University of North Carolina Athletics
Off Week Coming At Right Time For Young Heels
September 11, 2014 | Football
CHAPEL HILL --- Just two weeks into the 2014 season, the North Carolina football team finds itself with an early bye week and extra time to prepare for its next game against East Carolina on September 20.
Despite starting the season 2-0, the young Tar Heels are still learning and making mistakes. Head coach Larry Fedora said at Wednesday's practice that he thinks this bye week comes at just the right time to slow down and try to start correcting those mistakes.
"I think it's a good time for us, I really do because we're a young football team, so (the early bye week has) enabled us to go back to basics, go back to fundamentals," Fedora said. "When you're going through a season, it's hard to be able to spend the time on (fundamentals), so I think it was a good time for us as young as we are."
Associate head coach Vic Koenning also believes the youth of the team is a reason for its mistakes in the first two games of the season - especially against San Diego State when the Carolina defense missed 34 tackles during the game.
On some plays there's just no electricity, Koenning said, while on others, players are creating big, exciting moments with huge tackles like stopping San Diego State at the 4 yard line to set up the interception in the end zone that sealed last week's game.
The potential is there, but the consistency is lacking, and it's the leaders on the defense that need to set the example for those younger players in order to improve.
"The leadership has got to step up, the leadership has got to demand the habits from their teammates," Koenning said. "We've got to continue to get the leaders on our defense to establish the work ethic and establish the decorum of the locker room and establish where we're at."
While the defense has made plenty of mistakes in the first two games of the season, it has also kept the Tar Heels competitive. The defense forced six turnovers in the season opener against Liberty and added three interceptions against San Diego State a week later.
It also put the first - and only - points on the board for UNC in the first half against SDSU, with a Brian Walker pick-six in the second quarter, as the offense didn't score until the third.
Quarterback Marquise Williams credits those explosive plays and the energy on defense with keeping the energy of the offense up when it isn't clicking.
"As an offense, the defense got us going. With the defense flying around having fun, we have no choice but to have their back and to come out and have some fun too," Williams said. "I think if we just keep pushing the tempo, nobody can stop us because we are rolling and we're having fun doing it."
Carolina has an extra week to work on improving its team's fundamentals on both sides of the ball, and the Tar Heels will need that work as they head into a grueling mid-season schedule.
"We've got a long way to go," Koenning said. "I think our guys are learning how to practice a little bit better, but they've still got to get better. We've played harder this year, but we've just got to make some plays."
Players Mentioned
