CHAPEL HILL– Yes, Head Coach Larry Fedora was pleased with the level of play displayed by his Tar Heels against Virginia.
But he says the team has moved on and is now focusing all of its efforts on preparing for a tough Pittsburgh squad that has only dropped one game at home this season. And that one loss came at the hands of seemingly national championship-bound Florida State.
“We evaluated the film from the last game, got it all done, made the corrections and have moved on to the next opponent, Pitt, up at their place. We’ve got to do a great job with our team this week preparing them for Pitt and what they do offensively and defensively and go up there and focus on being 1-0,” Coach Fedora says.
Coach Fedora says quarterback Marquise Williams has really stepped up to replace Bryn Renner nicely and will continue to honor the senior leader with his play.
“He’ll tell you that he’s learned a lot from Bryn. He appreciates that. It’s kind of like Bryn has passed the team on to Marquise, and Marquise is appreciative and just wanted to honor him with his play on Saturday,” Coach Fedora says.
The running threat of Williams adds another dimension to the Tar Heel offense. Coach Fedora says opposing defenses now have to account for one more wrinkle to the playbook, opening up gaps for other offensive playmakers.
“It’s made a world of difference for us. Now that he is a run threat, a defense has to always to take into account that he’s a threat. It opens up things in the play-action passing. It just opens up a lot of things,” Coach Fedora says.
When asked about the worry of Carolina getting complacent and overlooking the Pitt match-up, Coach Fedora wasn’t too worried. He says their win against Notre Dame last week would prevent any such lapse in intensity.
“Do I think that we have to worry about that? This team just beat Notre Dame. We’re going on the road. Our guys are going to know. They’re going to turn the film on and look at the film. They’re going to know. What we’ve been doing is just focusing on ourselves. Let’s just be 1-0,” Coach Fedora says.
And those 1-0’s each week can certainly add up.
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