Tuesday Defensive Report: Rucker, Grimes & Kelly

CHAPEL HILL – Tuesdays are when some of North Carolina’s football players are available to speak with the media inside the Kenan Football Center, and this week, five Tar Heels fielded questions about their win over Appalachian State, their games overall, and to look ahead to the game at Georgia State this Saturday.

UNC defeated the Mountaineers, 63-61, in Boone, NC, this past weekend, and kickoff in Atlanta this Saturday at noon to face the Panthers.

Three defensive Tar Heels met with the media Tuesday, so here are videos of the interviews with junior defensive lineman Kaimon Rucker, junior cornerback Tony Grimes, and senior safety Cam Kelly along with some notes, tid bits, and pulled quotes:

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*Georgia State lost 35-14 at South Carolina this past weekend, and was competitive with the Gamecocks, especially its defense. Rucker’s concern is the Panthers’ offense, and he said stopping the Panthers at the line of scrimmage is paramount in showing improvement up front defensively.

“They have a tricky backfield as well, similar to App State, and we just got to ignore the eye candy and we just gotta stop the run,” Rucker said. “Whatever they throw at us, we’ve got to make sure we stop them at the line of scrimmage, because I know once we stop the run, we’ve gotta have some fun on third down getting a pass rush.”

*Rucker said they always move on to the next game after Sunday’s team dinner, and while he is looking forward to seeing how this week’s work in practice shows itself on the field in Atlanta.

“Of course you want to see what can we do to improve next week, and I know that’s especially Chiz (defensive coordinator Gene Chizik) and Coach (Charlton) Warren and the rest of the staff as well,” Rucker said. “I feel like we’re going to have a better plan this week. We have total confidence in Coach Chiz and what we need to do, and I feel like we can definitely execute this week.

“And I’m more than excited to get back to it this week. It’s football season, man, we’ve gotta be excited. We in week three; who’s not excited?”

*UNC had just one sack at App State even though Chase Brice dropped back to pass 39 times, so what must the Heels do to get more of a pass rush going?

“Honestly, we’ve just gotta pass rush better,” he said. “I know for us, we had one sack to App State’s three or four. There’s not really a specific plan what we need to do, we just need to pass rush better. We need to be aggressive up front with our pass rush, and I feel like we can bring that.”

Other things Rucker was asked about:

-1-min mark: He described the game-saving play at App State.

-1min mark: What were the emotions in the fourth quarter when App was scoring 40 points in the quarter.

-2 & 3-min marks: The team isn’t anxious to get back on the field but somewhat are to show improvement and eliminate the taste of App State, Rucker said.

-4-min mark: what Accountability Sunday was like.

-4-min mark: More on accountability.

-9-min mark: On the joy or relief of stopping App State on that two-point conversion attempt.

*After an opening game with so-so results from the secondary, the Tar Heels had many more issues at App State. Both UNC Coach Mack Brown and defensive coordinator Gene Chizik said Monday the secondary – cornerbacks, safeties, and star – must play a lot better moving forward. So, in Grimes’ words, what went wrong and what needs improving?

“What it really is is everyone doing their job all the time,” Grimes said. “When one person doesn’t do their job, it messes up a whole defense and can leave big gash on the field. So, everybody doing their job, everybody competing, and when it’s time for one-on-one battles, we’ll be straight.”

*Chizik said Monday one of the issues in press coverage was his guys were getting beaten in the first five yards of a route, so they weren’t as effective off the snap as needed. Grimes said that and other reasons contributed to the performance.

“Some of it I wanna say was the first five, most of it was playing the ball in the air,” he said. “When we did make a play on the ball, we gotta try and get a pick.”

*While Chizik said multiple times everything went wrong, he also said there were more than a handful of occasions in which ten guys on the field did their jobs right, but one didn’t, and that’s what blew up some plays. Grimes somewhat alluded to that above.

“Most of the time, it was really one person not doing their job, and when one person doesn’t do their job, it leaves a big gash,” Grime said.

*Grimes let in on something we can publicly note now about what knocked him out of the FAMU game in the first quarter and why he was a gametime decision Saturday. Note, that we didn’t report the specific on this because of HIPPA laws. We will try to stay clear of concussion talk unless it’s obvious.

Grimes explained what last week working his way back was like.

“Last week was just day-by-day practice, and every day I kept feeling better, I kept feeling ready,” Grimes said. “And I wanted to play on Saturday, so I passed my concussion protocol and I was ready to play.”

Other things Grimes was asked about:

-2-min mark: Grimes discusses how the defense’s confidence is still high, “gotta get back in the lab,” he said.

-2-min mark: How far is the defense from reaching its potential?

-3-min mark: Accountability Sunday may have been tough for the team, but Grimes said they didn’t single anyone out to dump on them, but there was accountability.

-4-min mark: Grimes agrees it’s easier for them to learn from their mistakes after winning, even in the manner they won at App.

-4-min mark: Charlton Warren’s words to the players are interesting, as Grimes recounts.

*Handling chaos is something Gene Chizik preached during fall camp as being paramount his guys learn, and when faced with all kinds of it Saturday at App State, the defense did not respond. Kelly says that is the first thing the unit must fix in order for some other things to come together.

“Like Coach Chiz says, ‘Focus in chaos.’ That’s definitely what we have to do,” Kelly said. “We felt good the second and third quarter, we’ve just got to finish. Point-blank, period.”

*Communication being a problem is an old story at Carolina, and one many people thought had drifted away with the change bringing in Chizik. But it was a problem at times versus FAMU, and was absolutely an issue in Boone.

This might be the most surprising aspect of Carolina’s struggles on defense so far.

“We can communicate all we want to on the back end, and as an entirety as a defense, (but) if one guy’s out of line, it can mess up the front sway, or the defense as a whole,” Kelly said. “A little hole in the gap, a little zone that’s not covered makes it look a lot worse than what it is.”

That is how chaos comes about, and Kelly says they are focusing on fixing it this week.

*While many fans and media are surprised by UNC’s defensive problems, particularly in the secondary, so what about the players? What about the performance back there has surprised Kelly?

“Definitely,” Kelly said. “Nobody wants to be in position to give up 40 in the fourth quarter or have missed assignments. It definitely is a surprise, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. That’s the one thing we’re going to do. We’re going to trust this process and become the defense we can be. And with the talent we have, that’s going to be a really good one.”

Other things Kelly was asked about:

-1-min mark: He was singled out by Chizik for having played well, but Kelly says it doesn’t matter if the team doesn’t.

-5-min mark: Kelly is a bit anxious to get back on the field and show the defense can play much better.

-7-min mark: The Heels have gone back to some basics this week in practice in addition to prepping for the Panthers.

-8-min mark: How do they get better at tackling during the season when they don’t do it full speed outside of games?

-9-min mark: Georgia State’s offense.

-9-min mark: Kelly gushed about Drake Maye as a passer, competitor, and leader.

-10-min mark: Kelly has returned punts since the second half of the FAMU game, so did he do that in high school & what is his mission in that role?