UNC Mack Brown Post-Charlotte Press Conference | Inside Carolina Interviews

okay I want to congratulate our team and thank our fans and our students our students are so unbelievable a lot of people came to to I I think uh say thank you for last week's hardfought win on the road against Minnesota and and um step up and and watch Connor play and so many young guys playing today and really help us um Charlotte's got really good players I told Coach poy after the the game that you guys just need to keep working you've got some really talented players there's a bunch of five stars on there and a bunch of guys and sometimes it takes a little bit longer to get transfers all together but that first couple of drives I mean I'm sitting there saying okay this this is going to be a handful throughout the day and uh you start looking around at college football scores uh scares you it's just it's changed I think probably the transfer portals changed it the most cuz teams can change who they are and you don't even know what what that means anymore I was really impressed with their quarterback Max Brown um he got hurt at halftime and and didn't get to play the second half but the young freshman came in and did some good things and that kind of threw us off cuz we we hadn't seen him before so he he uh he had a drive or two there as we've gone but proud of our defense that they uh they held them to 25 carries for 49 yards again so that's 75 yards and 49 yards and we haven't done that in a long time so really really proud of them and and when you start stopping the run that means means that you put them in in third Longs and then you're you're they're two for 14 in third downs and and that's obviously something that's really really positive for us we've got to get more sacks and we've got to put ourselves in a position where um because we we had three sacks last week we had five but we got to get more turnovers and that's something we talked about last week and it it didn't get better uh Omar was running the ball well uh he got banged up a little bit and he could have played uh but we pulled him out uh because we wanted to make sure he's he's safe moving forward uh and we wanted to see the younger backs and Caleb Hood got to play a little bit again and and that helped him get his confidence back so maybe he can play more moving forward because he had practice very much uh young French made some good runs at the end of the game uh but Davon gos is a guy that that we really feel good about and that's with DAR and Barlo being out so Larry Porter's done a really good job with the full full room of really good running backs so hopefully Barlo will be back next week but if if not he's going to have to fight now uh with Davon to get where he needs to get thought Connor did a really a lot of really good things uh we were six for 11 on third down we ran for 269 yards uh we threw it for um 221 yards um and we can do a better job in that area but I I thought that this will be a great teachable moment game for him don't do this and and uh when we got called for the pick when we were going in the score they absolutely hit him in the face and they just missed it they look for targeting well you can't call roughing the passer from upstairs because they call targeting that was absolutely roughing the passer so I hate it for them and they knew it they just missed it uh but he got hit right in the face you you can't hit the quarterback in the face and that would have been another 15 yard penalty and a first down that should have led to another touchdown so we still got to be more consistent on offense we had to many penalties but uh and and they threw it over our head a couple of times um with our defense uh so we we've got to get that stopped because when you stop the run they're going to have to take deep shots and and um as coach Bowen used to tell me we were hitting the quarterback a lot early in the game and he was still making plays cuz he's he's at Florida last year he's really a good player but at some point if you keep H keep getting those hits you're going to get tired of it and Coach Bowen say as long as we're hitting him I didn't care and and and our guys just continued to do that so um played just about everybody that could play um won a game by a bunch of points uh and left a lot of points on the board so uh I think that kicking game was really good he punted it really high and not always long but I thought Elijah huzzy did a great job of catching the ball even in the sun some with people all around him uh because when the ball hits you usually lose about 17 yards uh extra uh so so we that happened to us at at Minnesota so he did a tremendous job we missed 50-yard field goal which we um it was long enough just shoved a little bit to the right uh but thought our punting game was good um and and we kicked every kickoff out of the uh out of the back of the end zone so uh felt like kicking game was really good uh we didn't turn the ball over on offense uh we we can get smoother we can we can make better things happen um and it it was good that we were forced to play without uh three of our best players when blasy went out early and he said he could go back in but we didn't we didn't want him to and Zach Greenberg goes in he's never been to college game before at this level so that's just kind of the day it was okay so they just kept coming to tell me and said so and so's out and I said okay and and um Cam and Rucker um felt something in the waight room on Thursday night Thursday afternoon late he was out for a couple of weeks so it it's been U it's it's been a um two weeks to start the season with a lot of Sudden Change let's just put it that way and the guys and coaches seem to be just handling and moving on next man up so it'll be fun to see how did Tyler Thompson play how did J Bron Harvey play um because they they've never really played in games before and this that'll be this will be a great video to watch tonight so we can see a lot of players that haven't played very much and see how they play questions with Carter being injuring his ankle early in the ball game coming in last week tried to get you to the Finish Line was this kind of like a first healthy full game and then when you throw in some of the adversity losing a Marian losing his Center how do you think he handled that do you see growth during the game yeah I thought he handled it really well I didn't like the way we responded to the one minute drill with with four minutes left right before the half we we were kind of disorganized and then we hit a pass and we're lined up with too many guys on the line of scrimmage and and so we we've got to do better in those areas Sam