UNC will have a tough challenge moving the ball against Notre Dame's defense. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo talks about what he needs to plan for on the Irish D.
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00:00I think you look at your body of work from the previous game,
00:05and we really look at it from a statistical standpoint,
00:08an evaluation standpoint from the whole season,
00:10just to see, you know, every week where it is
00:13you need to get better from an offensive standpoint,
00:15and then it becomes more specific
00:18when you plug it into things
00:20that they're doing well on defense.
00:21So I think we've got to continue to try to maintain consistency
00:25on third down and in the red zone,
00:28and we have to be consistent on first down
00:31because Notre Dame does a really,
00:33really good job of getting you behind the chains,
00:36and, you know, they're elite on third down,
00:38and so that's where they want to live.
00:40They want to live on third down with you,
00:42and so it'll be a challenge on Saturday to stay out of it.
00:45There's no question. I mean, they are.
00:47This will be the most physical unit we've seen.
00:51You know, they're really, really good up front there.
00:53I think they're giving up about 80 yards a game rushing.
00:57Clemson, who we all know is very, very talented,
00:59rushed the ball for 34 yards with, in my opinion,
01:02one of the best running backs in the country,
01:04and so it's going to be a challenge here
01:08to, one, physically compete with,
01:12you know, their front on the line of scrimmage.
01:15Our guys are looking forward to it.
01:17I think the second level, the linebackers, 33 and 40,
01:22do a phenomenal job of defending the run game.
01:25They're really gap sound. They're not out of position.
01:27You know, they squeeze the box,
01:30and 6th and 14 are elite tacklers.
01:32I mean, they're 6th and 14 are future NFL players.
01:36They split them very rarely.
01:37We ever see 14 and 6 on the same side of the field.
01:40I wouldn't put them on the same side either.
01:42You know, both of them, basically, man,
01:44they're part of the jungle,
01:46and they handle it very, very well,
01:47and they're great tacklers,
01:49and so they're going to try to spill everything
01:51to those two guys and, you know,
01:53let them clean up the run game.