UNC football head coach Mack Brown joined Aaron Keck this morning for “Mondays with Mack,” presented by Chapel Hill Tire.
Brown and the Tar Heels are coming off a convincing win against South Carolina in Charlotte and are now 1-0 for the fourth time in five seasons since Brown’s return to Chapel Hill. But the team knows it can’t relax with Appalachian State coming to town this Saturday. The Mountaineers beat Carolina in their last visit to Kenan Stadium.
Here are a few of Brown’s answers on various topics:
On the win against the Gamecocks: It’s amazing how much better winning feels than that other option. I’m proud of the guys. I’m proud of our fans that showed up. South Carolina had more than we did, but the ones that we had were loud and continued to fight and compete during the game. Really, really proud of the representation we had there, especially in that fourth quarter when it got down to where we had to finish the game. Great win. A very good SEC team. In fact, the ACC had a great weekend with Carolina beating South Carolina and then Florida State beating LSU. A great weekend for the ACC.
On the performance of the defense: I was really, really proud. Sixteen tackles for loss, nine sacks. Being aggressive on defense is what we wanted. We didn’t start off well last year defensively because of App State, and we’ll have to pick it back up this weekend. But I’m really, really proud of Gene Chizik and the defensive staff, the plan they had and the toughness that we showed against the run. Minus-two yards rushing. The harassment that we gave [South Carolina quarterback] Spencer Rattler, and you gotta give him credit. He kept them in the game even though he was running the whole night to try to stay alive. So I’m really, really proud of our defense. And now what we’ve gotta do is show the maturity to step up and do it twice.
On Tez Walker’s eligibility battle: He was so disappointed not to be able to play in the game. His dream was to play in that stadium, back at home for Carolina. And then it even made it more special that he’s playing against South Carolina. And he had 30 [family] members that had bought tickets. So it’s really, really a disappointing time for him. But I told him, “You’re here, so pick up your teammates.” And Gavin Blackwell dropped a couple of passes and I said, “Tez, you’ve had a tough day. He’s having a tough day. Go pick him up, man. Go help him out.” And he did. And Gavin caught a huge pass at the end of the game that that led to a touchdown. So he’s doing okay. They’ll review his case again on Thursday, and hopefully the NCAA will do what’s right and let him play.
On the upcoming matchup with Appalachian State: App State’s gonna come in and it’s gonna be their Super Bowl. You could tell last year that Coach [Shawn] Clark’s got a great team. But also, their team’s not gonna quit. They were down 41-21, I think, going in the fourth quarter and scored 40 points. They beat us the last time here at our place. We need our fans to step up this weekend and come in and be loud. We lost the last two games at home last year, right at the end of the Georgia Tech and NC State games. We lost to App State last time they were here. We have been really good at home. So students, come out there early, be loud, come to the game this weekend and help your team win. Because the most important thing is that we’re 1-0 this week.
On his message to the fans: Thank you, fans that showed up in Charlotte. How cool for both universities to have [College] GameDay and then ABC primetime? It’s so much publicity that you can’t even buy for two great universities. And the fanbases were great. Our fans that were there were loud and stayed and it was such a cool moment at the end of the game. It was a lot better crowd than our first year here, but the fans celebrating with our players was so fun to see at the end of the game. It was just really, really cool. So let’s get back on track here. We’ve gotta play better at home. We need your help at home. So let’s all get there. Let’s get there early. Let’s say thank you to these young people for the effort that they gave against South Carolina and restart the same thing that for this weekend against App State.
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 Associated Press/Erik Verduzco
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