and and U Drake had so much poise when they were going so we' got to get better in those one minute drives but we can get Connor running the option like he can and we will we get so we can move him more with boots and nakeds he had one that right into a blitz and he got throw that ball away so this will be worth five years of of coaching for for chip for Clyde and for um Connor because he he and he had so many great things it's hard with that uh u reverse throwback pass that thing took forever and it was up in the air I thought it was never going to come down and poor old Christian Hamilton waiting on it I thought forever and that's hard to catch a ball that wide open and Christian did a great job and then scored and had uh copenhaver pushing him too so I think Connor will see that uh there were some plays he could have kept on the option instead of handing it off or vice versa I think he will see that there's some passes where he went short that he could have gone deeper um and he did a really good job J there's a followup to that you mentioned Poise how does he develop Poise other than being in those situations you know I told the guy I think he wants to please and he tries so hard he won two state championships in Alabama with packed houses so he he's got Poise and he's one of the smartest kids I've ever seen so I think he needs to have more fun and quit trying to please us all uh and hopefully after today he'll be able to do that fact along those lines with Connor did you think about in terms of the Poise and things like that did you you feel like he had a little bit of a dicey beginning there where he was kind of running around in the end zone a little bit you know the first series he he fumbled um do you think he was thinking too much trying to there in the on the first series yeah I mean I'm sure he was anxious cuz this first time he's ever started at home played a little bit against Campbell in the second half but he really hadn't played it um and you're you're following Drake and Sam so that's a l you're following Max who had a great third quarter the other night that's a load and he knows we got a chance to have a really good team we've got to have a quarterback step up so there's a tremendous amount of pressure and we've got to take that pressure off of him really help him he gives you an added Dimension CU he's so fast and I mean when he turns up there's 15 yards real quick so it's going to change how people play us and it's going to allow us to have more people open because they can't play man as much they can't Blitz as much cuz if they Blitz and Miss he gone so so there it's it's uh we're going to have to figure out how people are going to play him it's going to be interesting to watch to see how he develops the plan that we develop with him and how people play against him chip I seen that play Early in the game where he scrambled around few back cross the yeah that's one of those you said no don't oh good job that's a great play imag great play no I've gotten I thought it really was was when Drake made so many of the and Sam so many plays off off um off schedule that that I thought that was a great play for him and I thought the he had a lot of poise on the the trick play because the corner was coming he was coming fast and he sat right there and the one interception he had he got hit that's our fault I I couldn't tell exactly what happened but he's tough he's smart uh he's he can throw it he's got everything U but we've got to help him more we we we can't have penalties and and I was so proud of our discipline the first game we didn't have as much offensively tonight and part of it was young players but it doesn't matter they got to go by the rules too one thing we didn't ask you I guess and yeah uh it's upper body and he he should be fine he shouldn't be I don't know all of those guys and Jeremy will update you on Monday all those guys would have a chance I would think to play next week but if not within two nobody is in danger of not playing the rest of the year or rest of the years yes and cayman's probably a couple of weeks um maybe three you know but he's going to be fine and cayman's out there singing and jumping up and down and screaming and leading and he's just the best he he led the fight song in the in the locker room after the game M you had Christian catching his first career touchdown you had bullets going his first career touchdown Conor doing his thing Jordan ship recovered an onside kick do you feel like this was one of the more since you've been back one of the more complete contributions from younger guys freshman in any single game yeah I really do Michael I think it in fact it probably was there were guys out there uh Jordan ship screen he stopped he planted looked like an older guy and he went north and south and and made a great play and he had a bad shoulder for a couple of weeks so he didn't get to play so that'll be so much fun to watch him now and and what I've learned is when those young guys play in a game they practice so much harder the next week cuz they think think they have a chance to play again and and if you're not playing then you don't practice well so I I was I was excited to see Alex Taylor out there and Bar Green out there it's first time they've been on in Kenan Stadium in a game so it has to be a great thrill for them M you talk about David Young gos and the things he but to kind of elaborate on that how would you assess his performance having to take on the workload he did on a relative short notice with you know Marian going down obviously you knew bar wasn't going to play how you feel he took on that he is a lot like Omarian in that he never speaks that room doesn't speak I mean that none of them do so it's the weirdest thing of ever seen life and Coach Porter doesn't speak so they they just it's like a bunch of guys just sitting in there watching video and maybe they got sign language or something I don't know but but he is uh he's he's really cool he's mature he's tough uh he is not emotional at all we've seen that in the spring we've seen it every day in practice when you put him in a situation he looks like an older player and and he's tough he's 220 and he's got really good Vision the question was the long speed but if you're if you're getting 10 yards every time you touch it um and thank goodness we we had he had about three or four he could put in there today that made plays when we talked to Bullet back in I guess it was January February we talked to some of the early arriving freshman he said that he was mature he said he was College ready and he was was very proud of the fact that he could pass protect because he had to do that a lot in high