Mack Brown speaks to the media following the Tar Heels' 48-21 victory over NC State.
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00:00 Hello everybody.
00:04 I'm proud of our guys. I want to
00:08 applaud State and Coach Doran
00:12 and their assistance because I thought it was a clean game. A lot of times this game
00:16 can be chippy and a lot of pushing and shoving and late hits
00:20 and fighting and there wasn't any of that that I could tell at all.
00:24 I thought credit to both teams that they handled their emotions well
00:28 and did the things that they were supposed to do. We did
00:32 the things that you need to do to win ball games. In some cases that we haven't
00:36 been doing. We protected the ball. We were able to run the ball
00:40 well and we forced four turnovers. And that's how you win
00:44 games. Our kicking game was good today. Probably the best that we've had other than
00:48 the one short field goal miss. Everything else was good.
00:52 But when you run the ball like that and you stop the run
00:56 you've got a chance to win every week. I told the guys
01:00 that I didn't think that obviously we played
01:04 at the highest level we could at Florida State. I told them Florida State is going to have trouble
01:08 with that this week because everybody is going to brag on them. They're going to struggle going to
01:12 Louisville because Louisville is a much better team than their record. That's what
01:16 happens in this business. One game right now in my
01:20 estimation doesn't lead to another as much as it used to.
01:24 It's the team that plays the best Saturday. And all of us think we know who's
01:28 going to win and all that. I've picked games for five years. And it is
01:32 really crazy. You nearly have to pick a motion. Everybody's got
01:36 players. Everybody's got scholarships. And on a given day
01:40 if you mess it up or you can't run it you can get beat.
01:44 So really really proud of our guys. Our running backs are two of the best in the
01:48 country. I thought our offensive line was dominant today.
01:52 And when that happens your protection is good. Sam
01:56 made some outstanding throws. He made plays with his feet again.
02:00 And I thought other than the drive
02:04 right before the half our defense played really well. I don't know
02:08 what that is about our five minutes in the end of the half. Maybe I shouldn't have
02:12 said that was one of the most important times in the game when I got here because we just
02:16 don't play well on defense right before the half. So
02:20 we've got to go back and continue to study that and look at it. But like
02:24 last week at Florida State the offense scored right before the half and today with
02:28 56 seconds left we had all three of our timeouts which we usually try
02:32 to keep them. And we were able to go down and get a field goal
02:36 to take it in at half. And then coming back out the second half
02:40 I thought the first series we make a first down and then we come back
02:44 and they stop us. But then we get a batted ball interception that leads to
02:48 two points. And that pretty much put the thing in jeopardy
02:52 because it put NC State behind far enough that they had to
02:56 throw the ball more than they would like to. I hope that
03:00 Persons is okay. Dave said he was
03:04 okay after the game or would be okay. And I always want to make sure
03:08 that the young people in the game are safe.
03:12 Questions?
03:16 Coach just as a reminder we will use the raise hand function
03:20 looks like we've got already a handful in the queue. Please state your name
03:24 and your media affiliation before your question. We will begin today with
03:28 Bridget Condon. Bridget please unmute yourself and ask your question.
03:32 Hey coach. Congrats on the win. Bridget Condon with ABC11. I know we
03:36 talked about this before but the duo between Javonte Williams and Michael Carter
03:40 what does that mean for this program and to see them week in and week out continue to put
03:44 up numbers. Last week obviously not as much as this week but still have those
03:48 numbers. Bridget I said it earlier in the year and they
03:52 reinforce it every week. I think they're probably the best
03:56 combination of two backs in the country. They're tough.
04:00 They're smart. They protect the ball. They run with power. They both have
04:04 patience. And really no one has tackled them on a consistent
04:08 basis all year. And they, when they
04:12 get them going the rest of it works. And it's hard to
04:16 stack the box and stop those two in the running game and then
04:20 have enough people left to handle the passing game. And we left some points
04:24 on the board today with them. Michael makes a long run down the corner
04:28 and we have a holding call. And then De'Ami dropped the deep pass for a touchdown.
04:32 So we can get better. But those
04:36 two are playing at such a high level Bridget and
04:40 they do it in practice every day. They're two outstanding young people
04:44 and they're tough and they're smart and they love to play.
04:48 I absolutely love both of them.
04:52 Alright let's go over to Dena King. Hey Coach, congrats
04:56 on your win. Dena King from Tar Heel Illustrated. You guys up
05:00 24-7 with a ball on the one yard line. You go 11 plays
05:04 99 yards. How huge was that drive for you guys?
05:08 Dena it was huge and you're concerned
05:12 when you're back there that do you get a safety?
