CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Football Coach Mack Brown met with the media Monday for his weekly press conference at the Kenan Football Center in advance of the Tar Heels’ game Saturday at home against NC State.
UNC (6-5 overall, 3-4 ACC) is coming off a 41-21 loss at Boston College that ended a three-game win streak. The Wolfpack is 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the ACC and is coming off a one-point loss at Georgia Tech.
The game kicks off at 3:30 PM and will air on the ACC Network.
Above is the full video of Brown’s press conference and below are some notes from what he had to say:
*Note: Brown was asked questions about recent reports regarding conversations with his team about his future and was asked specifically whether he will return to UNC for next season. We addressed that in this report.
*Note: Brown was asked about comments by NC State Coach Dave Doeren last year calling the UNC players “pieces of shit” after the Wolfpack beat the Tar Heels in Raleigh. We addressed that in this report as well.
*Note: Senior receiver J.J. Jones will be monitored during the week to determine if he can play Saturday. Jones was injured in the second half during the loss to BC and did not return. Senior running back Darwin Barlow will be available. Senior tight end Bryson Nesbit remains out and will not play.
*With 5:51 left in the game and UNC taking possession of the ball trailing 41-7, the total yardage was BC 411, UNC 103, and the Tar Heels were 0-for-10 on third downs. On the loss, Brown said about Boston College, “They just beat is down.”
---UNC did very little well. Brown said the kicking part of special teams was good plus Chris Culliver had the kickoff return for a score, but very little else went well.
*On Omarion Hampton not getting the ball more, Brown said it may not have made a difference if he got the ball in those early situations.
*Brown said cutting the cord to the BC performance is easier because it’s State week. But he also said they didn’t do much well at BC and if they play the same way it won’t go well. So they must play at a much higher level of edge and performance to beat State.
*A few weeks ago, Brown said running back Caleb Hood likely would redshirt and they hoped to have be forced to use him so he could retain this season. But now that the final regular season game is here and he’s played in just three contests, Hood is a full go for RB Coach Larry Porter. Players can appear in four regular season games and retain their redshirt, plus they can now play in bowl games and it not affect their eligibility status.
“It obviously gives us depth. And they (medical staff) said this morning Darwin Barlow is going to be back this week, too. So, we’ll watch him tomorrow… And then Coach Porter has got to figure out how that balance is.
“Davion Gause has done a good job when he’s come in, so he’s really a good player. But now we’ve got Caleb for this game and the bowl game.”
*Gause ran for 27 yards and scored two touchdowns on six carries in the loss to BC, and on the season has run for 312 yards averaging 5.1 per attempt. He has also scored four touchdowns. As poorly as the Heels played at BC, Gause’s late-game work pleased the head coach, who said it was a nice for the true freshman’s confidence.
“It really did. He’s a good player.”
Note: Gause was a high school teammate this time a year ago with NC State starting quarterback C.J. Bailey.
“This will be a special game for those two.”
*Brown said this week’s game against State is “huge” and between two teams that have not had seasons that were expected by either.
*UNC safety Jakeen Harris transferred last winter to UNC from NC State and defensive tackle Josh Harris spent four years at State before playing last season at Ole Miss and then transferring to Carolina. Has Brown pulled them aside to discuss this week and their emotions going into this game?
“I talk to all the players like that; we’ll talk to all the seniors. And I’ve always said, ‘You cry before the game but make sure if you’re going to cry, cry after the game because you won, you’re happy. Don’t cry before the game and get beat and not play well.’”
*In addition, Brown also spent some time discussing NIL, the portal, and signing a small class (signing day is next week); how revenue sharing can impact schools like UNC next season; the balance of using NIL money for players in the portal as opposed to high school recruits; and he was asked a couple of questions about playing in the CFP being attainable for UNC and what it would take to get there;
