University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
GoHeels Exclusive: Press Conference Notes
September 3, 2018 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Two days removed from North Carolina's 24-17 loss at California, Larry Fedora met with reporters for his weekly press conference on Monday.
Here are five notes from the press conference, leading up to Saturday's game at East Carolina:
Reviewing the offense
Although the Tar Heels outgained California 301-279, the offense struggled early on, totaling 38 yards, one first down and three turnovers in the first half.Â
Fedora said "a multitude of issues" hindered the offense. Specifically, he referenced a lack of execution by the offensive line and the offense itself.
"I'm going to say if you don't win up front, you're going to have a hard time on offense," Fedora said. "Your quarterback has got to make good decisions, and your running backs have got to run hard. And I'm not saying the running backs didn't run hard. But we've got to do a better job up front and we've got to make better decisions at quarterback."
Carney leads imposing D-line
Despite not forcing a turnover, Fedora said the defense played well throughout Saturday's game. California's 279 yards were the fewest allowed by UNC since it held Virginia to 253 on Oct. 22, 2016.
Fedora said the defensive line was crucial to the defense's success. The unit's penetration into the Golden Bears' backfield helped Carolina tally 10 tackles for loss, the most by the Tar Heels since they finished with 10 at ECU on Sept. 20, 2014.
"I thought our defensive front controlled the line of scrimmage," Fedora said. "There were times when we put tremendous pressure on the quarterback with just four guys. We changed the line of scrimmage in the running game quite a few times."
Among the standouts along the defensive line was Malik Carney, who registered a team-high eight total tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. According to College Football Reference, Carney is the first UNC player to reach those totals in a single game since Kareem Martin and Terry Shankle at Pittsburgh on Nov. 16, 2013.
"He had a great game," said Fedora of Carney. "He had the kind of game we expected him to have because he's prepared himself that way."
Ross, Smith excel
Although the defensive line was considered to be one of Carolina's strengths entering this season, questions surrounded the linebacking corps after the departures of Cayson Collins and Andre Smith. But Dominique Ross and Jonathan Smith, along with stalwart Cole Holcomb, impressed Saturday.
Making his second career start, Ross recorded five tackles, including one for a loss. He also added four pass breakups, the most by a Tar Heel since Des Lawrence had four at Pittsburgh on Oct. 29, 2015.
"Dominique was all over the place," Fedora said. "He was physical, he knew his run fits, he fit where he needed to. He tackled very solid. He was physical in everything he did, and then he did a great job in his coverages."
After showing flashes of his potential in four starts last season, Jonathan Smith picked up where he left off, posting six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
"He got a lot of experience last year, and I think you saw that in this game," Fedora said. "John was not rattled by any means. He got out there and played the way he played all spring and all camp. He kind of had the day we were expecting him to have."
Good communication
Fedora has often discussed in recent years how communication problems have led to chunk plays. But after limiting California to two passes of 15 yards or more, Fedora praised his experienced secondary for its communication.
"You go back a year and the difference in our communication defensively was much better," Fedora said. "The only time we really had any question of that was in that one series where there was some tempo and we got on our heels. It was a good thing to learn from because that showed when the communication dropped off, we gave up some plays in that one drive."
An unusual week
After two lightning delays postponed ECU's game against North Carolina A&T on Saturday, the Pirates lost 28-23 on Sunday.Â
Most weeks, Fedora and his staff spend part of Sunday breaking down film of their next opponent. But because of ECU's postponement, Fedora said he didn't start studying the Pirates until Monday morning.
"It backs up everything," Fedora said. "It just gives you less time to prepare. So for them, it's the same way. Playing a day later gives them less time to prepare, so we're both in the same boat."
UNC already faced another unusual game-planning challenge in preparing for ECU after a cross-country flight back from California.Â
"We've got to do a really good job with recovery for our players," Fedora said. "That's the big deal – making sure they get enough sleep this week to recover from the long flight over night coming back. Then you've got the preparation as far as your game plan and all that which got pushed back another day. So there are some time constraints that we'll have to adjust to, but we'll adjust."
