But what a catch. Not many people can make that catch and hold on to it.
“He blocked really well and smartly during the game. On one of Ty’s runs, he’s (Downs) about to block somebody in the back because the guy turned on him, he let it go. And then the guy turns back around and he accelerates and blocks him. He’s just playing really, really well.”
*Jonathan Kim has kicked off 22 times and has 22 touchbacks. He was 10-for-10 against Virginia.
“So, we have not had a kickoff return against us with him kicking this year,” Brown said.
The one kickoff return was when Grayson Atkins kicked off.
*Last season, UNC had 11 takeaways on defense, but it has five through three games this season. What ahs been the difference in the Tar Heels getting some more turnovers, and that includes the passes they could and maybe should have intercepted Saturday night versus UVA?
“We’ve got better players, we’ve got more depth, so we’re fresher during ballgames, and we’re stopping the run better,” Brown replied. “So by stopping the run better, you have more opportunities because long yardage puts you in a position where you can affect a quarterback, you can hit a ball, you can grab his arm.
“We had another ball that we had a strip sack, and the ball was on the ground, and they got it. We’ve really, really been pushing the turnover ratio. We won the turnover ratio Saturday night.”
*Sometimes, fans and media make too much of what it called “bulletin board material,” which is when someone from one team says something a bit disrespectful about their coming opponent, and the perception is it’s used to motivate the disrespected team even more than they would have been going into that game.
Last week, Virginia defensive lineman Mandy Alonso made a statemen about UNC not being tough, and that Virginia knows it and always out-toughs the Tar Heels. After the game, many Carolina players commented on a reporter’s tweet from last week noting what Alonso said, and it was obvious the UNC players had some fun with it after the convincing victory. So, is too much made of bulletin board material, or can it actually help get a team even more fired up?
“We’ve got 53 staff members and 106 players, so you never know what affects one as compared to the other. I heard Bobby Collins, when I worked for him at Southern Miss, say one time, ‘You gotta throw enough mud on the wall and some of it’s got to stick.’ You gotta get somebody’s attention.
“When I was coaching for Coach (Barry) Switzer at Oklahoma, Brian Bosworth was our middle linebacker (and) we’re playing Texas… and Brian Bosworth said to USA Today, ‘I hate Austin, I hate the University of Texas, and I hate Fred Akers their coach.’
“And I though, ‘oh, how stupid is that, man?’ So Coach Akers did a great job. He said, ‘I understand you hate me, Brian, a lot of people hate me. I understand you hate the University of Texas because you’re at Oklahoma, but you ought to come to Austin, it’s really a nice place. And you should enjoy it.’
“So I go down to Coach Switzer and say, ‘Coach, this is just stupid, we need to keep Brian’s mouth shut. We’re gonna stir ‘em up.’ And he said, ‘Coach, they’re already stirred up. This is going to be a great game. It’s gonna be like two Mack trucks running into each other for three-and-a-half hours, and what somebody says before a game will have nothing to do with the game, because they’re gonna play their hearts out either way.’
“And I said, “I just don’t believe that. I think you need to shut him up.’ Well, he was the player of the game, he had 17 tackles…
“You’ve got to figure out how to create that edge. And if what somebody says from the other team that’s disrespectful motivates you, good for you. Some get ready because they want to play, some want to be in the NFL, some are mad because we lost to Virginia Tech, so they know we don’t have much room for error. I’ve told them, ‘Figure out what turns you on, figure out what excites you and push that button.”
