THI TV: Players Tuesday | Burnette, Maye, Murphy & Gray

Tuesdays on football game weeks means some of North Carolina’s players are made available to the media to field a variety of questions.

This week, with No. 24 UNC headed to Clemson on Saturday, Noah Burnette, Drake Maye, Myles Murphy, and Cedric Gray discussed their games, the team, facing the Tigers and much more.

Below are videos of the four interviews along with some notes about what they had to say:

*Burnette was asked a series of questions about the missed kicks late last season and how he handled it in the offseason: Working through the disappointment; confidence; learning from the misses; battling transfer Ryan Coe; building more mental toughness; and getting his mind in a good place.

*He also said the two field goals in the 40-plus yard range at Pittsburgh and the four he booted in the win over Syracuse were when he realized he had fully departed from the misses as far as kicking goes, and was a better player.

*Burnette also said the misses still gnaw at him and he will never get over them, but getting his “five seconds of fame” after booting 6-for-6 in the 47-45 win over Duke on Saturday night, including sending the game into OT with a 43-yard kick and then to the second OT, was huge for him.

*Maye was asked about the red zone struggles scoring TDs the other night, how many of the calls were his, and about Omarion not getting more touches there.

*Maye had some fun discussing the best part of about the celebration on the field the other night. He embraced it and joked about Director of Football Communications and Branding Jeremy Sharpe serving as his security detail in getting to the ACC Network platform.

*Many of the questions for Maye were about Clemson’s defense and playing a game there and in that environment: the differences between the Tigers’ defense now as opposed to when UNC played them in the ACC title game last December; Clemson is strong in all three phases defensively, and Maye noted one of the more challenging aspects of facing it; he was recruited by Clemson and has attended games there; last year’s game has played out in his mind a lot, and he recently watched it over again, so he goes into that some as well.

*Myles Murphy says he had his best game this past Saturday in the win over Duke. He had three tackles, two TFLs, including a sack, had two hurries, 3 STOPs (plays that result in failures for the opposing offense), and graded out at 83.5, the highest on the team.

*He says being healthy this season has been huge, as opposed to last year when he spent most of it dealing with a badly injured ankle that kept him from practicing in one stretch. Murphy still gets treatment on it daily just in case, but says he feels great, and has found some consistency in his game.

*Murphy will graduate next month with a degree in communications and media. He took six classes last spring and a lot over the summer so he could graduate this December. So he walked on Senior Day to honor his academic achievement, and it was something he said he just couldn’t miss. But he still has a decision to make about his future and will gather information from the coaches after the season ends to decide what’s next.

*Gray has never been to Clemson. Not once. So, this will be special for him making the trip there and playing in that environment. He was asked a few questions about that and gave some really good answers.

*He has watched the ACC championship game loss to the Tigers quite a few times, and just watched it again the other day. He said a few differences in Clemson’s recent offensive uptick is that QB Cade Klubnik is playing better, but he’s being used more in the run game. In addition, he said Clemson’s o-line is firing off the ball better in recent games, and the Heels must match that at the point of attack.

*As for the recent stretch of defensive struggles in the fourth quarters of their last four ACC games, Gray said they have looked hard at it and it’s a bit perplexing. He said getting some more rest earlier in the game could help, but also noted he’s a warrior and simply doesn’t want to come out. Plus, he said he never feels tired in games no matter how many snaps he plays. He does, however, feel it during the week.