University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Louisville Postgame Quotes
October 8, 2011 | Football
Oct. 8, 2011
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North Carolina Football • Game 6
UNC 14, Louisville 7
Oct. 8, 2011 • Kenan Stadium • Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina Head Coach Everett Withers
"It's good to be 5-1, 4-0 against the nonconference and 2-0 against the Big East. People talked throughout the early part of the season about us starting fast but not doing well in the second half. I think we reversed that today. We worked on a bunch of things at halftime and I thought over 200 yards [of offense] in the second half was huge.
"This defense was ranked in the top-15 in the country and for Giovani [Bernard] to gain 109 yards is pretty good. So we're excited about that. Obviously, we have got a lot of things to go back and work on. Any time you can go back and work on things and come out with a win, that's important. Gio's the first back since '84 and Ethan Horton, to rush for 100 yards in four straight games. So that's a pretty good stat, we need to keep that going.
"I'm pleased with the kids. I thought their attitude at halftime was great. There was no panic and the score was 0-0. We talk about being 0-0 at halftime whether we're up or down and we were at 0-0. So it made it easy to go in there and correct some things and come out and play better in the second half.
"My hat goes off to Charlie Strong and the coaches at Louisville. They play really good defense and have a good young quarterback. This was not going to be an easy test and we knew it coming in."
Would you have liked to have seen your offense run Gio more in the first half?
"I think we wanted to try as best we could to gain yards, whether it was running or passing. Any time you're playing a good defense, you have got to figure out where they are weak."
How were you able to slow Louisville down in the second half?
"I think our coaches did a good job at halftime figuring out protections. We had a little bit of an idea what they might do in this game offensively. But they had a new signal caller for them calling plays, so we really didn't know totally what they would do. They ran a little bit more wildcat than we thought they would. So it was just a matter of figuring things out."
On Dwight Jones making big plays:
"I think any of our wideouts that get single coverage, and we know they are going to get single coverage with no safety over the top, we talk about winning 50/50 balls. If we can throw it up to them, we feel like they've got an opportunity to make plays on single coverage. Some of the catches Dwight was making outside was because of the formations and what people are giving us.
On getting Louisville to jump offsides:
We work on those kind of plays all the time. You go back two years ago against Pittsburgh in the bowl game and Pittsburgh drew us offsides. That's always stuck in my mind. That's a heck of a play. We started back in training camp working on that. We've got an arsenal of those kind of plays. We figure if we can get inside the kicker's range and they jump offsides, so be it.
Were you convinced that it was going to work?
No question.
On winning a close game:
I think it's important to have a close game at this point in time in the season and win one. I think it's important to go win an ugly football game. Then you can go back and your kids see you can win games when you don't play your best. When you start stepping up the competition and playing in the ACC week after week we're going to have to be at our best. I think it's important to win these types of games. At halftime, I think we grew up a little bit. I don't want us to be playing our best ball right now. I want us to be playing our best ball as we start getting ready in this ACC stretch.
UNC Player Quotes
Freshman TB Giovani Bernard:
(On his touchdown)
“I think it was just a big sigh of relief. You see a hole, you've got to hit it. Travis Bond did an amazing job on that pull and I saw a crease right there. If we had been on the one-yard line, that would have been a 99-yard run.”
“They forced a couple of three-and-outs, and I think it shows a lot about our offense. When things aren't going right, we can come back.”
(About the loss to Georgia Tech)
“We definitely feel like we should be 6-0. Everyone still talks about it. We let it go, but it gets brought up every once in a while. Things like that are going to happen. It's just a matter of how you rebound. It doesn't matter how you win, just as long as you get that W.”
Junior WR Erik Highsmith:
“Our team has talent across the board. I want to stay consistent alongside Dwight (Jones). I just want to go out there and make a play.”
Why the slow start?
“Probably the 12 o'clock game – it's early.
Senior WR Dwight Jones
“I feel like the touchdown gave us a little spark. It just got us some good momentum.”
Why not a spark in the first quarter?
“They were playing good defense.”