05:16 Do you get a sack
05:20 fumble sack for a touchdown? Is there a tip ball? Because you've
05:24 lost all your field position. And that was a really smart thing
05:28 by Tim Beck and Dave Dorn to pooch that one because we thought
05:32 at that point in the game they might go for it. And what an outstanding kick at the
05:36 one yard line. But these guys offensively are confident enough that they
05:40 said let's go. Let's go 99 yards. And that'll
05:44 take over the game. It took a lot of time off the clock
05:48 but it also was a statement and started by the offensive
05:52 line in Javante. Because when you hand it off back in the end zone
05:56 a lot of bad things can happen and I think he got 12 yards on
06:00 that play or maybe 24. But it was a huge play to get it started.
06:04 Alright, let's
06:08 go over to Andrew Jones. Go ahead Andrew.
06:12 Hey Coach, you've been asking for turnovers all season and you got
06:16 four today without turning it over yourself. A couple of them were really big. How
06:20 huge was it to finally be on that end of the turnover battle today?
06:24 Andrew, it's obviously the way you win football
06:28 games. I kept telling them they're going to come in bunches when they come.
06:32 And when we got ahead of them enough and they
06:36 had to start throwing the ball every time, that's when you get your turnovers. You get tip balls.
06:40 You get sack quarterbacks that the ball comes out.
06:44 Because backs are taught well now. Receivers and
06:48 backs are carrying the ball tight. It's hard to strip it out. But that's how
06:52 you get your turnovers and that's how we got today. And we still had
06:56 maybe two more possible interceptions that we had our hands
07:00 on that we dropped. So we've got, we have just got to continue
07:04 to get better at forcing turnovers. Ladesan Hollins was called on
07:08 to play today. Last year he had a situation where you guys relied on him
07:12 when he hadn't been playing much. Up to that point he did pretty well. How did he play today and
07:16 how important was it that he was able to give you guys that kind of performance? It's important that
07:20 he played well and we're trying to bring Tony Grimes along. We still forget he's a senior
07:24 in high school. So he played a little bit today.
07:28 But Patrice yesterday said that he wasn't going to be able to play.
07:32 And we had worked Day-Day Hollins some during
07:36 the week. And we want to get him more action.
07:40 I thought he did a good job today. Especially with the limited
07:44 amount of work that he's had. And if you lose Patrice today
07:48 you had some defensive backs opt out.
07:52 And then you have lost Storm Duck for a while.
07:56 So you're really getting thin back there. So guys just have to
08:00 step up. And I'm sorry we also played
08:04 Don Chapman some at corner today. When we weren't
08:08 in nickel we played Don Chapman at corner and moved Trey Morrison
08:12 back to safety. So Dre and Jay are really
08:16 having to do an outstanding job of mixing and matching
08:20 and make all that work. Thank you. Appreciate it.
08:24 Alright. Go ahead CL Brown.
08:28 Yes Mac. Given the situation coming off a loss
08:32 and playing your rivals. How much of how you
08:36 guys executed today resembled what you would
08:40 like this team to be? Just in terms of business like
08:44 and not getting too high too low.
08:48 I want them to play good CL. That's it.
08:52 And I don't care if they're high or low. They're a strange bunch
08:56 in that they never are very loud. It's not a loud
09:00 team. So they're pretty much like this all
09:04 the time. And that's why it's so hard to read them sometimes in pregame.
09:08 Because sometimes they're dancing and sometimes they're quiet. Sometimes
09:12 they're picking at each other a little bit. But it's not a
09:16 demonstrative team where people are screaming and shouting at each
09:20 other all the time. That's just not who they are. And Sam's the same
09:24 way. You've all been around Sam and Michael and Javante. They're all
09:28 very much like this every day. So I think that's what we've
09:32 got. We've just got to continue to play better. And we can't worry about who
09:36 we're playing against. We did not handle being fifth in the
09:40 country well. We were way too full of ourselves
09:44 in my opinion that first half. And I've told them they wish
09:48 they had that back. You don't get them back. It's like our lives. You
09:52 lose a day. You don't get it back. So they can't say, "Oh, I wish I had
09:56 that opportunity again." You can't. And that's another great lesson you learn from
10:00 college football. Thanks, Coach. Thank you.
10:04 Alright, let's go to Brennan Marks.
10:08 Hey, Mac. Brennan Marks from The Athletic. Thanks for taking the time. I wanted to follow
10:12 up on Bridget's question about Javante specifically. You've mentioned
10:16 in the past how much Coach Hess has made a difference across the whole program in terms of
10:20 building strength, speed, all those things. What areas of Javante's
10:24 body and game have you seen Coach Hess improve the most? And in what
10:28 days does that translate to the football field? Brennan, I think the most
10:32 thing I've seen him improve the most
10:36 is explosive power. I mean, he gets from here to there
10:40 and he's so powerful. And he runs so low to the ground.
