News & Notes From Mack Brown’s Press Conference to Begin Miami Week – 247Sports
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina coach Mack Brown met with reporters Monday for his first media availability of the week that leads to Saturday’s game at Miami, an ACC road assignment for the Tar Heels.
UNC (4-1 overall, 1-0 ACC) is coming off a 41-10 blowout win over Virginia Tech, powered by the sparkling play of quarterback Drake Maye — he supplied 363 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air, plus 73 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground — and a considerable rebound effort on defense. The Tar Heels shut out Virginia Tech in the second half, while allowing just five first downs and 92 total yards on 32 plays.
Miami (2-2) presents another ACC Coastal Division matchup for the Tar Heels. The Hurricanes, under first-year coach Mario Cristobal, are coming off an open date on the schedule after their surprising loss to Middle Tennessee. The game against North Carolina will mark the ACC opener for Miami.
Here are our running notes from what Brown said Monday at Kenan Football Center …
— UNC will be without true freshman linebacker Sebastian Cheeks (shoulder injury) for the rest of the season. RaRa Dillworth (concussion), another young backup linebacker behind standouts Cedric Gray and Power Echols, will be evaluated throughout the week to gauge his availability for the Miami game. Neither Cheeks nor Dillworth were in uniform against Virginia Tech during the weekend.
— Brown underlined the differences between last week, when the Tar Heels were coming off the deflating loss to Notre Dame, and Monday’s feeling after their dominating victory over Virginia Tech. “Winning’s fun. It changes everything in your life. And losing absolutely stinks.”
— Brown said it was great fun to watch receiver Tylee Craft dance in the locker room after the Virginia Tech game, and the coach joked that Craft took his place in that regard with the postgame dancing. Craft, who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, was honored as part of UNC’s cancer awareness game. “That made the win even more special,” Brown said, “because the guys said they really wanted to hand him the game ball.”
— UNC players of the game from Virginia Tech: Maye (offense), DeAndre Boykins (defense), shield protectors in front of punter Ben Kiernan (special teams). “Drake, he continues to impress us with everything he does, and he can still get better.” Brown also mentioned tight end Bryson Nesbit, receivers Josh Downs and Antoine Green, and running back D.J. Jones as other standout contributors on offense. Jonathan Adorno, Malik McGowan and Kevin Hester Jr. form the punt shield. Brown credited kicker Noah Burnette, who handled kickoffs for the first time, and Kaimon Rucker for filling in on coverage units with Dillworth not available. Brown said walk-ons Jalen Brooks and Jake Harkleroad have stepped up to provide depth at numerous positions.
— Maye’s 22 total touchdowns (19 passing, three rushing) are the most for any UNC player through any five-game stretch in program history. “And we’ve been playing a long time,” Brown said. “The amazing thing is he sees the field so well. He distributes the ball where it needs to be.”
— Brown pointed to UNC’s running game as the biggest area of concern for the team’s offense. Caleb Hood and Omarion Hampton, who received all but three of the carries given to the running backs, combined for 69 yards on 15 carries. “Right now we’re not running the ball well enough on first downs, and we’re not running the ball well enough when everybody knows we’re going to run it. … We would have trouble in the four-minute offense. … We’ve been fighting it and continue to look at it. It’s just an area where we’ve got to continue to get better.”
— Brown said UNC is getting too many minimal gains or negative plays out of its running game. “Way too many third-and-longs,” Brown said, “and Drake saves us.” Brown said all four of the running backs the Tar Heels primarily have used (Jones, Hood, Hampton, George Pettaway) have provided key contributions, but no one has seized the position. “We need someone to take over.”
— On defense, Brown said UNC allowed its fewest points since beating Duke 38-7 in early October of last season, and fewest yards since beating Georgia State 59-17 in the second game of last year. The second-half shutout for the Tar Heels marked the first shutout across one half of play since the Duke win last season. “We showed we can be effective for a whole game,” Brown said. “We showed our coaches know what they’re doing, and our players can play with confidence.” Brown said UNC’s defense gave up only 33 yards in the third quarter to Virginia Tech. “Proud of the guys for coming out of halftime and playing much better,” Brown said. “Hopefully that confidence will carry over to next week.”
— Brown made a comparison to Notre Dame in saying UNC won’t meet the same Miami team that lost to Middle Tennessee 45-31 on Sept. 24. “We’ll have our hands full with Miami,” Brown said, adding Miami figures to be motivated in the way that Notre Dame gained fuel from not playing its best against California the week before coming to Chapel Hill. “We’ll see the team that played down at Texas A&M,” Brown said of Miami. “We will not see the team that struggled. … We’ll be catching them like Notre Dame.”
— Wisconsin fired Paul Chryst on Sunday, five games into his eighth season in charge. Chryst became the fifth head coach to be fired in the FBS this season. “Disappointed for the business that we’ve had so much turnover,” Brown said. He added that he hired Chryst “for a day” in December 2011 to be the offensive coordinator at Texas, but Chryst then took the head coaching job at Pittsburgh.
— Brown said convincing Maye to be more cautious in protecting his body and not taking off on the recurring leaps he has made near the goal line remains an ongoing discussion with the redshirt freshman quarterback. “We need to quit doing that,” Brown said. “I told him he’s too important to our team not to take care of himself better. … You’ve got to love his competitiveness. He needs to listen more.” Brown said former star Sam Howell, who’s now in the NFL, rarely thought about stepping out of bounds or sliding as a younger quarterback. “He thinks he’s competing and helping our team,” Brown said. “I got him, I’m totally with him. We just want him healthy.”
— “We’ve had two wins on the road,” Brown said, referring to Appalachian State and Georgia State, and alluding to Miami. “But now we’re going against the best team we’ve played on the road. So can we continue to get better?” Miami benched quarterback Tyler Van Dyke during the loss to Middle Tennessee, but Cristobal has said the Hurricanes are sticking with Van Dyke for the UNC game. “He’s got a great arm, not a good arm,” Brown said. “I think he’s a future star.”
— Brown said UNC charted 17 explosive plays for its offense against Virginia Tech, and only two explosive plays allowed by its defense against the Hokies. The Tar Heels gave up only one run longer than 10 yards to Virginia Tech (Keshawn King’s 25-yard gain) and one pass covering more than 15 yards (Grant Wells to Kaleb Smith for 34 yards).
— Brown likens what’s ahead on UNC’s schedule to a two-game schedule. The Tar Heels play at Miami next and then at Duke on Oct. 15, before reaching their second open date for another bye week. Pittsburgh visits Kenan Stadium on Oct. 29 following UNC’s second bye.
— Brown credited assistant coach John Lilly while praising the production UNC has gotten out of tight ends Nesbit, Kamari Morales and John Copenhaver. “He’s brought the NFL back to our team and our staff,” Brown said, “so he has been a tremendous addition.” Brown compared the way Lilly has managed balancing playing time for the trio of tight ends to how former assistant coach Robert Gillespie deployed former running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams.
— Brown said UNC’s hurry-up scoring drive in the final 28 seconds of the first half against Virginia Tech “might’ve changed the game.” Burnette booted a 44-yard field goal as the first half expired, as the Tar Heels quickly answered Virginia Tech’s only touchdown of the game to lead 24-10. “That’s an obsession of mine,” Brown said about UNC’s ability to execute its one-minute plan on offense.
— Brown said UNC needs to get true freshman Deuce Caldwell up to speed and ready for more action at linebacker, given the injuries and depleted depth at that position. Caldwell collected four tackles and the first sack of his college career during late mop-up duty against Virginia Tech.
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