Tuesday Players Report: Gemmel, Grimes, Tucker & Howell

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*UNC’s struggles on defense have been well documented, but it has also had some exceptional periods of play, as well. Gemmel says there is a clear difference to him as a constant between when things are going well and when they are not.

“The first thing I notice is I feel like our energy is up,” Gemmel said. “I feel like the energy out there on the field is really high. When someone makes a play, everybody’s around the ball jumping and excited, the sideline is going crazy.

“But what’s happening when the game isn’t going right, and maybe we’re down 10 points or down by two scores and someone makes a big play, how is the energy on the field at that time rather than being up 14 and getting excited, why can’t we get excited when we’re down 10 points and someone makes a big play?

“I feel like that’s the biggest change besides our communication, is our energy. Just because we’re down by 10 points and someone makes a big play, doesn’t mean you can’t go over there and celebrate with them and jump on them… I think that’s something we’ve got to get better at.”

*Notre Dame enters Saturday’s game versus the Tar Heels averaging 31 points per game, which includes a 41-point effort in a win over Wisconsin, which has the No. 2 overall defense in the nation and No. 17 scoring defense. The Irish have been using a second quarterback at times of late, more of a runner, so what has Gemmel seen from the Irish on film that is cause for concern?

“Twelve (Ryan Tucker) they bring in, what he’s shown on film, his ability to scramble and find receivers is at a very high level,” Gemmel said. “Sometimes they have some designed run plays for him, sometimes they have some RPO checks and play-action passes that he’s able to diagnose and create a play out of. He kind of reminds me of their quarterback last year (Ian Book), and how he could extend plays and make plays with his legs. That’s sort of the ability that he brings when he is out there on the field.”

*Anyone who follows college football understands how special Notre Dame’s football history and the mystique and pageantry of games played in South Bend. For many football players, playing just one game there is different than other venues, and an experience to anticipate and embrace.

For Gemmel, who has plenty of family members who live in Pennsylvania and are diehard Fighting Irish fans, it’s even more special to have what he will experience Saturday. In fact, it’s a bucket list opportunity for him.

“Absolutely,” Gemmel said. “Growing up, I’ve always known about Notre Dame, I’ve always known about Big Ben up there. It’s exciting to go up there and play. I know all about the atmosphere, seen it on TV for years.

“Actually, I have family who live up north who are big Notre Dame fans, so I’ve heard about it all my life, watched it on TV. And just to have the opportunity to go up there to play, I’m just blessed. This is what players live for… If you’re not excited to go play up at Notre Dame, I don’t think you’re in the right sport.”

- AJ

*The Tar Heel secondary is responsible for only four interceptions this season. The defensive backs used the bye week to make improvements on their ability to create turnovers.

“Well, myself, I worked on improving especially my tackling,” Grimes said. “I think I'm getting better with my tackling. Improving every day as a secondary, really we just improving on making plays on the ball when it’s in the air.

“You know we have been successful in the last couple of games to get you to know interceptions get the ball when it’s in the air we need more, and we need to be more with the strips hold players up strip the ball we need to create more turnovers that’s all we’ve been working on”

*Notre Dame junior running back Kyren Willams has run for 501 yards and six touchdowns, he has also caught 24 passes for 242 yards and three touchdowns. Grimes knows the importance of containing the Irish’s run game if the Tar Heels want to leave with a victory.

“They can run that ball, I tell you that much,” he said. “They got one of the best running backs in the country. So, they are going to run the ball, and when they pass, they are going to pass it and they are going to try and make plays to the outside receivers and try to throw it to the tight end. We just gotta do a better job when the ball is in the air and stop the run.”

*With four of the last five opponents on the Tar Heel schedule being ranked UNC will be the underdog in their remaining games. Carolina will focus on the game before it every week.

“Right now, honestly, we are taking it game by game, week by week,” Grimes said. “We are trying to go 1-0 this week. We are not worried about the next couple of games. We’re focused on this game right here, so this is the game we have to win this weekend.”

