University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Head Coaches And UNC Players
November 5, 2016 | Football
Opening Statement
“Really a complete game for us. I thought our special teams played well. I thought our defense played really well. They gave us four extra possessions with a blocked field goal, two turnovers, and stuffing them on a fourth down. That was huge. That was the thing we talked about all week. Offensively, we ran the ball really efficiently, and Mitch (Trubisky) threw the ball as well as always.”
On the run game
“Somebody asked me this week, how was (Elijah) Hood. I said he's as close to 100 percent as he's been all year, and that means going all the way back to camp. He's really feeling good now. He's feeling like he's 100 percent, so he's breaking tackles. Offensive line did a heck of a job today. I thought they all did. I thought we blocked on the perimeter well. It was just an overall team effort.”
On how an improved run helps the offense
“Your tendencies aren't all passing when we go to third and medium, which helps us. To be able to be over 50 percent on third downs, we're going to have to be able to run the ball some and be effective that way. It also enables you to be in less third and longs because you're more effective running the football on first and second down.”
On the wide receivers
“In this game, they rolled a lot of things to (Ryan) Switzer's side no matter if we put him in the boundary or to the field. We were looking for ways to get him into some situations, and they kept rolling that way. That enables Bug (Howard) to be in a lot of one-on-one situations, and he's going to win a lot of those.”
On Mikey Bart
“What Mikey does is play the same way every single play. That guy has a motor. He never slows down when he's on the field. He goes as hard as he can every single play. I know to you guys, you think, 'Doesn't everybody do that?' Well, no, everybody does not do that. If we could get everybody to do that, we would be incredible. You would think, 'Well heck, that's got to be easy to do, isn't it?' No, it's not. To go out there and play as hard as you can each and every single snap, lot of people can't do it. But Mikey just has that motor about him and he does it every single time.”
Georgia Tech Coach Paul Johnson
Opening Statement:
“I'm really disappointed with the way we played. We didn't do a good job, evidently, getting them ready to play, as coaches. Give them some credit. I think they have a good football team, and we certainly helped them. We played about as poorly as you can on defense and not much better on offense or special teams. A deadly combination.”
On hiccups in the red zone:
“We were down there five times and scored 10 points. We get a penalty on the 2-yard line on a toss going the other way. I mean, come on. Now it will be interesting to see. The kids said the guy dove on the ground, so we'll see. We get a field goal. We kick the field goal low. They didn't get any real penetration on the jumper's block, but we kick it low and that was a huge play right before half, and it cuts it to one score. Then we turn the ball over twice. Unexplainable.”
On his perspective of defense coming from an offensive background:
“I guess I'm ultimately responsible for all of it, so we have to go back, and clearly that's two weeks in a row where we've given up almost, or I guess we did give up, 600 yards. Fortunately, we held the ball some in the second half, and we had some long, time-consuming drives or it would have been worse. It's disappointing.”
On defensive changes:
“I think you have to go back and look at the tape and evaluate. There's a ton of missed tackles and a ton of missed whatever. If you can't cover them, you can't cover them. Not getting much of a pass rush and not being able to cover is a deadly combination.”
On Dedrick Mills:
“[Dedrick Mills] did okay. There were some plays we missed, but he's a freshman. He's going to make some mistakes. There's no margin for error, and we're not good enough offensively to have no margin for error. It's just the way it is. When Kenny [Cooper] went in there, we're playing three freshman offensive linemen and a true freshman running back. Four guys.”
On the defensive philosophy:
“We're trying to get a stop. That's our philosophy. We got them in some third and longs. In the first half it was third-and-9, third-and-7, third-and-7, third-and-9, third-and-12. They tried to blitz, they tried to play zone, they found ways to get first downs on all of them.”
UNC Player Quotes
Jr. TB Elijah Hood
On Georgia Tech's defense:
“When they focused on the run so much, everything else had a way of opening up, especially the passing lanes, which made it so the defense had to pick which way they wanted to get beat. We called whatever we thought would be open in the heat of the moment. There were certain alignments they had where we just had numbers and angles on them. We took advantage of the angles they gave us.”
On his health:
“I had two weeks to rest and get my body feeling right. My legs felt really fresh, and I felt as if I had something to prove today. It's been a while since I have felt this healthy, I definitely felt a step quicker.”
Soph. QB Mitch Trubisky
On Elijah Hood's performance:
“It just makes our offense go. That's the Elijah we know. The offensive line did a great job up front moving guys and making lanes for him. He ran wild. That's kind of what we expect out of him.”
On Bug Howard stepping up:
“He is demanding the ball with his actions, and he is really becoming a great route runner. It's my job to get him the ball, and overall he has done a great job of stepping up for his team.”
On the number of possessions:
“What did we punt, once today? It was frustrating because we would drive down the first half and come away with field goals when we wanted touchdowns. So it was something we worked on and came out in the second half and executed. The playmakers made plays. All I had to do was give them the ball.”
Jr. DT Nazair Jones
On the home crowd:
“Our crowd was amazing today. They did a great job of showing love and making noise. Those are the kind of crowds that you love to play for.”
On discipline:
“We don't have any room for error. We are trying to get back to the ACC Championship. We have exactly no room for error. One mistake, and our season could be over, and a lot of goals could be crossed off our list.”
On Mikey Bart's motor:
“Mikey only knows one speed. Even in practice, we are only supposed to be going half speed or walking through, and he's just full tilt, and it's hard to slow him down when he gets going. I can play at that pace, but not as long as Mikey. Mikey can play like that for four quarters. I could maybe give you three. It's great because you can feed off of that. Maybe if I miss a play here or miss a play there, I see Mikey trying to get after it every single play, so I just try to match his intensity.”
Sr. TB T.J. Logan
On today's performance:
“Every time you step out onto the field, you want to let the other team know that you're not playing around. I feel like we came out here from the start, got the ball, just went down, and made plays.”
On Mitch's performance:
“Mitch is playing great. I feel like teams don't know how to stop us. As a running back, I feel like he opens up the field for us. We are able to hit some long gaps. When Elijah (Hood) is in, fake the pitch. You see how the guys shoot down, come up the field, and he is able to dunk it over, and make the play.”
