Five With Fedora - Nov. 13 - University of North Carolina Athletics

By Jeff Greenberg, GoHeels.com

1. When the game was over and you were headed to the airport, or maybe on the flight already, what were you thinking about?
"Obviously the atmosphere was better than in previous weeks. It was great to go into the locker room and see the smiles on the guys' faces. I really wanted this one for them and the coaching staff. These guys work hard and they deserve to have this feeling. So that felt good. For me, the main thing I was reflecting on was the fact that we won this game because we took care of the football. I know I've sounded like a broken record every week in saying that if we take care of the football we will have a chance to win, but it's that simple. We didn't play a perfect game but we played well enough and protected the ball, and that's what put us in a position to win. If you go back and look at every game this season, you will find turnovers that cost us a chance to win more games. So in thinking about the way we protected the ball I did think about the games before this one. Every game comes down to plays you can single out that turned the outcome towards one team or the other. I mean, you take the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, or you miss a field goal. You drop a crucial pass or you strip the ball from a guy on the 1 yard-line and take it the other way. There's quite a few plays you always think about. This week I thought about our guys doing what they had to do to protect the football."

2. One of those guys who said they were focused on protecting the football was Nathan Elliott. He played a lot against Miami but this was his first college start. How was he different in this game than he was in the Miami game?
"He was much more calm going into this game, which isn't a surprise because he knew he was starting going into it. Against Miami he had to get in there with only having had minimal reps in practice that week. That's a difficult challenge for anybody, let alone doing it against a top-10 team. Nathan is a kid who is always prepared and he's put in the work since the day he got to UNC. He's a coach's kid who's been around the game his whole life. I think what was good to see against Miami and then again this week against Pitt was that he didn't shy away when the bright lights came on. He rose to the occasion. I thought he handled the offense well and executed the game plan. I think he knew what we were looking for in the game plan. There were some specific things we thought we could take advantage of with their safeties and Nathan was able to do that in the passing game. He was confident because he was under control and led this team because of that in this game."

3. You mentioned that the team didn't play a perfect game, but one position group that may have had their best game of the season were the wide receivers. What did you see from this group?
"I wouldn't disagree with your assessment there. I think we only had two drops in this game which is probably the fewest we've had this season. We ran the routes we needed and they did a good job with those routes. Earlier in the year we talked about the struggle to get separation from the defender, and I thought that was something our guys did a much better job of in this game. You have to remind yourself how young this group is in terms of who we're working with and who we lost to injury. We needed somebody to step up and want to be the guy to make plays for us and I think you saw a few guys do that tonight. As a whole that group did a lot of great things in this game. I think it's something that will help them take that next step in their development and build from it moving forward the next two weeks."

4. There have been multiple games this year where your team has had the lead in the fourth quarter. What was the difference this time in turning that lead in the fourth quarter into a win?
"First and foremost, I don't think our guys get rattled by the situation. They keep their heads down and they keep playing hard. We had the lead in the fourth quarter and that's when the defense really stepped up and forced two punts down the stretch. That's what we needed and the offense came out and did the rest. There were situations in the game where I felt like offensive line stepped up, but particularly in that 4-minute drill at the end. There were three minutes left and Pitt had three timeouts, but we still ran the clock out, which doesn't always happen in those situations. The offensive line helped run the clock out by creating some space for Jordon Brown to operate in at the end. I think Jordon is finishing his runs hard. His vision is getting clearer as the game slows down for him. Jordon is also doing well with protections and feeling comfortable out there now. He was big in closing this game out for us, but really, it was a collective team effort that won that fourth quarter."

5. The Sunday practice before the Pitt game was described by you as the best Sunday practice coming off an open week that you had ever seen in your thirty years of coaching. How did this Sunday's practice look and what are you expecting from your team this week?
"Our guys are in really good shape mentally right now. It was another really good practice. Their energy level was high and we got a lot done. I think it was a great way to start the week, but these guys have done this all season long. There was no extra pep to see in their step this week coming off of a win because they've brought the right energy all season long. It's what I love about this group and it's what I'm most proud of with this group. They don't get too low and they don't get too high emotionally. They know last week means nothing if we don't take care of this week. They know their opportunities to play this game with their brothers are fewer and fewer. So they came out focused on what the challenge is this week, and I feel like it was another great start in preparation for Western Carolina."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Five With Fedora - Nov. 13

Players Mentioned

Jordon Brown

Nathan Elliott

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