University of North Carolina Athletics
Five With Fedora: Virginia Tech
October 16, 2018 | Football
By Jeff Greenberg, GoHeels.com
1. In the locker room after the game you told the team they are so close to getting over the hump. What do you see right now to give you that feeling?
"What I see is a group of guys in that locker room that refuse to give up on each other. They refuse to quit fighting. So that's the first thing. When you're willing to do whatever takes for the guy playing next to you, then you have a chance to do great things. But it starts with the little things. It starts with the guys making the little things important, not just on Saturday, but on Sunday and Monday and throughout the week. I'm talking about on and off the field. If you're getting up to attack the day at school and doing the right things there, then you'll be better when you get to the locker room, and you'll be better in practice. That's what I've seen from this group every week in practice. They're making every day important. They are busting their tails every day and giving themselves a chance to win. On Saturday night our guys were the ones playing faster. Our guys were the more physical team. We were in many positions to win that game. We just needed one more guy to make a play in any of those situations to win that game. That's why I said we're close. It's not a matter of learning the effort we need to win or knowing what the game plan is on Saturday. It's a matter of working on the details every day so that when you're in middle of that play that could win the game for us, you make the play."
2. Coming into that game the Virginia Tech defense was ranked near the top of the ACC in rushing defense. What were the keys to your offense doubling the output in total yards and yards-per-carry than their defense usually allows?
"It was the physicality first and foremost from our guys up front. They do a lot of movement up front on their defensive line. I thought our guys did a great job in recognizing what they were doing with that movement and making the right calls on the line. We were making the right fits and getting hats on the right guys. But it was also how physical we were on the perimeter. If you go back and look at plays in this game you will see the wide-outs making physical blocks and the tight ends were making physical blocks. Our guys were aggressive and got after them. Then you look at our running backs and they ran hard all night. They weren't just making these runs on their first cuts. There were a lot of runs that they made after taking the first hit. They were bouncing off of defenders and making something happen after that hit. When they saw an opening they hit it and they played fast. I think you can see that the run-game has been building every week and it's becoming the strength of the offense and adding the balance we need. It takes all eleven guys to do that and that's what our guys did against a good run defense in Virginia Tech."
3. On another note, there were a lot of opportunities in the passing game where receivers came open and in some cases, were running all alone behind the defense. Did you see something on film from Virginia Tech heading into the game that allowed you to attack them a certain way and get guys that open?
"It's not easy to get guys open like that in college football. We thought our game plan would put us in a good position to get guys open in this game. Our staff did a great job with the scheme and route concepts. Some of this started with the success of the run-game I mentioned earlier. We had some success early on the ground, so when we went to our play-action passing game it put the defense in a bind. We were able to disrupt their eye discipline and get them looking in the wrong places. That's what allowed our guys to break free down the field. But that's not enough. We hit some of those but we didn't hit enough of them. When you have guys open behind the defense you have to make those throws and you have to make those catches. Those are the details I'm talking about. Those are the opportunities that are the difference between winning and losing a football game. You can't just get a play 95% correct. You have to complete the play and put the ball in the end zone when you're a position to do so."
4. The defense turned in a solid performance. Heading into this game the Hokies were near the top the ACC in total offense, averaging over 450 yards per game, as well as 32 points per game. Your guys held them under 400 yards and 10 points below their scoring average. Was that a result of the scheme put in place for this game or just the effort from the guys on that side of the ball?
"I think it was a combination of both. Starting with the game plan, I think JP and the guys in that room put the right plan in place. They put our guys in the right spots and in position to make plays. They made the right adjustments as the game progressed and you could see our guys were more confident. When you're confident in what you're seeing and what you're supposed to be doing then you play faster. Our guys were playing faster in this game and you could see that. They were also playing physical from back to front. I thought our front controlled the line of scrimmage. We were able to get a lot of pressure with just the front four guys. They were able to get four sacks and they had chances for more. Our defense played a great game. Again, we just needed to make one more play to win this game. They were in a position to do that at the end. When you're in that position you need to get the guy down and get off of the field. But I think our guys played with an edge to them and that's what needs to carry over to this week and every other game as well."
5. How would you describe the atmosphere in Kenan Stadium Saturday night?
"I thought the atmosphere in our stadium Saturday night was absolutely awesome. Our fans showed up strong and they showed up loud all the way to the end of the game. I think they had to turn students away at one point because they had maxed out the student section. I mean even during the timeouts you could feel the buzz was still going. They were in the game the entire time and really kept the energy going non-stop. Our guys fed off of that energy and really did make the Tar Pit an electric atmosphere. The way the crowd turned out and cheered for this team was greatly appreciated more than I can put into words. I'm just really disappointed we couldn't give them the win."