-BP

*With UNC coming off of a bye week, it had an opportunity to work on fixing some issues. Tucker talked about what the offensive line did in their bye week.

“As a team we really focused on getting healthy,” Tucker said. “A lot of the o-line was banged up, so we really took that week to get healthy. Get the young guys more reps, get a lot smarter in the film room, really take the time to study the players we’re going up against.

“If you got two weeks, you gotta spend it the right way to try to win a game. Really trying to figure out everybody’s pass rush abilities, their tendencies, how active they are, things like that. We really took that week to take a great step forward.”

*Carolina has found more success running in between the tackles in the last couple of games, after struggling with that early in the season. Tucker explained how they have made those improvements that have allowed them to see that success.

“I really think it’s just coming to play on Saturday,” he said. “We practice three days out of the week, and coach tells us not to play your game on any of those days, but to come play on Saturday, and I really think it comes down to that. As a unit, I think these past two games we really came to play.

“Everyone was fired up in pregame, everyone knew what to do, we had great practices throughout the week, and that’s just added on building momentum to what we displayed on Saturday. We can run the ball, we can protect Sam (Howell), stuff like that. Also, I think chemistry with the new running back duo that we got, Ty is a beast, Jones is moving.

“I think having that chemistry build up, like how they’re gonna cut off us, we’re gonna block until the whistle blows. How they make their cuts is different than Mike (Carter) and Javonte (Williams) last year, so I think that chemistry really helped build over the past two games, I think we helped display that.”

*Things have not gone to plan so far this season for UNC, but it has a huge opportunity this weekend versus Notre Dame. Tucker spoke about the opportunity ahead of them, and how they look at it.

“I think it’s a big opportunity because it’s the next game,” Tucker said. “I mean for us, we just preach the next game, being 1-0 this week. We’re in the second half of our season, and we’re 1-0 in that, so we’re just trying to keep that momentum pushing.

“It’s a great opportunity to go up to Notre Dame. It’ll be my first time being up there, they came down to us last year, and I was here in 2017 when they came down here. It’s a really good opportunity to go up there, and display what we can do.”

-NS

*Howell has taken a beating this season, having been sacked 27 times, run the ball 69 other times, and taking its after getting rid of the ball, too. So, what did he do during the bye week last week?

“I think the main thing for me was to get my body back to where I want it to be, and I feel really good this week after last week,” he said. “I didn’t take the whole week off, I still got a lot of reps in practice. But I did a lot of treatment, spent a lot of time with my body, and I’m really seeing the benefits this week.

“I feel fresh; kinda like I have a fresh start after the bye week, so I feel really good the improvements I made from a health standpoint.”

*Some players don’t like having bye weeks, they’d rather stay in game-week routine through the end of the season. Some want it because they need it to get healthy and rested, especially when getting his as often as Howell has this season. Guys want to play, that’s why they participate, but getting the body right is also very important.

“From a competitive standpoint, I want to play every week,” Howell said. “I hate not playing and just sitting there watching football on Saturday and not playing. But I think from an overall health standpoint, I think it’s a great for college football to have a bye week in there. It’s great for people to get their bodies fresh, and overall from a health standpoint, I think it’s really beneficial.

“And from a mental standpoint, as well. The season’s long, it’s a grind, and people need just a day or two off to take for themselves and get away from football for a little bit.”

*Notre Dame is just different in college football, and having a chance to play a game in South Bend is an amazing and unique experience for so many college football players. UNC gets that chance this weekend, something Howell was asked about.

“We’re super excited to go up there,” Howell said. “It’s a great atmosphere, there’s so much tradition up there at Notre Dame, such a really good football program, and a really good football team. They have a lot of really good players on their team and are led by a lot of really good coaches.

“So, for us, we’re just excited for the opportunity, excited for the challenge to play a really good football team in a really cool environment, something a lot of people have on their bucket list is to go play or watch a game at Notre Dame.

“It’s definitely a cool opportunity for our team, and we’re excited to go up there and we’re excited for the challenge.”

- AJ