Tuesday Defense Report: Kelly & Rucker

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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina continues preparation for its trip to Wake Forest on Saturday, and Tuesday evening two defensive Tar Heels met with the media to discuss their units, themselves, and the Demon Deacons.

UNC (8-1 overall, 5-0 ACC) is at No. 15 in the latest CFP rankings released Tuesday evening, and it looks to extending its five-game win streak to six, which would also clinch the Coastal Division title and spot in the ACC championship game.

Below are interviews with safety Cam Kelly and end/jack Kaimon Rucker along with some notes and pulled quotes:

*UNC Coach Mack Brown and defensive coordinator Gene Chizik spoke Monday about how the defense has improved and some elements of it are coming together. Kelly pin-pointed an aspect of the unit that has absolutely improved and he says is getting better.

“Finishing the game is a great thing for us,” Kelly said. “We finish a game a lot better than we start. We shouldn’t wait for something to go bad before we do good.”

*Slow starts defensively have been a theme this season, and was again the case in the 31-28 win at Virginia last weekend. Kelly explains what the key is to getting off to better starts in games.

“I’d say mentality, just the will to do it is what you’re willing to do,” Kelly said. “What you put in before the game, and that goes from film to nutrition to anything.”

*Junior CB Storm Duck’s game has clearly taken a big step forward in the last two games. Brown and Chizik have lauded him for his play, with Brown saying Duck doesn’t carry a mental block from the injuries onto the field anymore. Kelly has seen much of the same from Duck, and is thrilled to see his game returning to pre-injury form.

“People don’t understand there’s a mental block with injuries,” Kelly said. “And Duck’s done a great job of flipping that switch. Once you see Duck now, he’s playing free, he’s playing fun; he’s having fun out there. He’s not really worried anything that was pre-existing like the injury.”

*Sam Hartman is an outstanding college quarterback and is regarded a future pro by many in the business, but he has struggled the last two weeks, which is one huge reason the Demon Deacons have lost two straight. Hartman’s numbers in those games: 49-for-83 (59 percent), three TDs, and six INTs. Plus, the Deacs allowed a combined 11 sacks in the two games.

Kelly explains what he has seen on film that Louisville and NC State did to Hartman and Wake’s offense.

“State definitely sent a lot of blitzes and pressured them a lot which sped up his progression,” Kelly said. “And Louisville did a great job covering and taking advantage of the swing of the game.”

*Rucker hadn’t played any game snaps at jack this season until last Saturday, in which he played quite a few. With Noah Taylor out, Rucker backed up Chris Collins at the position, but the junior from Georgia also got plenty of reps at power end, which has been his regular position this season. So, how does he think he played, and how was it for him going back and forth between power end and jack?

“I feel like it was a little bit like throwback Saturday for me,” he said. “The first two years that I was here, I played that end and jack (hybrid) position, previously it was outside linebacker. Going back to it, it felt very familiar after a while, got to knock the rust off a little bit.”

*Rucker didn’t really practice last week, as he was being monitored by the medical staff and it wasn’t certain he would play versus the Cavaliers. But he got 42 snaps, and this week is back to full health at practice, which he says will help him prepare for his new dual-role this weekend.

“The game of football is very much mental more than it is physical,” Rucker said. “The game of football is easy. People make it hard, but the game of football is easy. But I feel like with the jack responsibilities and the end responsibilities, that was some mental gymnastics, as Coach Chizik puts it.

“But, after a while, once I started grasping some different responsibilities that I had – there were a lot of things thrown at me in different scenarios. Once I grasped that mentally, it definitely helped me.”

*So, what does Rucker see as a challenge facing Wake Forest?

“Wake’s offense is very unique,” Rucker said. “The mesh RPOs is a dangerous game if you’re not playing it with caution, or you’re playing it with a good head on your shoulders. Wake Forest, they’re going to come in playing their best game regardless of the two losses they’re (coming) off of.

“With them playing at their best, we’ve got to come with our best as well. Because they have those two losses doesn’t mean we’re not going to see the best Wake Forest that we haven’t seen.”