Two days removed from North Carolina's 24-17 loss at California, Larry Fedora met with reporters for his weekly press conference on Monday.
Here are five notes from the press conference, leading up to Saturday's game at East Carolina:
Reviewing the offense
Although the Tar Heels outgained California 301-279, the offense struggled early on, totaling 38 yards, one first down and three turnovers in the first half.Â
Fedora said "a multitude of issues" hindered the offense. Specifically, he referenced a lack of execution by the offensive line and the offense itself.
"I'm going to say if you don't win up front, you're going to have a hard time on offense," Fedora said. "Your quarterback has got to make good decisions, and your running backs have got to run hard. And I'm not saying the running backs didn't run hard. But we've got to do a better job up front and we've got to make better decisions at quarterback."
Carney leads imposing D-line
Despite not forcing a turnover, Fedora said the defense played well throughout Saturday's game. California's 279 yards were the fewest allowed by UNC since it held Virginia to 253 on Oct. 22, 2016.
Fedora said the defensive line was crucial to the defense's success. The unit's penetration into the Golden Bears' backfield helped Carolina tally 10 tackles for loss, the most by the Tar Heels since they finished with 10 at ECU on Sept. 20, 2014.
"I thought our defensive front controlled the line of scrimmage," Fedora said. "There were times when we put tremendous pressure on the quarterback with just four guys. We changed the line of scrimmage in the running game quite a few times."
Among the standouts along the defensive line was Malik Carney, who registered a team-high eight total tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. According to College Football Reference, Carney is the first UNC player to reach those totals in a single game since Kareem Martin and Terry Shankle at Pittsburgh on Nov. 16, 2013.
"He had a great game," said Fedora of Carney. "He had the kind of game we expected him to have because he's prepared himself that way."
Ross, Smith excel
Although the defensive line was considered to be one of Carolina's strengths entering this season, questions surrounded the linebacking corps after the departures of Cayson Collins and Andre Smith. But Dominique Ross and Jonathan Smith, along with stalwart Cole Holcomb, impressed Saturday.
Making his second career start, Ross recorded five tackles, including one for a loss. He also added four pass breakups, the most by a Tar Heel since Des Lawrence had four at Pittsburgh on Oct. 29, 2015.
"Dominique was all over the place," Fedora said. "He was physical, he knew his run fits, he fit where he needed to. He tackled very solid. He was physical in everything he did, and then he did a great job in his coverages."
After showing flashes of his potential in four starts last season, Jonathan Smith picked up where he left off, posting six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
"He got a lot of experience last year, and I think you saw that in this game," Fedora said. "John was not rattled by any means. He got out there and played the way he played all spring and all camp. He kind of had the day we were expecting him to have."
Good communication
Fedora has often discussed in recent years how communication problems have led to chunk plays. But after limiting California to two passes of 15 yards or more, Fedora praised his experienced secondary for its communication.
"You go back a year and the difference in our communication defensively was much better," Fedora said. "The only time we really had any question of that was in that one series where there was some tempo and we got on our heels. It was a good thing to learn from because that showed when the communication dropped off, we gave up some plays in that one drive."
An unusual week
After two lightning delays postponed ECU's game against North Carolina A&T on Saturday, the Pirates lost 28-23 on Sunday.Â
Most weeks, Fedora and his staff spend part of Sunday breaking down film of their next opponent. But because of ECU's postponement, Fedora said he didn't start studying the Pirates until Monday morning.
"It backs up everything," Fedora said. "It just gives you less time to prepare. So for them, it's the same way. Playing a day later gives them less time to prepare, so we're both in the same boat."
UNC already faced another unusual game-planning challenge in preparing for ECU after a cross-country flight back from California.Â
"We've got to do a really good job with recovery for our players," Fedora said. "That's the big deal – making sure they get enough sleep this week to recover from the long flight over night coming back. Then you've got the preparation as far as your game plan and all that which got pushed back another day. So there are some time constraints that we'll have to adjust to, but we'll adjust."
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