CHAPEL HILL – UNC football coach Larry Fedora met with the media Monday for his weekly press conference. Fedora answered follow-up questions about Saturday’s win over N.C. A&T and about this weekend’s opponent, Illinois from the Big Ten.
Here is what Fedora had to say:
Fedora: Okay, we’ve put the last game to bed as we always do and moved on to Illinois this week. We’ve got, in our opinion from looking at film, the best team that we’ve played this season coming in. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get prepared for Illinois. Offensively, they’ve scored a lot of points. In the two games they’ve played this year the quarterback has played really well. Defensively, they haven’t given up a touchdown this year, they’ve given up 3 points. They’re going to come in here sky high and feeling good about themselves because they should. They’ve got a lot of confidence right now and we’ve got to make sure to have a great week of practice in preparation.
Q: What stood out on film when you looked back at what you team did offensively?
Fedora: We took care of the football, number one. The quarterbacks did a great job all night with decision making. We cut down our pre-snap and our post-snap penalties – we cut those way down. We were much better in the critical situations are far as the red zone, score zone and our 3rd downs.
Q: You also put in some young players early for entire series, for example Andre Smith for Jeff Schoettmer. How did he handle that opportunity?
Fedora: Andre played well. We put him in a situation early where he could get meaningful reps when he didn't know he was going in to see how he would respond and what he was going to do. I thought he did really well, and that's good because we have to be prepared if something happens to Schoettmer that we've got somebody that's gotten some experience not just in a mop-up situation that can go out there and play.
Q: What added value is there when a guy doesn’t know he’s going in and pays as opposed to knowing ahead of time?
Fedora: For me, I’m just looking to see how they react and how they respond to that situation. With a young quarterback, I’ve always prepared them, ‘Hey, you’re going to go in the third series,’ but really the other positions we’ve just decided as a staff we’re going to play this guy early but we’re not necessarily telling him to see how they react so we will get a better feel for when it happens in a game.
Q: Upon closer examination, how do you think Marquise bounced back?
Fedora: I thought he did a great job bouncing back. I thought he did a great job responding the whole week. He’s a competitor and would be the first one to tell you he wasn’t happy with the way he played. I will say I don't think he changed what he was doing. He didn't change the way he practiced or anything. I think he just went out there and continued to do the things (they ask) and then he was careful in the game. He took care of the football.
Q: Coach, you had a lot of guys out with injuries the other night, has anyone been lost for the season?
Fedora: No, not that I know of.
Q: The other night you praised A&T’s defensive front for slowing your conventional ground game, after looking at the film, are you concerned with anything you saw from the line because you guys weren’t able to pop anything and get to that third level?
Fedora: I think overall as an entire unit offensive line we probably played better and an entire unit in the first game than we did in the second game. We had three guys in that unit that played really well in the second game and we had two that didn't. I think that was part of it. And then I've got to give (A&T) credit with what they did defensively and the way their guys played. They played really hard and we didn't get to that third level like we wanted to.
Q: Is there extra pride involved when two teams from Power 5 conferences meet?
Fedora: It’s the next tea for us, and whether they come out of one conference or another, I don’t really think our guys think about it at all. We prepare the same way every week. We don’t spend a lot of time talking about where they come from, we evaluate the film, we talk about the players and all of those things, so I don’t know that it’s a factor.
Q: is it difficult to evaluate them given the level of competition they’ve played?
Fedora: Well, in some ways, maybe. But they went out there and they got it done. So the mindset of their football team and what they’re doing I’d say is pretty good. They didn’t slop around and play to the level of their opponent, they went out there and dominated like they should have done and that says a lot about their team. The two teams they played, there’s some players on those teams, but they out-matched them physically all the way across the board, but you still have to go out there and get it done, and that’s not always easy to do. I would say Coach Cubit’s got them in a pretty good mindset right now.
Q: How do you compare them to South Carolina?
Fedora: from what I’ve seen on film, I think they’re better. I think they’re better.
Q: Why?
Fedora: I think across the board what they are doing defensively, the way they are scoring points on offense, I just think they’re better, more explosive.
Q: Are you impressed at all by what Nick Weiler’s done this season?
Fedora: I'm very impressed. I feel very good about where he's at. I love his confidence level, I love the way he's hitting the ball, I like the operation totally between him, the snapper and the holder, which is very important. So, I feel good about where he is right now and I hope that continues.
Q: Are you surprised by what he’s done?
Fedora: I wouldn’t say I’m surprised because he did the same thing all camp. In camp you’re like ‘Okay, is this for real?’ And then he just does it every day in camp and gets to be so consistent you don’t think about it… We’ve been seeing it all the way through camp.
