UNC football head coach Mack Brown joined Aaron Keck this morning for “Mondays with Mack,” presented by Chapel Hill Tire.
The Tar Heels ended the regular season on a sour note with a double-overtime loss to NC State at Kenan Stadium. But Carolina still will compete for the program’s first ACC championship in 42 years this weekend against Clemson. A win would clinch UNC’s second Orange Bowl berth in three seasons.
Here are a few of Brown’s answers on various topics:
On the last two losses to Georgia Tech and NC State: When you look at the league and the Coastal [Division], really the ACC is very, very close except for Clemson. They’ve been the best team in the league. All of our other ACC games except Pittsburgh came down to the last drive and the last series. Most of the year, we’ve been able to make those plays, and I love these kids for the way they fight until the end. Saturday night we missed a kick, and against Georgia Tech we missed a pass. These games are gonna be close.
On how the team is handling fatigue: We started a week earlier than everybody else, we had an extra open date and now we’re playing in an extra game. But that’s college football. If you’re gonna win, you’re gonna have to play tough. Clemson’s coming off a tough loss too, so both teams will be fighting hard to bounce back. It should be a great game on Saturday night.
On Clemson: They’re the best defense in the country. They’ve got draft choices all over the place. The quarterback is about 240 or 250 and can run 4.4 or 4.5. Will Shipley is one of the best running backs in the country. They’ve always got great skill. They recruit as good as anybody in the country every year. Dabo [Swinney] has won a bunch of football games there. Those guys are hard to beat, and we’ll have our hands full on Saturday night.
On his message to the fans: You guys were unbelievable. I thought the fan support for Georgia Tech and especially on the day after Thanksgiving for NC State was as good as I’ve seen in Kenan Stadium. Fans stayed for both those games. They stayed positive even though we struggled. Our fans are the best. They’re really picking our team up and trying to make sure we win the game. I’m sure it’ll be the same way down in Charlotte. We can’t wait to see you there.
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!
Featured image via Eli Melet
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This fan is PAST READY for a change! Losing to the teams we lose to every year is unacceptable. But I guess it’s acceptable to the powers that be.