GOHEELS EXCLUSIVE: MIDWEEK NOTEBOOK
Posted On: October 2, 2019
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
After North Carolina 21-20 loss against Clemson on Saturday, Mack Brown said his team's impressive showing was primarily the result of how it prepared throughout the week.
The Hall of Fame coach reiterated that message to his players, telling them they'd have a chance to win the rest of their games if they approach every week the same. That seems to be what they've done heading into Saturday's game at Georgia Tech.
"We had a great practice on Sunday and we also had a great practice today," Jeremiah Gemmel told reporters on Tuesday. "It's kind of the same feel as last week. We aren't so worried about who we're facing. Obviously, we're worried about their scheme, but we're more worried about us with communication. I think that so far this week we've looked great."
Gemmel was one of seven Tar Heels who met with reporters on Tuesday evening. Here are five notes from what they had to say:
Cutting down on penalties
After ranking 122nd and 72nd among FBS teams in fewest penalty yards per game in 2017 and 2018, respectively, UNC is 13th in that statistical category, averaging 39.6 penalty yards.
"That was a huge focus in the offseason," Charlie Heck said. "We knew that was one of our problems the past two years – hurting ourselves. You never want to have a good play and get it taken back. Throughout the offseason, we were focusing on just the smallest details, and it shows how disciplined this team is right now."
Brown said on Monday that among the ways he went about instilling that discipline was by making it clear from the moment he returned to Chapel Hill that the locker room, cafeteria and players' lounge all needed to stay clean. Heck said the locker room is the cleanest it's ever been. Myles Dorn added that it's not just one player who ensures that's the case; everyone does.
"When I was a younger player, I got told that the way you live off the field translates to the field," Dorn said. "I never got that until now. I really think it makes a big difference. The way you are as a person translates to the field. And when people start caring about the little things around the building, like making sure the locker room is clean and people are picking up trash, even if it's not theirs, it correlates to the field. You're going to take more pride in what you do."
Heck's motivation
Brown revealed on Monday that Heck broke his right hand during the Wake Forest game and still played through it. But it wasn't as if he did that for only a couple of drives. Heck said on Tuesday that he sustained the injury on the first drive of that game.
The redshirt senior ultimately missed the Appalachian State game. But he said his status for the Clemson game "was never a question in my mind."
"This team wants to win so bad and there's so much fight in this team," he said. "I want to be part of the team that turns around Carolina football into the direction that it should be. Missing one game was hard enough for me. I didn't want to go through that experience again."
Heck ended up playing all 65 offensive snaps against the Tigers, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). He also posted a career-best 89.9 pass-blocking grade.
During the game, Heck said he "didn't really feel that much pain at all." In fact, he said he barely notices that his hand is broken now. He also added that it should be healed within a month.
Making smart decisions
With Jace Ruder out indefinitely due to a lower-body injury, Sam Howell is the only healthy scholarship quarterback on the roster. But while he knows he needs to take care of himself and try to avoid taking too many hits, he doesn't plan to change his playing style.
"Either way, I still need to try to protect myself a little better than I've been doing," Howell said. "I want to be out there for this team, so I definitely need to make sure I take care of myself. I wouldn't really say much has changed now that Jace is out. Obviously, it's a big loss for us on offense, but I do need to do a better job protecting myself."
Duck's development
Thrown into the fire when Trey Morrison suffered an injury in the season opener against South Carolina, Storm Duck played 24 defensive snaps in his first collegiate game. That experience, he said, "helped a lot" as he played all 61 defensive snaps and recorded a team-best 81.5 tackling grade against Clemson, according to PFF.
"I felt like I played a pretty good game," Duck said. "Coming into the game, I had a lot of confidence and had to be ready when my number was called. Came in the South Carolina game and had to play the first half and had to come in with a lot of confidence during the game.
"I felt pretty good and like I had a lot of confidence guarding the receivers and just had a positive mindset."
Duck said his performance against the Tigers was the byproduct of his preparation. Dorn agreed, referencing that as one of Duck's attributes that's impressed him the most since the true freshman defensive back enrolled in January.
"I think his growth is something that's amazing to me," Dorn said. "Just coming in as a freshman and not really expecting to play the first game – we have kind of older guys at corner, so coming in you don't really expect to play when playing an SEC opponent. But things happen and he got in there and he held his own and did an exceptional job.
"And then coming in playing Clemson and basically starting and doing the same thing, I think that's a testament to his preparation. Those are two top tier opponents, two teams that have NFL receivers. He came in as a freshman and competed, and that's all I can ask for in a freshman."
'A great asset'
Entering this season, Brown had expressed some concerns about the linebacker position. But over time, those have dissipated. And on Saturday, he said the linebackers played "by far the best" they have all season.
"The linebacker position this year, I think we have great athletic ability," Gemmel said. "We can all run, we can all cover, and I feel like that's a great asset that we can have on defense that we can use for the remaining part of the year."
Unlike in the first four games, Gemmel, Dominique Ross and Chazz Surratt were often on the field together against Clemson. Gemmel said that didn't change his approach.
"For me and Chazz, our roles didn't really change," Gemmel said. "But for (Ross), it did change a lot. He had to go up there and cover the slot receiver a lot and also he had to fall back in the run fit coming outside of the box, which he isn't used to. But out there on Saturday, it was like he's been doing it all year."