school did we see some some of him tonight from a guy that came mature came ready to play absolutely he just got a guy like Omari an older guy like Dar in front of him he is and he is such a great story he was recruited by everybody and I said Why'd You Come here and he said because when I was a sophomore I went to the Miami game where you all played and U javante Williams and Michael Carter ran up and down the field and I said I want to play there and he said I made it made a decision that night I was coming to North Carolina if you all would offer me a scholarship so that's really cool and um I I love the young guy he he is not uh he is not afraid of anything he's tough mature smart um he he handles himself well like I said I think he's on every special team at the same time mat um I I wanted to ask you a little bit more about CH Christian Hamilton that crazy that trick play a touchdown I know you talked about it a little bit earlier but kind of kind of take you like behind that play and you know what how how it felt for those guys and for you to see him across and just see him celebrate that touchdown take through that well as as we're as our offense is growing and we're learning what Connor and jacobe can do um you you need some trick plays I thought the reverse to um Nate McCullum was really cool it's a great call he just slid in uh and he was close on a couple of kickoff returns uh but seeing Christian Hamilton like uh bullet does everything right he he's he don't speak he don't knows him a lot but he's a great student he's a tremendous person he is so unselfish bullet is so unselfish they do exactly what you ask them to do and I think Christian starts on four special teams so really really proud of those guys and the uh uh we needed some misdirection we've got to get Connor on the corner more with boots and nakeds we still haven't been able to do that a lot of people have been blitzing from the outside and that's why we're running the ball so well up inside but we still got to be able to have an element of getting on the corner uh and that play I I thought it was going to blow up because when the the corner came um I I thought he'd hit us in the back field and Connor was poised they were all poised they pitched it back to him and then Connor made a great throw um and and again it's really hard to catch a ball when you're not not sure where everybody around you uh is is located and they can all hit you and he was focused usually people Dro that ball and then he was cool enough to step around and John copenhaver was smart enough not to block in the back and we and we scored and I thought that pretty much ended the game CU they weren't going to score many points and then after that I I was disappointed we didn't score a couple of more touchdowns where we kick field goals Matt can you just talk about Javari rzy here in the ear year two more sacks tonight at the fin season just a highly recruited guy that feels like he's really kind of coming to his own yes uh first I'm a huge fan of of Ted monino I mean the guy's been a defensive coordinator in the NFL he's coached 16 years in NFL and he's coached the best pass rushers ever so the guy really knows what he's doing um so he has helped Javari is confident he's really healthy for the first time cuz he's always had a shoulder an ankle he's always had something and I think because he's playing playing so well and at such a high level and we're able to substitute for him and keep him fresh that he's he's playing with as much confidence as I've ever seen and pro Scouts were in there the other day just buzzing saying where'd this guy come from and so I'm really proud Dez Evans the same Dez is playing his tail off uh and he's playing so hard that uh I'm I'm really proud I thought Travis Shaw played good again tonight the interior people all played good um Josh Harris has added so much to us just because of depth Kevin Hester doesn't have to play tired anymore I remember Aaron Crawford played 98 plays at at Virginia Tech in the six overtimes I bet those guys what they had it 56 plays last week Minesota had it 55 these guys are playing 25 plays a game and I'll bet most of them probably didn't play that much we had Joel starlings in there um we had Nora in there we we had a lot of young guys out there playing tonight coach how vital is Elijah H's versatility maybe pressure is behind the line of SC as well as people it really hurt us last year when Elijah had to move to U nickel star because we lost DeAndre Boykins because we weren't as good at corner he is a ball Hawk he is uh he he's got tremendous hands he's got unbelievable instincts he's tough um and and uh he's he's one of the best players that we've got period and he exudes that confidence at the same time he was the ritzy was the defensive captain today uh Willie lamin was the offensive Captain today and Noah Bernett and Elijah huzzy shared the special team's Captain today that's how important he is to this team any concern over the big chunks in the passing game yeah but those are individual plays that we got to get better at or we've got to get more pressure on the quarterback you you can't everybody wants to Blitz but cover everybody well when you Blitz you got them back there by themselves so you better get there and and a couple of them were over Caleb cost and he'll get better at it because the star position is a a position that has to tackle he has to Blitz he has to cover their fastest guy I asked three after the game how fast are you he said oh no pretty fast I said yeah you look real fast um so we've got to look at that and and and see and uh there was a great out and up on Marcus Allen uh that they caught and that he played it really good the second half the similar thing played two really good plays there so um I I'm all in to Jeff Collins and stopping the run and blitzing the quarterback and and trying to get there before they they can throw it but if not those Corners better hang on and i' I'd rather give up uh three deep throws than 355 yds passing because uh then uh we don't have the ball we at 71 plays this week we had it 64 last week um if they keep the ball the whole whole game uh and we had it 33 minutes and and 24 seconds they had it 26 minutes and 36 seconds so and and we we should I should have mentioned this to start those Goal Line Stands were unbelievable we had done that around here they were unbelievable and and that just doesn't happen and then they're at the one one fourth and one and they have to throw it normally they could run a quarterback sneak and knock us back about six yards so so many posi POS things about this defense uh I'm I'm we we can get rid of the couple of long passes