UNC football head coach Mack Brown joined Aaron Keck this morning for “Mondays with Mack,” presented by Chapel Hill Tire.
The Tar Heels suffered their fourth loss of the season Saturday night, a 44-34 shootout against Notre Dame. Brown said he was still proud of his team’s effort, with an eye toward this weekend’s showdown with No. 10 Wake Forest, who are undefeated on the season.
Here are a few of Brown’s answers on various topics:
On the Notre Dame game: I give Notre Dame credit. They’re the No. 8 team in the country now, they were 11th last week. They’ve won 28 out of their last 29 home games, they’ve beaten 38 unranked teams in a row, and they don’t beat themselves. They have very few penalties, they very seldom ever turn the ball over. They make their third downs, they’ve been very, very good at keeping the opponent from making third downs. And it’s a wonderful place to play. It’s a great experience. Their fans are 80,000 strong, and they’re loud. It’s a very, very good environment. As disappointed as we are in the loss, I was really proud of the guys for hanging in there and fighting. They fought the entire game. And I know Carolina fans are proud of their effort. We were in the fourth quarter with a chance to win.
On the importance of home-field advantage against Wake Forest: We’re 12-4 at home [since I returned as head coach]. It’s been harder to win on the road, obviously, and as you’re a growing program that’s something you have to do, is learn to win on the road. And I did think we made some steps on Saturday night in that right direction, not enough to win the game. But Saturday, we need a full crowd. We’ve got our hands full with Wake Forest. They’re as good on offense as anybody in the country. It should be two of the best offenses in the country, and two defenses, like last year, trying to stop them… it was a whole bunch to a whole bunch [in the 2020 game]. And I know the defenses will be challenged on Saturday, but we really need the home-field advantage. And we don’t know how much longer we’ve got Sam Howell, so I’d love for the fans to come out and cheer him on, cheer our team on, and thank Sam for all he’s done for us to this point in his career.
On the Demon Deacons: Their Sam [Hartman, the Wake Forest quarterback], like our Sam, is so accurate. And he can run. He ran for two touchdowns against Duke and threw for three others, I think. He’s confident, he won a state championship in high school, he can run, he can throw. He’s a great leader on his team, and a running quarterback like either of these Sams makes it so difficult for you to get them off the field on third down. Because if you cover people on third down passes, they can run. So we’ve got our hands full trying to stop him.
On his message to the fans: I can’t wait to see you guys at noon. ABC game. It should be a tremendous game, and we only have two home games left, so let’s come out and get this young team stirred up and try to help them finish strong.
Listen below for the full conversation between Mack Brown and Aaron Keck, and tune in to hear the segment live on Monday mornings each game week!
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