1. In the locker room after the game you told the team they are so close to getting over the hump. What do you see right now to give you that feeling?
"What I see is a group of guys in that locker room that refuse to give up on each other. They refuse to quit fighting. So that's the first thing. When you're willing to do whatever takes for the guy playing next to you, then you have a chance to do great things. But it starts with the little things. It starts with the guys making the little things important, not just on Saturday, but on Sunday and Monday and throughout the week. I'm talking about on and off the field. If you're getting up to attack the day at school and doing the right things there, then you'll be better when you get to the locker room, and you'll be better in practice. That's what I've seen from this group every week in practice. They're making every day important. They are busting their tails every day and giving themselves a chance to win. On Saturday night our guys were the ones playing faster. Our guys were the more physical team. We were in many positions to win that game. We just needed one more guy to make a play in any of those situations to win that game. That's why I said we're close. It's not a matter of learning the effort we need to win or knowing what the game plan is on Saturday. It's a matter of working on the details every day so that when you're in middle of that play that could win the game for us, you make the play."
2. Coming into that game the Virginia Tech defense was ranked near the top of the ACC in rushing defense. What were the keys to your offense doubling the output in total yards and yards-per-carry than their defense usually allows?
"It was the physicality first and foremost from our guys up front. They do a lot of movement up front on their defensive line. I thought our guys did a great job in recognizing what they were doing with that movement and making the right calls on the line. We were making the right fits and getting hats on the right guys. But it was also how physical we were on the perimeter. If you go back and look at plays in this game you will see the wide-outs making physical blocks and the tight ends were making physical blocks. Our guys were aggressive and got after them. Then you look at our running backs and they ran hard all night. They weren't just making these runs on their first cuts. There were a lot of runs that they made after taking the first hit. They were bouncing off of defenders and making something happen after that hit. When they saw an opening they hit it and they played fast. I think you can see that the run-game has been building every week and it's becoming the strength of the offense and adding the balance we need. It takes all eleven guys to do that and that's what our guys did against a good run defense in Virginia Tech."
3. On another note, there were a lot of opportunities in the passing game where receivers came open and in some cases, were running all alone behind the defense. Did you see something on film from Virginia Tech heading into the game that allowed you to attack them a certain way and get guys that open?
"It's not easy to get guys open like that in college football. We thought our game plan would put us in a good position to get guys open in this game. Our staff did a great job with the scheme and route concepts. Some of this started with the success of the run-game I mentioned earlier. We had some success early on the ground, so when we went to our play-action passing game it put the defense in a bind. We were able to disrupt their eye discipline and get them looking in the wrong places. That's what allowed our guys to break free down the field. But that's not enough. We hit some of those but we didn't hit enough of them. When you have guys open behind the defense you have to make those throws and you have to make those catches. Those are the details I'm talking about. Those are the opportunities that are the difference between winning and losing a football game. You can't just get a play 95% correct. You have to complete the play and put the ball in the end zone when you're a position to do so."
4. The defense turned in a solid performance. Heading into this game the Hokies were near the top the ACC in total offense, averaging over 450 yards per game, as well as 32 points per game. Your guys held them under 400 yards and 10 points below their scoring average. Was that a result of the scheme put in place for this game or just the effort from the guys on that side of the ball?
"I think it was a combination of both. Starting with the game plan, I think JP and the guys in that room put the right plan in place. They put our guys in the right spots and in position to make plays. They made the right adjustments as the game progressed and you could see our guys were more confident. When you're confident in what you're seeing and what you're supposed to be doing then you play faster. Our guys were playing faster in this game and you could see that. They were also playing physical from back to front. I thought our front controlled the line of scrimmage. We were able to get a lot of pressure with just the front four guys. They were able to get four sacks and they had chances for more. Our defense played a great game. Again, we just needed to make one more play to win this game. They were in a position to do that at the end. When you're in that position you need to get the guy down and get off of the field. But I think our guys played with an edge to them and that's what needs to carry over to this week and every other game as well."
5. How would you describe the atmosphere in Kenan Stadium Saturday night?
"I thought the atmosphere in our stadium Saturday night was absolutely awesome. Our fans showed up strong and they showed up loud all the way to the end of the game. I think they had to turn students away at one point because they had maxed out the student section. I mean even during the timeouts you could feel the buzz was still going. They were in the game the entire time and really kept the energy going non-stop. Our guys fed off of that energy and really did make the Tar Pit an electric atmosphere. The way the crowd turned out and cheered for this team was greatly appreciated more than I can put into words. I'm just really disappointed we couldn't give them the win."
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