MIAMI GARDENS, FL – Transcript from UNC coach Larry Fedora’s postgame press conference from Hard Rock Stadium:
Opening Statement
“It was a heck of a team win today. We talked in the last couple weeks to our team about — the offense has been on the field the last two minutes of a couple games and won them. The defense’s time was coming and it happened today. We get the big sack-caused fumble which really was the difference in the game. Really, just the overall effort of our guys to come out on the road again against a ranked opponent — a team that’s playing very well — and to get a win, I can’t say enough about them.”
On the defensive’s performance in today’s game...
“The defense played their most complete game of the season to this point. Each week, we’ve been saying there’s been a unit that’s been a little bit better and a little bit better and they’re making more plays and making more plays and these guys have confidence and they’re playing well together. We had a few breakdowns on a couple of routes with a tight end — backend in the middle — and had that one run. But other than that, they played real well.”
On the team ‘getting under heat’ after the team’s performance last week and what it says about the team after this week’s performance...
“They don’t listen to all that heat, I hope. I think they do a good job of staying focused on what their coaches are telling them. I really do and I know there’s a lot of talk outside but they’ve done a really good job. All that does is fuel their fire and they know they have a chance to be a good defense if they just play sound football and make the ordinary plays we make every day in practice. Today, they did that.”
On if the defensive line’s performance was a positive note in today’s game...
“No doubt. Our defensive line has gotten better and better every week. Last week, they were the only bright point in that game. And then this week, they played well again today. There were so many times that the running back never got to the linebackers when they ran to the football. They didn’t get to the second level and when you’re doing that, you’re going to be OK.”
On Virginia Tech losing and what that does to the ACC Coastal Division race
“We knew that one loss probably wasn’t going to be the difference in the conference play. I don’t think that our guys thought a whole lot about it, they just knew that we needed to come down to Miami and get a win and whatever happened happened.”
On the defense not getting a hand on many balls of late, but they did today
“They did a really nice job of being all over the receiver when the ball was thrown. They keep doing that, we’re going to get some. It’s going to happen.”
On the energy of the team being very good early
“Energy level was really good throughout the whole game. Now you’ve got to give them credit, too. They’re a good football team so they did some things in the second half that caused problems for us. What we did do is we took care of the football and that was probably the biggest lessons from the week before because if we take care of the football we have a chance, even if you punt it every series. We live and learn. We’re a team that’s learning as we go.”
On the points left on the field by the offense
“I don’t know. I’ll have to look at the film and see what happened. Yeah, we left some points out there. We could have put the game away down there on the goal line. That was disappointing.”
On getting two big road wins over the last 3 games
Well you play three ranked opponents in the middle of the season and you’re beat up as a football team, as everybody is at this time of year. Somebody asked me when we’d like to have an off week and I said a week ago. Our team has fought through it. I can’t say enough about the way these guys have persevered. We’ve got a bunch of guys out there playing that aren’t starters. A bunch of them in a lot of different positions. They came through tonight.”
Opening Statement
“It was a heck of a team win today. We talked in the last couple weeks to our team about — the offense has been on the field the last two minutes of a couple games and won them. The defense’s time was coming and it happened today. We get the big sack-caused fumble which really was the difference in the game. Really, just the overall effort of our guys to come out on the road again against a ranked opponent — a team that’s playing very well — and to get a win, I can’t say enough about them.”
On the defensive’s performance in today’s game...
“The defense played their most complete game of the season to this point. Each week, we’ve been saying there’s been a unit that’s been a little bit better and a little bit better and they’re making more plays and making more plays and these guys have confidence and they’re playing well together. We had a few breakdowns on a couple of routes with a tight end — backend in the middle — and had that one run. But other than that, they played real well.”
On the team ‘getting under heat’ after the team’s performance last week and what it says about the team after this week’s performance...
“They don’t listen to all that heat, I hope. I think they do a good job of staying focused on what their coaches are telling them. I really do and I know there’s a lot of talk outside but they’ve done a really good job. All that does is fuel their fire and they know they have a chance to be a good defense if they just play sound football and make the ordinary plays we make every day in practice. Today, they did that.”
On if the defensive line’s performance was a positive note in today’s game...
“No doubt. Our defensive line has gotten better and better every week. Last week, they were the only bright point in that game. And then this week, they played well again today. There were so many times that the running back never got to the linebackers when they ran to the football. They didn’t get to the second level and when you’re doing that, you’re going to be OK.”
On Virginia Tech losing and what that does to the ACC Coastal Division race
“We knew that one loss probably wasn’t going to be the difference in the conference play. I don’t think that our guys thought a whole lot about it, they just knew that we needed to come down to Miami and get a win and whatever happened happened.”
On the defense not getting a hand on many balls of late, but they did today
“They did a really nice job of being all over the receiver when the ball was thrown. They keep doing that, we’re going to get some. It’s going to happen.”
On the energy of the team being very good early
“Energy level was really good throughout the whole game. Now you’ve got to give them credit, too. They’re a good football team so they did some things in the second half that caused problems for us. What we did do is we took care of the football and that was probably the biggest lessons from the week before because if we take care of the football we have a chance, even if you punt it every series. We live and learn. We’re a team that’s learning as we go.”
On the points left on the field by the offense
“I don’t know. I’ll have to look at the film and see what happened. Yeah, we left some points out there. We could have put the game away down there on the goal line. That was disappointing.”
On getting two big road wins over the last 3 games
Well you play three ranked opponents in the middle of the season and you’re beat up as a football team, as everybody is at this time of year. Somebody asked me when we’d like to have an off week and I said a week ago. Our team has fought through it. I can’t say enough about the way these guys have persevered. We’ve got a bunch of guys out there playing that aren’t starters. A bunch of them in a lot of different positions. They came through tonight.”
