THI TV: Lindsey Presser Report | Red Zone Decisions, Clemson & More

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Lindsey met with the media Monday to field questions from the media in advance of the No. 22 Tar Heels’ game at Clemson this Saturday.

Lindsey discussed Drake Maye’s play, toughness, leaping over a Duke defender, not giving Omarion Hampton the ball more in the red zone, how many touches Hampton can handle, Clemson’s defense and more.

UNC and Clemson kick off at 3:30 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Death Valley and will air on ESPN.

Above is video of Lindsey’s Q&A session, and below are some notes from what he discussed:

*Maye tried jumping over defenders a couple of times last season, and the message from then-OC & QB Coach Phil Longo was to only do so if it meant getting into the end zone. So what was Lindsey’s reaction at seeing Maye do it for the first time under his way, which occurred last in the Tar Heels’ 47-45 double-overtime win over the Blue Devils on Saturday night?

“Held my breath, just like everyone in that stadium. I’ve said this before, those special players like him, you don’t want to take their edge away from them and what makes them special and what makes Drake who he is. That’s what makes his so effective is he can makes plays off with his feet, in and out of the pockets, keeping his eyes downfield.

“But, just hold your breath sometimes, and definitely don’t want to lose him on something like that.”

*UNC failed to score touchdowns on four straight trips at one point Saturday night, settling for field goals each time. In that stretch, there was a span of 17 snaps in which Omarion Hampton touched the ball just four times.

Lindsey said a big part of what was called inside the red zone was about matchups they determined during the week. The way he said it is that he didn’t think straight they had the matchups to go straight ahead with Hampton running on those plays.

He also said the sneak with Maye at the 1-yard-line was something they thought they had because it’s quicker developing.

“We thought would could get in. We had two versions of the sneak… Looking back, it would have been good to get (Omarion) a touch.”

*Lindsey said Nate McCollum has missed some practice time still recovering from an injury, and that they are working on him getting his confidence back. He also said to compensate, because Kobe Paysour is also out, that Bryson Nesbit has lined up at multiple QR spots.

*Lindsey said Clemson’s defense is like Duke’s in a lot of ways and will be an enormous challenge. The Tigers’ defensive rankings:

-No. 6 in total defense (271.8 yards per game)

-No. 19 in rushing defense (109.3 yards per game)

-No. 7 in passing yards allowed per game (162.5)

-No. 5 in pass efficiency defense

-No. 38 in points allowed (21.2 points per game)

“Their front is really impressive. I thought Duke’s front was really good, too, but Clemson’s, just like every year I’ve seen them over the last ten years, they’ve got really athletic guys, they’re long, they’re big, they’re physical.

“They do a great job of attacking offenses and not just sitting back. They get after you, very similar to what we saw this week in Duke from that standpoint as far as being physical.

“We’ve got to make sure that we kind of meet that challenge and be physical as well up front.”