Q: Is your defense improved drastically in terms of not missing assignments?
Fedora: I believe the last two weeks we’ve done really well with our missed assignments, or lack thereof. Our kids, in general, have done a really good job of understanding what’s being asked of them and doing their job.
Q: Coach Chizik spoke last week about getting more transitional pressure from the front line than in the first game, how did the D-line do with that?
Fedora: Still not there. We did okay but we're still not there. We're expecting more pass rush out of those guys up front especially in those situations so they've got to be able to transition a lot quicker and get into that pass-rush mode. But when they know we're going there's got to be more sense of urgency, also.
Q: When you decided to play Trubisky, was it going to be the third series or was it because the ball was at the 2?
Fedora: It had nothing to do with where the ball was, I had already decided before the game that I was going to play him early in the game, and for whatever reason I usually pick the third series. The ball happened to be on the 2. The ball could have been on the minus-2 and he would have been out there, it didn’t matter to me.
Q: Did Marquise know going into the game?
Fedora: Nope, nobody knew.
Q: Are you going to continue to do that?
Fedora: I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought about it. Until we put a game plan together and start it out, it’s not something that I dwell on a whole lot. You guys think about it a lot more than I do, I promise you.
Q: Last year…
Fedora: Last year was definitely a situation I wanted to, and again, every meaningful rep he gets or Andre Smith gets at the Mike or any of these young kids and guys that don’t have any meaningful reps that they get can be really good for us down the road. I didn’t want it to be a situation where he only came in and mopped up at the end and you’re running the ball and you’re eating the clock, you’re not getting what we need offensively for a quarterback to be able to execute in our style of offense when you’re just mopping it up.
Q: Three different tight ends scored, including Caleb Samuel’s 2-point conversion. How much better shape are you in at that position than last season?
Fedora: We're still really young. Last year it was Jack Tabb and that was about it. We used Singleton a little bit in that, this year Singleton is playing that position pretty much all the time and he's done a much better job of understanding it and learning it and he can do a lot of different things. The one who's really come along is Fritts. He's improved tremendously over where he was a year ago when he redshirted him. And any reps Caleb gets are all new. We scored three touchdowns (and a 2-point conversion), so I would say that room probably feels pretty good about themselves right now.
Q: How valuable is the added flexibility it appears you have at that position?
Fedora: That’s important for us offensively. To be able to get into multiple sets with the same personnel is important because that puts more stress on the defense.
Here is what Fedora had to say:
Fedora: Okay, we’ve put the last game to bed as we always do and moved on to Illinois this week. We’ve got, in our opinion from looking at film, the best team that we’ve played this season coming in. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get prepared for Illinois. Offensively, they’ve scored a lot of points. In the two games they’ve played this year the quarterback has played really well. Defensively, they haven’t given up a touchdown this year, they’ve given up 3 points. They’re going to come in here sky high and feeling good about themselves because they should. They’ve got a lot of confidence right now and we’ve got to make sure to have a great week of practice in preparation.
Q: What stood out on film when you looked back at what you team did offensively?
Fedora: We took care of the football, number one. The quarterbacks did a great job all night with decision making. We cut down our pre-snap and our post-snap penalties – we cut those way down. We were much better in the critical situations are far as the red zone, score zone and our 3rd downs.
Q: You also put in some young players early for entire series, for example Andre Smith for Jeff Schoettmer. How did he handle that opportunity?
Fedora: Andre played well. We put him in a situation early where he could get meaningful reps when he didn't know he was going in to see how he would respond and what he was going to do. I thought he did really well, and that's good because we have to be prepared if something happens to Schoettmer that we've got somebody that's gotten some experience not just in a mop-up situation that can go out there and play.
Q: What added value is there when a guy doesn’t know he’s going in and pays as opposed to knowing ahead of time?
Fedora: For me, I’m just looking to see how they react and how they respond to that situation. With a young quarterback, I’ve always prepared them, ‘Hey, you’re going to go in the third series,’ but really the other positions we’ve just decided as a staff we’re going to play this guy early but we’re not necessarily telling him to see how they react so we will get a better feel for when it happens in a game.
Q: Upon closer examination, how do you think Marquise bounced back?
Fedora: I thought he did a great job bouncing back. I thought he did a great job responding the whole week. He’s a competitor and would be the first one to tell you he wasn’t happy with the way he played. I will say I don't think he changed what he was doing. He didn't change the way he practiced or anything. I think he just went out there and continued to do the things (they ask) and then he was careful in the game. He took care of the football.
Q: Coach, you had a lot of guys out with injuries the other night, has anyone been lost for the season?
