Tuesday Players: Surratt; Duck; Tucker & Howell

CHAPEL HILL – Some of North Carolina’s heavy hitters were available to the media following Tuesday morning’s practice, as the Tar Heels prepare for this weekend’s season-opener versus Syracuse at Kenan Stadium.

Sam Howell, Chazz Surratt, Storm Duck and Jordan Tucker met with the media to discuss getting ready for the Orange, the excitement that after the craziest offseason perhaps ever the players are getting ready for a game, that there won’t be any fans in the stands, how they’ve improved and much more.

Here are the full interviews with each of the Tar Heels along with some notes and quotes from what they had to say:

*Many of the questions directed at Chazz Surratt focused on his cross-training and pass rushing ability. So, why is Surratt an effective pass rusher?

“I think for one, Coach (Jay) Bateman puts me in a lot of positions where I can make plays. Two, I think I’m fast off the edge, and three, I’m strong. And four, I’ve worked on my hands throughout the offseason. I think all of those elements combined makes me a pretty effective pass rusher.”

*Perhaps nobody on UNC’s team can give a better scouting report of how Sam Howell has improved than Surratt. After all, he played the position for three years (including his redshirt season) and had some success at times, and now he’s a standout on the other side of the ball reading QBs before every snap. So, what has Surratt seen from Howell heading into this season?

“I think Sam took another step this year in the offseason,” Surratt said. “He’s really dialed in with our receivers, the line’s protecting him well. I think his poise is still there, (he’s) been able to hit the deep ball a lot, so I’m really excited to see how our offense goes out there and clicks this week.”

*Mack Brown and Jay Bateman raved last week about Storm Duck and how well he’s playing. Brown said he was one of the standouts in the second scrimmage. So, in what areas has he improved?

“I feel like I took the initiative to get in the playbook a lot more, that was the first thing,” Duck replied. “Now I feel comfortable with any play call that we have just knowing what to do. That was the first thing for me. Then on top of that my confidence I had gained from last year to this year. Those two things we really big on me. Then just, obviously, then just working out (and) doing little things on my technique to get on my breaks faster and get on balls and be a better player overall.”

*That Carolina’s secondary is deep and talented isn’t exactly a news flash, but the same can be said about linebacker. Duck, however, says the DBs can be and maybe are the strength of UNC’s defense.

“From last year to this year, there’s a huge increase in, first of all, depth. That was the main thing we needed last year,” Duck said. “Now, we have that. We have guys at safety, nickel, corner – they all can play. And then we have at least a guy behind them at every position that can play, too. So, from one position to the next, one player to the next, there’s no drop off in anybody. Anybody can go in at any time to keep each other fresh and compete.”

*In the much-talked about quest for the UNC staff to find at least eight offensive linemen it can trust putting into a game, the effort might be at seven right now, if you include true freshman backup center Jonathan Adorno. Right tackle Jordan Tucker, however, is firmly entrenched and could be one of the top linemen in the ACC. So, what is his advice to the second-tier players in that room who are striving to meet the staff’s standard?

“I think just leaving it all out on the field,” Tucker said. “I think they’re a little too worried about messing up and not focused on just going out there and playing football. I think football comes with experience and they’re going to get that out here in practice with the older guys helping them out. I think they really need to just go out there and play football every single day, hard.”

*The Tar Heels face a Syracuse team this weekend that only landed on the schedule a month ago, so the players didn’t prep for the Orange at all until after fall camp started. In addition, Syracuse has a new defensive coordinator, so how has it been prepping for a team during camp they had paid any attention to until recently?

“In my time here, we have seen Syracuse before, and there are a lot of us that are still on the team that played at Syracuse two years ago,” Tucker said. “So, we know some of the players that they have, they also have lost some players. I think our coaches and quality control people have done a great job of getting us whatever film they can of the d-coordinator, whether he was at Arizona State or whether there’s new players we need to learn about and they’re switching numbers and this, this and that.

“I think they’ve done a great job just like they would any other week. There really hasn’t been a drop off to (the) knowledge they bring to us. They’ve done a great job.”

*UNC has weapons all over the place on offense. That is a secret to nobody. Sam Howell is the biggest weapon and also the beneficiary of having so much talent around him. So, what’s that like for the Heisman candidate?

“It’s awesome. I’m truly blessed to have all these guys around me,” Howell said. “And I have so many receivers here and two of the best backs in the country, I think. And our o-line has done a really good job. They’ve improved a lot since last year. And we can have all the weapons we want, but if the o-line’s not doing their job, it’s kind of just a waste.

“So, the o-line is really improved, we feel good about what they’re doing and that just gives me an opportunity to spread the ball around to the athletes that we have on this team. We’re definitely blessed to have all the guys we have here.”

*As noted with Tucker, Syracuse was recently added to the schedule when the ACC revamped it for the entire league. Knowing Sam Howell is a film-room junkie, how much time has he been able to spend watching the Orange and how has that part of his preparation gone over the last month?

“We definitely spend a lot of time watching film,” Howell said. “They do have a new DC, Tony White, who came from Arizona State. So, I’ve looked into his history to see where he’s been in his past and some of that stuff. And also still looking at Syracuse film, even though Tony White wasn’t there last year. Still looking at personnel and stuff like that. I’ve definitely spent a lot of time watching film.”