University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. The Citadel
November 20, 2016 | Football
UNC Head Coach Larry Fedora
Opening Statement
“I'm pretty proud of our team. We were worried about that football team. We knew they were a really good football team, that they would control the clock and that our guys were going to have to steal a few possessions. Defensively we did that, we had four turnovers which was a tremendous thing, and then we made some game changing plays on special teams that we needed. Offensively I thought we played well at times and other times we were very sloppy, so we got to get those things corrected, but overall it was a great team win.”
On first interception of the season
“I'm glad we got one. I was told that we are the only team in the country that has returned all their interceptions for touchdowns, so that's a pretty big deal I would think. I don't think anybody was sitting around putting a lot of pressure on themselves thinking we got to get a pick.”
On bouncing back after the loss
“It was the only way we were going to get that taste out of our mouths. I fully expected our guys to respond the way they did because you could tell the way they prepared in practice. They were locked in and practiced really well, and so when you do that usually you're going to play that way.”
On non-offensive touchdowns
“We'll always take non-offensive touchdowns. That's always a big boost. Offensively there were quite a few times we were sloppy tonight and didn't execute the way we expected to so we have to get that corrected.”
On T.J. Logan
“That catch he made on that touchdown was an incredible catch. That has got to be a Top Ten catch, I'd imagine. He is a very skilled athlete. He can do a lot of things. He is having the senior year you would love for a kid to have and I am proud of him because he is the ultimate team player. It is all about the team for him.”
On the UNC's run defense so far this season
“That team [Citadel] ran the football every snap. They came into the game rushing for 360 yards a game and they were number one in the country for FCS doing it. I thought once we settled in, after the first series where they ran the football every play. Our guys eventually held them and we made some adjustments from that point on and I thought we played really well, until we started playing everyone else and we started giving up some plays. I thought overall our guys played well.”
Citadel Coach Brent Thompson
Opening Statement:
“I just told the players we've got a long season ahead of us. We were nowhere near playing where we wanted today. But we needed a day like today to remind us that if you don't play well and you turn the ball over and you make a lot of mistakes, then you're not going to win very many football games, especially against a very good North Carolina football team. An FBS opponent right there, I would've liked to have a much better showing but that's not the way it worked out today and that's alright, and we're going to learn from this and move on.”
On their first loss of the season
“It [the locker room] was somber. We thought we had a good chance tonight. We thought we were in this football game. We took the first drive down and a penalty set us back on that drive. Penalties set us back on a couple of other drives and self-inflicted penalties, we were too anxious. When you get an opportunity and don't convert on points, it'll eventually come back and get you.”
On moving forward
“We are going to learn from it and there are a lot of things we can take away from this game…our effort was good, execution was poor at times, but our effort on both sides of the ball was good.”
On emotions after the game
“We have an opportunity to win every single football game out there, and it is disappointing. It is very disappointing. The disappointment lies more in the execution than it does anything else. If we didn't turn the ball over and we played a fairly clean game, and they beat us. I get it. I'm okay with that. But, the fact that we shot ourselves in the foot so many different times, that is where it starts to hurt.”
