University of North Carolina Athletics
Five With Fedora: Syracuse
October 22, 2018 | Football
By Jeff Greenberg, GoHeels.com
1. When a player suffers a major injury during a game like Antoine Green did this week, what is going through your mind at that moment and how do you get your focus and the focus of your players back to the task at hand?
"It's never easy in a situation like that. It really is tough to go through and tough to see. You never want to see one of your players go through an injury like that. It turns your stomach because you feel for the kid and what it means to him at that moment. You know how hard he's worked to get onto the field and just when he's starting to take it to another level, it's taken away from him for now. And when it's an injury like that one, where everybody knew immediately it was bad and you see the doctors run onto the field that fast you know it isn't good. So then you have get the other players out of the shock they're in because when you see one of your teammates go down that way it hurts you. You want to try and shield them from it, but you really can't at all. It hurts them because of the love they have for one another and the mutual respect of knowing how hard everybody works to get to this point. It isn't easy from any perspective. At that moment you're trying to get everybody back into where you are in the game. I mean players, coaches, staff, everybody on that sideline. You're trying to get yourself refocused too because it's hard not to think about where they're taking him, where his parents are, what they're thinking and the concern for their son. I hate those moments and they're extremely tough to go through at any time, not just during a game."
2. One of the aspects of this team that is continuing to develop and become a major factor in every game is the pressure the defensive line is putting on opposing quarterbacks. Your team is eighth nationally in sacks per game and in the top 40 in tackles for loss. What is that unit doing to be that successful?
"The guys we have playing up front have gotten to that point where it's their football knowledge that's taking hold now. Each guy understands their role and they understand what we're trying to do in the scheme on each and every play. You match that with the intensity and the effort they're showing and good things are going to happen on the field. They're really coming into their own. They've taken a lot of pride in being physical and making plays. And they're not just getting pressure on the quarterback but they're getting better against the run too. What's impressive about that is it isn't just one or two guys either. I don't think we've been able to start the same four guys in any game this season and their production hasn't suffered. This game was a good example of how they're affecting the game. They went up against one of the best, and one of the more experienced mobile quarterbacks in the conference and they essentially knocked him out of his rhythm to the point where they took him out of the game. That's a testament to where they are right now as a unit."
3. In the first half the run-game for your offense wasn't producing like you wanted it to in the game plan. What were the adjustments you made at halftime that allowed it to break out in the second half?
"They began the game doing some different things up front than what they've shown in previous games. They were running some different stunts and twists that they hadn't shown on film prior and it was giving us trouble in the first half. Once we identified exactly what they were trying to do we made some adjustments with the offensive line. We changed up assignments and some calls from what we had in place coming into the game. We came out and tried to get the ball on the perimeter a little bit more with the outside zone. I thought the backs ran hard, guys were physical in their blocks and the offensive line responded well to the adjustments we made. And that's a credit to the guys up front. It's not easy to practice all week with certain calls and assignments and then change all of that up in the 15 minutes you have at halftime. It tells me that this group, like the defensive line I mentioned earlier, is working with a great football IQ right now."
4. When you look at the last possession in regulation time, what was the thought process and were you considering letting Freeman Jones kick it from that distance?
"The thought process was to get in a position to get him a better look at a kick. On fourth down I just didn't feel like we got into that position to give him a fair chance at it. We weren't comfortable with where the ball was at that moment. We came out trying to get 5 yards to Anthony Ratliff-Williams on a quick throw to the sideline that we had success with during the game. Then when we ran the quarterback draw hoping to get the 5 or 6 yards we needed to line up the field goal. We had just run that play earlier in the quarter and gained a little over 10 yards on it, so we were trying to hit it again. But it didn't get what we wanted."
5. In your eyes, has your team gotten better since week one and if so, in what areas?
"There's no doubt in my mind that our team has gotten better since week one, and they've gotten better each and every week. I think we're getting more mature and better in a lot of areas. I think the offensive line stands out to me most in terms of making the most improvement over the course of the first six games. Other positions have gotten better too, but the amount of improvement the guys on the line have made has been tremendous in my opinion. They've started to establish a foundation of what they do due to the fact that the same five guys have been out there now for a few weeks. They're feeding off of each other and their instincts of what one another is going to do in certain situations has allowed them to play with more confidence and be more decisive. That has led them to also just be more physical at the point of attack. I think our perimeter guys on both sides of the ball have become more aggressive and more physical as well. You can see that in our wideouts blocking down field and the coverage our backs on the defense have shown. Some of the success of our defensive line is due to the coverage on the backend that has shown improvement week to week as well. So yes, our team has gotten better in my eyes. But it's time to turn that into wins. It's time to take all of the good things we're doing and make the play that finishes the game off for us."
Extra Point: At one point in this game, you were staring at a 20-7 deficit. With the way this season is going, many teams in your position may have just packed it in at that point in the game. But your guys didn't do that. What is keeping the fight alive in this team?
"There wasn't one moment in the game where I worried about the fight in this team. Never in my mind would I think that about the players we have in that locker room. It's not who this team is and it's just not in their make-up to stop fighting. Everybody in that locker room, coaches and players alike, believes in each other and is fighting every day for each other. Everybody in our building believes we can get this done and get over the hump. There was never a point in this game where I thought anything different than total belief in my guys and their desire and will to win."