10:44 And he's got such big, strong thighs that
10:48 he makes a lot of people miss tackles every game.
10:52 And some of them that try to tackle him, he just punishes them.
10:56 I'm amazed that when we got here, he was a
11:00 short yards and goal line guy kind of the year before. And we all thought he was good.
11:04 But not this. I mean, he just continues
11:08 to get better. And I think Michael's gotten a lot better, too. I will say
11:12 when Urban Meyer came and spoke at our high school clinic
11:16 our first spring, he looked at me and said, "Ooh,
11:20 eight and 25 are really good." And I said, "Yes, they are."
11:24 And they're about to get better. And I remember when I first took the job, I asked
11:28 Buffa, because of my TV time, I said, "Is eight
11:32 still here? I want to make sure eight's coming back." Because I'd watched
11:36 enough of the games without really studying Carolina that I could tell that
11:40 he's an outstanding player in space. And what he's done
11:44 is Michael's making people miss tackles, but he's also moving the pile
11:48 inside. And his patience is so good. You'll see the thing
11:52 look like there's nothing there, and all of a sudden he's outside
11:56 and up the boundary. And they're both just really special
12:00 players and better young people. Thank you.
12:04 Thank you, Brendan. All right, let's go to Greg Barnes.
12:08 Hey, Matt. Greg Barnes with Inside Carolina.
12:12 We talk a lot about toughness in this rivalry.
12:16 Curious as to your opinion on the importance of that, and how do you quantify
12:20 that? How do you measure that on the field?
12:24 Greg, this is a tough sport, and you've got
12:28 to be physical every day. And I think that's why it's so hard to win.
12:32 Because this age group, it's hard for them to practice
12:36 with intensity and toughness every day. And therefore, it's hard to play that
12:40 way every Saturday. I still can't figure it out. I still don't know why.
12:44 Our minds are so complicated. It's hard to
12:48 figure out why you all think, "Ah, we're going to win this game," when
12:52 I'm sitting here thinking, "They haven't seen us practice."
12:56 So it's just kind of crazy with the whole thing. But
13:00 I was talking to Jones yesterday, and we did the interview
13:04 for pregame. And I remember this from last year, but 25
13:08 of the last 28 games in this series have
13:12 been won by the team that won the rushing battle.
13:16 25 of 28. So that's really, really powerful. And what?
13:20 We were 326 yards
13:24 rushing to 34. And I told the guys,
13:28 "You want to win the game. There's good stat, man."
13:32 So we come in here on Saturday afternoon. We come in here on Sunday.
13:36 I'm going to look right at that stat, and I'm going to look at turnovers and tell you who won the game
13:40 based on the past. And really and truly, that's what happened.
13:44 It was about our running game,
13:48 our defense against the run, and forcing turnovers. And that was
13:52 the difference in this game and the margin.
13:56 Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Isaac Shade. Go ahead, Isaac.
14:00 Thanks. Coach Isaac Shade from Altar Heels for Sports
14:04 Illustrated. First, I wanted to say what you were saying about your timeout. You've been hanging
14:08 out with Coach Williams too long. Hey, I wanted to ask
14:12 you... That's a good thing.
14:16 You stuck with Atkins after he missed the
14:20 chip shot field goal early in the game, and he rewarded you with his first
14:24 multi-field goal game of the season. What does it do for a young man's psyche
14:28 to stick with him in a moment like that? We watch him every day,
14:32 Isaac, and he's got such a powerful leg. He can
14:36 kick it 60 yards, and he gets it really high. So
14:40 there shouldn't be many blocked, except for the one that he missed.
14:44 And he missed the first two at Furman last year, weirdly
14:48 enough, and then made, I think, 11 in a row and was an All-American.
14:52 So I'm not giving up with him with all this craziness.
14:56 The two of the ones he missed before the one today were
15:00 a foot to the left. And, you know, I'm such a great coach.
15:04 I said, "Aim more to the right so we can do that."
15:08 And some of the coaches said today, "Do you want to change kickers?"
15:12 And I said, "No, I think he'll be good." And I walked down and
15:16 said, "What'd you do?" And he said, "I went too quick, and I pulled it."
15:20 Facts. So slow down, be confident, and do
15:24 the things you need to do. And hopefully now this will give him
15:28 the confidence to be a factor as we
15:32 get in this stretch to end the season. Thanks, Coach.