North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora took part in the weekly ACC Football Teleconference on Wednesday to field questions about his team.
Here is the complete transcript of what Fedora had to say:
Opening Statement…
LARRY FEDORA: We feel like we had a very productive open week last week, got a lot of good work done, and we're anxious to go into our seventh week of the season, getting into Keenan Stadium and the Tar Pit and playing for the second time this year.
Q. I was wondering if you would assess the development of your run defense and how you see that match-up particularly with Virginia Tech this weekend.
LARRY FEDORA: Yeah, we're going to have to do a great job. I mean, Virginia Tech does a nice job of scheming up runs and running the ball physically. Our guys are going to have to do a great job of being where they're supposed to be, having their eyes where they need to be, and then fitting those gaps and being physical throughout the entire game.
Q. They had some trouble in short yardage against Notre Dame. Part of that might be how good Notre Dame was up front, but specifically in their short-yardage stuff, what have you seen from Virginia Tech?
LARRY FEDORA: You know, they -- I would say that Notre Dame did a really nice job against them in that game. I don't foresee that being a problem for Virginia Tech. You know, they had a few issues in that game but not in the other games.
Q. Especially with the popularity of RPOs in college football, I'm curious about your thoughts on the ineligible receiver downfield rule. There's been a lot of talk about changing it to reflect what the NFL does. What are your thoughts on that?
LARRY FEDORA: Well, one, there was a lot of talk of that in the last probably two years, but I would say this year and even last year, you didn't hear as much about it. I think our officials are doing a much better job than when the RPO's first came out. I think the officials adjusted, and I think they're doing a much better job of it. There hasn't been much talk of that lately, so I think they're across the board doing a better job with it.
Q. I saw a story recently that up to 50 percent of college football teams are employing RPO concepts in their offensive scheme. Given that, does that three-yard cushion kind of give the offense an unfair advantage over the defense?
LARRY FEDORA: Unfair advantage? I don't know if I would say it's unfair. I think if it was unfair, they would have adjusted the rules. But you're right, I think there's -- I would say that probably 50 percent of the teams are probably using some type of RPO, whether it be pre-snap read or post-snap read on whether they're run or pass. I think if you look in the NFL, there's quite a few teams in the NFL that are using it right now. They're just doing it a little bit differently without the linemen moving.
Q. If I could ask you a little bit about them defensively, their secondary is very young and obviously got exposed a little bit in the Old Dominion game. When you look at that group, is it a typical Virginia Tech secondary, or can you kind of see the inexperience?
LARRY FEDORA: No, it's very much a typical Virginia Tech secondary. I mean, they do -- they're not as experienced as they were last year, I mean, but you had some guys that had been doing it for quite a while back there. But they're still very good athletes. They can run. They're athletic. The schemes that Bud uses are a little bit different than most teams use. Their guys have -- their guys understand it very well and I think do a great job of playing it.
I think you look at that Old Dominion game, and if you really study that game, there were some incredible plays that were made by Old Dominion in some -- they were covered. You had guys on them. You had two guys on them sometimes, and they still made the play.
Q. And up front with them, Ricky Walker, the defensive tackle, how much does he show up as you prep for this game?
LARRY FEDORA: Ricky is -- No. 8 is everywhere. If he's not wearing 25, it's 8, and he works all over the field, works extremely hard, plays hard. All their guys do. They always do. But Ricky is always going to be all over the place because he plays so hard.
Q. Damon Hazelton is a new addition for them on the outside, brings some size that they haven't had there. What have been your video impressions of him?
LARRY FEDORA: Well, he's a big receiver that's physical. Notre Dame, I think he really had quite a few plays in the Notre Dame game. They played off of him and gave him the underneath routes, and they took advantage of it and did a nice job with it. I think the guy is a good player.
Q. On your side, Anthony is averaging 20 yards a catch but only 13 receptions in those four games. Do you just need to do a better job of getting him the ball more often?
LARRY FEDORA: That would be one thing. We've got to get the ball to him more often, and we've got to -- when you get the ball there, he's got to make the plays that are presented before him.
