Tuesday Offense Report: Richards & Elijah Green

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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina continues preparation for its trip to Wake Forest on Saturday, and Tuesday evening two offensive 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 offensive tackle Asim Richards and running back Elijah Green along with some notes and pulled quotes:

*Perhaps the best part about Drake Maye’s field-reversing five-yard touchdown run, in which he may have actually traveled more than 40 yards to achieve, was seeing mammoth offensive tackle Asim Richards essentially directing traffic out there.

Here is how Maye described the play following UNC’s 31-28 win at Virginia on Saturday:

“It was like playing in the backyard, a little league play. I had a little roll-out, a two-man route with J.J. (Jones) leaking from the backside. They had a lot of guys over there; they had like six or seven guys playing coverage. So, instead of throwing it out of the end zone, I looked at a pretty open backside, and I had a wall of the linemen there blocking, so I just tried to use my little bit of speed that I could and made it into the end zone.”

The wall was really Richards, standing on the opposite end from where the play originally went. He was all alone, almost as if he was lost for a moment, but once he saw Maye reverse his field, Richards waved his arms directing the quarterback to run his way and behind him. There, Richards would take care of his guy.

“It was a crazy play because he first ran to the right, and he had the ball holding it and holding it, and I see everybody flow over there and I’m like, ‘okay, I think he’s going to run it back.’ And that’s what he did,” Richards explained.

“So, he did, he ran it back. I wasn’t sure if he was going to throw it or not, so I didn’t really want to go downfield too much, so I was telling him, ‘Come back here this way.’ He came back, scored it… and it was a great way to get our first touchdown of the day.”

*The image of Richards all alone like that was truly rare to witness as much as it was for him to be in the midst of it.

“Usually, when you don’t hit anybody, you’re in the wrong…,” Richards said, smiling. “It was a little weird, but it all ended up working out.”

*Richards has had an outstanding season with his pass blocking. The numbers tell the story: 409 pass blocking snaps, five pressures allowed, just one hit on the quarterback, and no sacks.

“Just being more aggressive with my pass blocking,” Richards said has been the difference for him this season with his pass protection. “Last year, I was a little more tentative, more passive with my pass blocking, instead of really looking to attack the defender and not letting him start your charge.

“It’s just the mindset; my mindset really took a change this year and I have more confidence in myself.”

*Much has been made in recent weeks about Green’s path from scout team running back to starter this season, but not much has been asked about what he ahs learned since being thrown into the fire during the win at Duke a few weeks ago.

“Just continuing to prove myself,” Green said. “Now that I’ve got a lot more film, I’ve been able to watch and critique a lot of things that I’m doing knowing that I have huge room for improvement. So, just taking that every day, finding the things I need to work on, and then working on those things in practices really have been helpful for me and my development.”

*Some athletes are uber focused on the negative plays so they can fix it, and some also balance their approach by appreciating and learning from the positives. How does Green approach things?

“I’m the kind of person, mostly, it’s kind of a personal thing, that I just tries to get better and focus on the things I need to do well,” he said. “It’s not feeling too good about yourself, (it’s) understanding you can always be better than you are.”

*The play Green is most proud of at UNC is a tackle he made on the punt team versus Pittsburgh in late October, but next would be his touchdown reception versus UVA last Saturday. The label on Green entering UNC was that he couldn’t pass protect, run routes, or catch the ball.

He has worked his tail off since arriving in Chapel Hill, and now does all three well. The TD catch-and-run in Charlottesville is a significant source of pride for the third-year sophomore.

“It’s a testament to never giving up and how much you can control different things and play to your strength,” Green said. “But also, develop a weakness. Just because you have a weakness doesn’t mean it has to stay a weakness.

“You can always take that weakness and develop it and turn it into, keep working it, and turning it into a strength. That’s really what I’ve been able to try and do, and it’s paying off.”