Fedora: No, not that I know of.
Q: The other night you praised A&T’s defensive front for slowing your conventional ground game, after looking at the film, are you concerned with anything you saw from the line because you guys weren’t able to pop anything and get to that third level?
Fedora: I think overall as an entire unit offensive line we probably played better and an entire unit in the first game than we did in the second game. We had three guys in that unit that played really well in the second game and we had two that didn't. I think that was part of it. And then I've got to give (A&T) credit with what they did defensively and the way their guys played. They played really hard and we didn't get to that third level like we wanted to.
Q: Is there extra pride involved when two teams from Power 5 conferences meet?
Fedora: It’s the next tea for us, and whether they come out of one conference or another, I don’t really think our guys think about it at all. We prepare the same way every week. We don’t spend a lot of time talking about where they come from, we evaluate the film, we talk about the players and all of those things, so I don’t know that it’s a factor.
Q: is it difficult to evaluate them given the level of competition they’ve played?
Fedora: Well, in some ways, maybe. But they went out there and they got it done. So the mindset of their football team and what they’re doing I’d say is pretty good. They didn’t slop around and play to the level of their opponent, they went out there and dominated like they should have done and that says a lot about their team. The two teams they played, there’s some players on those teams, but they out-matched them physically all the way across the board, but you still have to go out there and get it done, and that’s not always easy to do. I would say Coach Cubit’s got them in a pretty good mindset right now.
Q: How do you compare them to South Carolina?
Fedora: from what I’ve seen on film, I think they’re better. I think they’re better.
Q: Why?
Fedora: I think across the board what they are doing defensively, the way they are scoring points on offense, I just think they’re better, more explosive.
Q: Are you impressed at all by what Nick Weiler’s done this season?
Fedora: I'm very impressed. I feel very good about where he's at. I love his confidence level, I love the way he's hitting the ball, I like the operation totally between him, the snapper and the holder, which is very important. So, I feel good about where he is right now and I hope that continues.
Q: Are you surprised by what he’s done?
Fedora: I wouldn’t say I’m surprised because he did the same thing all camp. In camp you’re like ‘Okay, is this for real?’ And then he just does it every day in camp and gets to be so consistent you don’t think about it… We’ve been seeing it all the way through camp.
Q: Is your defense improved drastically in terms of not missing assignments?
Fedora: I believe the last two weeks we’ve done really well with our missed assignments, or lack thereof. Our kids, in general, have done a really good job of understanding what’s being asked of them and doing their job.
Q: Coach Chizik spoke last week about getting more transitional pressure from the front line than in the first game, how did the D-line do with that?
Fedora: Still not there. We did okay but we're still not there. We're expecting more pass rush out of those guys up front especially in those situations so they've got to be able to transition a lot quicker and get into that pass-rush mode. But when they know we're going there's got to be more sense of urgency, also.
Q: When you decided to play Trubisky, was it going to be the third series or was it because the ball was at the 2?
Fedora: It had nothing to do with where the ball was, I had already decided before the game that I was going to play him early in the game, and for whatever reason I usually pick the third series. The ball happened to be on the 2. The ball could have been on the minus-2 and he would have been out there, it didn’t matter to me.
Q: Did Marquise know going into the game?
Fedora: Nope, nobody knew.
Q: Are you going to continue to do that?
Fedora: I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought about it. Until we put a game plan together and start it out, it’s not something that I dwell on a whole lot. You guys think about it a lot more than I do, I promise you.
Q: Last year…
Fedora: Last year was definitely a situation I wanted to, and again, every meaningful rep he gets or Andre Smith gets at the Mike or any of these young kids and guys that don’t have any meaningful reps that they get can be really good for us down the road. I didn’t want it to be a situation where he only came in and mopped up at the end and you’re running the ball and you’re eating the clock, you’re not getting what we need offensively for a quarterback to be able to execute in our style of offense when you’re just mopping it up.
Q: Three different tight ends scored, including Caleb Samuel’s 2-point conversion. How much better shape are you in at that position than last season?
Fedora: We're still really young. Last year it was Jack Tabb and that was about it. We used Singleton a little bit in that, this year Singleton is playing that position pretty much all the time and he's done a much better job of understanding it and learning it and he can do a lot of different things. The one who's really come along is Fritts. He's improved tremendously over where he was a year ago when he redshirted him. And any reps Caleb gets are all new. We scored three touchdowns (and a 2-point conversion), so I would say that room probably feels pretty good about themselves right now.
Q: How valuable is the added flexibility it appears you have at that position?
Fedora: That’s important for us offensively. To be able to get into multiple sets with the same personnel is important because that puts more stress on the defense.
