Tuesday Defense Report: Collins & Murphy

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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina defensive players Chris Collins and Myles Murphy met with the media Tuesday evening at the Kenan Football Center to field questions about themselves, the mood of the unit and team overall, the important games coming up, and how the defense will get along with two more starters out for the season.

Collins, a senior jack, and Murphy, a junior defensive lineman, spoke extensively about how the team is moving forward without Noah Taylor and Des Evans, both of whom were announced as out for the season Monday.

UNC is 7-1 overall, 4-0 in the ACC, and ranked No. 17 in the nation. The Tar Heels, who are 4-0 on the road, head to Virginia on Saturday for a noon kickoff (ACC Network) versus the Cavaliers.

Below are videos of their interviews with some notes and pulled quotes from what they had to say:

*Collins and Taylor have become pretty good friends since Taylor came over from Virginia last winter, and have helped push each other in the new jack defensive role for the Tar Heels. His reaction to learning Taylor is out for the season:

“Noah’s been my best friend on and off the field, especially when he got here,” Collins said. “Me and Noah were recruited together in the same class. I’ve actually known Noah for a little bit. I played Noah my senior year of high school, believe it or not. We won 21-17, I always joke with him about that.

“The thing about Noah is, he’s a team-first type of guy. He didn’t want me dwelling on that (injury), but I was really hurt about that.”

*Collins is now the guy at the jack position, and he’s going to play the majority of the snaps there. Taylor was injured late in the first quarter, so Collins ended up playing a season-high 49 snaps. His previous high was 40 in a win at Appalachian State. He has played 40-plus snaps in three other games, including three straight in 2020.

The Richmond, VA, native says he will bring leadership and tenacity to the field as the lead in that role now.

“I feel like something we share is our competitiveness,” Collins said. “Noah is one of the most competitive guys on our defense, and that gives us the competitive edge that we’ve been looking for these past couple of years. And I feel like I bring that same edge.

“Whether it’s being a vocal leader or going out there competing, it’s something we share also; to want our defense to do well and our team to win.”

*As native of the Commonwealth, Collins always looks forward to when the Tar Heels venture into his home state. This will be their third trip to Charlottesville since he became a Tar Heel, and he has been to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech twice.

“I circle this one and Virginia Tech every year being a Virginia guy,” Collins said. “I was born and raised in Virginia. I know a couple of guys on the team up there. So, we have bragging rights when I go back to the crib.

“I’m from Richmond, so I’m only about 50 minutes from Charlottesville. It’s not that far. A lot of my family are coming, so I’m definitely excited.”

*Virginia’s offense is really struggling this season. It is rated No. 94 in total offense averaging 359.9 yards per game, No. 123 in scoring offense at 16.9 points per game, No. 90 in rushing (131.6), and No. 78 in passing (228.2), but No. 117 in pass efficiency.

A year ago, UVA quarterback Brennan Armstrong set a single-game record for passing yards against a UNC team when he passed for 554 yards. He also threw four TD passes that night. Collins and the Tar Heels are preparing for the best of Armstrong and UVA’s talented cast of receivers.

“Armstrong is a tremendous player,” Collins said. “Last year, he threw for over 500 yards against us, so you can never take that for granted. They’ve been doing some different things with a new staff, but at the end of the day, they still have their top receivers back, they still have their quarterback.

“At the end of the say, we’ve just got to strap up and play.”

*Murphy suffered a badly sprained ankle during the win at Georgia State on September 10 and has been limited ever since, though he has recently been healthier. In fact, he said Tuesday the ankle is much better.

“Right now, I feel good,” Murphy said. “But over the past few games, I was battling injuries, like V-Tech and Miami. Before the Miami game, I started to feel good, and the last few weeks, I’ve been working myself back in. Not rushing my ankle (and) I really feel good now.”

*The injury was bad enough that Murphy could have, and maybe should have, sat out a couple of games. To what degree was his performance hindered?

“It was like I really couldn’t be as explosive as I usually (am),” Murphy said. “When I did a lot of pass-rushing moves, I really couldn’t do that. I couldn’t get off blocks like I wanted to. But now, I’m getting that back.”

*True freshman defensive tackle Travis Shaw came in as a 5-star prospect and perhaps the best high school player at his position in the nation. He has played 86 defensive snaps so far, including 13 in the win at Duke and 11 in the win this past weekend over Pitt. His high snap game was 19 in the loss to Notre Dame.

Murphy says Shaw is coming along well, and also trusted moving forward as his role will increase with UNC’s defensive line depleted some. Jahvaree Ritzie is moving outside to the power end position Evans plays, opening up more of a role for Shaw.

“He’s been emotional for the last month or so, he’s going through a lot of stuff. But he’s coming along really good,” Murphy said. “I expect him to dominate either these last couple of games or next year. I expect him to have an amazing season.”

Asked to expound on how Shaw has gotten a lot better, Murphy said, “They can’t move him. When we got into run fits, he can’t be double-teamed, they can’t move him."