Here is the complete transcript of what Fedora had to say:
Opening Statement…
LARRY FEDORA: We feel like we had a very productive open week last week, got a lot of good work done, and we're anxious to go into our seventh week of the season, getting into Keenan Stadium and the Tar Pit and playing for the second time this year.
Q. I was wondering if you would assess the development of your run defense and how you see that match-up particularly with Virginia Tech this weekend.
LARRY FEDORA: Yeah, we're going to have to do a great job. I mean, Virginia Tech does a nice job of scheming up runs and running the ball physically. Our guys are going to have to do a great job of being where they're supposed to be, having their eyes where they need to be, and then fitting those gaps and being physical throughout the entire game.
Q. They had some trouble in short yardage against Notre Dame. Part of that might be how good Notre Dame was up front, but specifically in their short-yardage stuff, what have you seen from Virginia Tech?
LARRY FEDORA: You know, they -- I would say that Notre Dame did a really nice job against them in that game. I don't foresee that being a problem for Virginia Tech. You know, they had a few issues in that game but not in the other games.
Q. Especially with the popularity of RPOs in college football, I'm curious about your thoughts on the ineligible receiver downfield rule. There's been a lot of talk about changing it to reflect what the NFL does. What are your thoughts on that?
LARRY FEDORA: Well, one, there was a lot of talk of that in the last probably two years, but I would say this year and even last year, you didn't hear as much about it. I think our officials are doing a much better job than when the RPO's first came out. I think the officials adjusted, and I think they're doing a much better job of it. There hasn't been much talk of that lately, so I think they're across the board doing a better job with it.
Q. I saw a story recently that up to 50 percent of college football teams are employing RPO concepts in their offensive scheme. Given that, does that three-yard cushion kind of give the offense an unfair advantage over the defense?
LARRY FEDORA: Unfair advantage? I don't know if I would say it's unfair. I think if it was unfair, they would have adjusted the rules. But you're right, I think there's -- I would say that probably 50 percent of the teams are probably using some type of RPO, whether it be pre-snap read or post-snap read on whether they're run or pass. I think if you look in the NFL, there's quite a few teams in the NFL that are using it right now. They're just doing it a little bit differently without the linemen moving.
Q. If I could ask you a little bit about them defensively, their secondary is very young and obviously got exposed a little bit in the Old Dominion game. When you look at that group, is it a typical Virginia Tech secondary, or can you kind of see the inexperience?
LARRY FEDORA: No, it's very much a typical Virginia Tech secondary. I mean, they do -- they're not as experienced as they were last year, I mean, but you had some guys that had been doing it for quite a while back there. But they're still very good athletes. They can run. They're athletic. The schemes that Bud uses are a little bit different than most teams use. Their guys have -- their guys understand it very well and I think do a great job of playing it.
I think you look at that Old Dominion game, and if you really study that game, there were some incredible plays that were made by Old Dominion in some -- they were covered. You had guys on them. You had two guys on them sometimes, and they still made the play.
Q. And up front with them, Ricky Walker, the defensive tackle, how much does he show up as you prep for this game?
LARRY FEDORA: Ricky is -- No. 8 is everywhere. If he's not wearing 25, it's 8, and he works all over the field, works extremely hard, plays hard. All their guys do. They always do. But Ricky is always going to be all over the place because he plays so hard.
Q. Damon Hazelton is a new addition for them on the outside, brings some size that they haven't had there. What have been your video impressions of him?
LARRY FEDORA: Well, he's a big receiver that's physical. Notre Dame, I think he really had quite a few plays in the Notre Dame game. They played off of him and gave him the underneath routes, and they took advantage of it and did a nice job with it. I think the guy is a good player.
Q. On your side, Anthony is averaging 20 yards a catch but only 13 receptions in those four games. Do you just need to do a better job of getting him the ball more often?
LARRY FEDORA: That would be one thing. We've got to get the ball to him more often, and we've got to -- when you get the ball there, he's got to make the plays that are presented before him.
