CHAPEL HILL— North Carolina offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Phil Longo met with the media on Monday at the Kenan Football Center for his weekly press conference. He talked about the team's upcoming preparations for the ACC game against Pittsburgh, the open date, some players, and much more.

Longo was asked about UNC's one-two wide receiver punch, the rise of Elijah Green, Pittsburgh players to watch, and Drake Maye' ball security improvements.

UNC hosts Pitt on Saturday night at 8 PM, and the game will air on the ACC Network.

Above is the video of Longo’s presser, and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say.

**************************************************************************************

Remember, for just $8.33 a month, YOU CAN BE A TAR HEELS INSIDER, TOO!!!

***************************************************************************************

*Antoine Green appears to have really found his groove this season. After only four games, Green is averaging an astonishing 29.5 yards per catch. With Green flourishing, Josh Downs in an even tougher guy to cover and vice versa. Does one player benefit more from the other?

"Josh has not been double covered nearly as much this year as he was last year," Longo said.

Green’s big play threat takes away the number of eyes on Downs and frees him up underneath. However, Downs is a preseason All-American wide receiver and ultimately will draw much attention, which frees up Green on the outside with his matchup. Longo believes the Downs and Green have leveled the playing field because both men must be counted at all times.

"It's probably equal now," Longo said. "I think going into the season, Antoine initially benefits more because Josh had 101 catches last season and drew a lot of double coverage. He has taken a step since last year. I would call him an elite guy now... From a game planning standpoint, I think Josh Downs would have been the initial big concern for everybody. As the season goes on, you start to realize you need to defend Green too.

*Elijah Green resurfaced among the deep running backs room in UNC’s 38-35 win at Duke. Green made the most of three carries, gaining 24 yards and two touchdowns for the Heels. The scores were not as important as the change of pace Green gives to pounding backs like Caleb Hood.

Longo thinks it's a good problem to have but is still looking for one or two running backs to separate from the pack.

"Elijah is the guy that came out of spring with the rest of them," Longo said. " We had a pack of five guys in the spring, and Elijah was one of them. Not that he played poorly, but some of the others kind of separated from him in camp, and obviously you can't play four to five guys.

It is no surprise to Longo that Green has found his way into the pack of running backs. Longo says Green has always been "one of the hardest working" offensive players since he arrived.

"He is light years better than he was when he got here,” Longo said. “He has always been one of the fastest guys on the team, if not the fastest, he's always been one of our hardest workers.”

The group of running backs have been in a carousel due to injuries and a lack of a true front-leader. Green played in an offense in high school that rarely passed, so he had to basically start from scratch learning how to run routes, catch the ball, and ass protect once he got to UNC. But he has made that progress and gives Carolina some explosiveness, Longo says. And, the combination of injuries, no true front leader, and Green’s improvement has made room for the redshirt sophomores' place in the rotation.

"He will be in the mix more than he was before," Longo said. "We don't know where DJ is right now and George is more situational... It's going to be Elijah, Omarion, and Caleb Hood. "

*Carolina faces a tough Pitt defense Saturday that is No. 28 in total defense (333.6 yards per game), No. 18 in defensive pass efficiency, and 65th allowing 25.9 points per game. Longo gives praise to Pitt's defensive coordinator Randy Bates.

"All seven years the DC has been there, their linebackers are as good and solid as we thought they were. They do a good job in the secondary," he said. "They do a good job of putting kids that fit into their system."

In the Panthers' last game, a 24-10 loss to Louisville, the defense played better than the score. Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham was held to a 47.6 passing completion percentage, his worst this season, and also the QB's lowest rushing game of the season at 46 yards.

"Louisville had a really hard time running the football, and they put pressure on Malik,” Longo said. “I thought they contained him for the most part because he's an athlete. I thought defensively that they were what we thought they were.

Unconventional Longo discussed Pitt's impact players on the defense by calling the players by their numbers.

"No. 31 in the secondary, No. 7 on the second level, and No. 8 upfront are the three individual problems we will face on Saturday," he said. "They are exceptional up front, as they have each time we’ve played them."

Longo followed up to reassure the media he has tremendous respect for the impact players and this is how he identifies the players through preparation.

*Drake Maye's ball security appeared to be an ongoing thing. Maye lost two fumbles against Duke that had a major impact on the game. During Carolina's bye week, Longo and Maye worked to clean up some of his issues.

"I still want to clean him up in terms of movement in the pocket," Longo said. "His mobility in the pocket makes a lot of plays too. His competitiveness, leaping and all that stuff, going for the touchdown, throwing the ball on the move, scrambling plays and all that stuff, that's part of the stuff he does and is good at. We just have to make good decisions when we are living in that world, and part of that is ball security. "

Longo even goes as far as comparing Maye's situation to that of Oklahoma State and NFL all-time great Barry Sanders.

"Compared to Barry Sanders' being one of the most explosive players ever in college or NFL, but always leading the league in TFLs," Longo said of Sanders, who is the NFL record-holder for lost yards by a running back with 1,114 yards.

"We want his athletic ability to be a weapon when the play breaks down. That's what makes him so special because he can extend plays not for him to move when it’s not necessary. I think he's been really intelligent where he throws the football. "

Maye has frightened Mack Brown and Longo on numerous occasions with his gutsy decisions, such as going airborne for TD against Florida A&M or landing on his head after going airborne against Virginia Tech. Competitiveness is part of what makes Maye so effective, and Longo wants to help improve ball security without changing what makes the quarterback special.

"You don’t want to cage a guy with all that talent," he said. "You want to let him be who he is. You continually talk about it and work on utilizing what he does so well, when it can be a weapon and not necessary to feel like his mobility and athleticism has to be the answer all the time."

Ball security isn't just a Maye problem; turnovers are always a key emphasis for everyone.

"He knows we've got to do a better job of securing that,” Longo said. “It is as big of a goal of his as it is mine and the rest of the offense. "