<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0O2HEG_0vOe0WQ700" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0O2HEG_0vOe0WQ700" width="1182" height="619" ><p>Here’s what the North Carolina head coach said following Saturday’s victory in the home opener at Kenan Stadium.</p><p>CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — UNC jumped out to an early lead and went on to defeat Charlotte 38-20 in Saturday's home opener at Kenan Stadium.</p><p>Conner Harrell made his second college start and finished with 219 passing yards, three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and one interception. He added 39 rushing yards. True freshman Davion Gause stepped up with Omarion Hampton sitting out the second half. Gause supplied a game-high 105 rushing yards and one touchdown.</p><p>The Tar Heels had to navigate a number of injuries here in the second game of this young season. Kaimon Rucker was ruled out prior to the game with a lower-body injury, which will require a surgical procedure. He will miss a "couple of weeks," according to a UNC team spokesperson. Starting center Austin Blaske, rangy tight end Bryson Nesbit and Hampton didn't play in the second half.</p><p>Read and watch everything UNC coach <a href="https://247sports.com/coach/Mack-Brown-45">Mack Brown</a> said following the victory …</p><div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sC-Xf4gJhEg?si=tdRB5LNf9eb_3ny3" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div><p>"I want to congratulate our team and thank our fans and our students. Our students are so unbelievable. A lot of people came to, I think, say thank you for last week's hard fought win on the road against Minnesota and step up and watch Conner play. And so many young guys played today and really help us. Charlotte's got really good players. I told Coach Poggi after the game that you guys just need to keep working. You've got some really talented players. There's a bunch of five stars on there and a bunch of guys, and sometimes it takes a little bit longer to get transfers all together, but that first couple of drives, I mean, I'm sitting there saying, 'okay, this is going to be a handful throughout the day.' And you start looking around at college football scores scares you. It's just it's changed. I think probably the transfer portal has changed that the most, because teams can change who they are.</p><p>"I was really impressed with their quarterback, Max Brown. He got hurt at halftime and didn't get to play the second half, but the young freshman came in, did some good things that kind of threw us off, because we hadn't seen him before, so he had a drive or two there. But proud of our defense that they held them to 25 carries for 49 yards again. So that's 75 yards (allowed against Minnesota) and 49 yards (allowed against Charlotte). We haven't done that in a long time. So really, really proud of them. And when you start stopping the run, that means that you put them in third longs, and then Charlotte was 2-for-14 on third downs, and that's obviously something that's really, really positive for us.</p><p>"Omarion was running the ball well, he got banged up a little bit, and he could have played, but we pulled him out because we wanted to make sure he's safe moving forward, and we wanted to see the younger backs. And Caleb Hood got to play a little bit again, and that helped him get his confidence back, so maybe he can play more moving forward, because he hadn't practiced very much. Young (Charleston) French made some good runs at the end of the game. But Davion Gause is a guy that we really feel good about, and that's with Darwin Barlow being out. So Larry Porter's done a really good job with a full room of really good running backs. So hopefully Barlow will be back next week, but if not, he's going to fight now with Davion to get where he needs to get.</p><p>"Thought Conner did a lot of really good things. We were 6-for-11 on third down, we ran for 269 yards, we threw for 221 yards, and we can do a better job in that area. But I thought that this will be a great teachable moment game for him. Don't do this. And when we got called for the pick, when we were going in to score, they absolutely hit him in the face, and they just missed it. They looked for targeting. Well, you can't call roughing the passer from upstairs, because they call targeting. That was absolutely roughing the passer, so I hate it for him. And they knew it. They knew it, they just missed it, but he got hit right in the face. You can't hit the quarterback in the face, and that would have been another 15-yard penalty and a first down that should have led to another touchdown. So we still got to be more consistent on offense. We had too many penalties, but they threw it over our head a couple of times with our defense. So we've gotta get that stopped, because when you stop the run, they're going to have to take deep shots.&nbsp;</p><p>"And it was good that we were forced to play without three of our best players. When Blaske went out early and he said he could go back in, but we didn't him to. And Zach Greenberg goes in. He's never been in a college game before at this level, so that's just kind of the day. It was okay. So they just kept coming to tell me, and said, 'so-and-so's out.' And I said, okay. Kaimon Rucker felt something in the weight room on Thursday afternoon and he'll be out for a couple of weeks. So it's been, it's been two weeks to start the season with a lot of sudden change. Let's just put it that way, and the guys and coaches seem to be just handling and moving on next man up. So it'll be fun to see."</p><h2>How do you think Conner Harrell handled all the adversity?</h2><p>"I thought he handled it really well. I didn't like the way we responded to the one-minute drill with four minutes left, right before the half. We were kind of disorganized, and then we hit a pass, and we're lined up with too many guys on the line of scrimmage and so we've got to do better in those areas. Sam and Drake had so much poise when they were going, so we've got to get better in those one-minute drives. But we can get Conner running the option like he can, and we will. So we move him more with boots and nakeds, he had one right into a blitz, and he's got to throw that ball away. So this will be worth five years of coaching for Chip (Lindsey), for Clyde (Christensen) and for Conner.</p><p>"Because he and he had so many great things, it's hard with that reverse throwback pass. That thing took forever and it was up in the air. I thought it was never going to come down, and poor old Christian Hamilton was waiting on it. I thought forever, and that's hard to catch a ball that wide open, and Christian did a great job, and then scored. So I think Conner will see that there were some plays he could have kept on the option instead of handing it off, or vice versa. I think he will see that there's some passage where he went short, that he could have gone deeper, and he did a really good job."</p><p><b>How does he develop poise?</b></p><p>"You know, I told the guy, I think he wants to please and he tries so hard. He won two state championships in Alabama with packed houses. So he's got poise, and he's one of the smartest kids I've ever seen. So I think he needs to have more fun and quit trying to please us all. And hopefully, after today, he'll be able to do that."</p><h2>Did you feel like Conner was maybe thinking too hard on the first series?</h2><p>"Yeah. I mean, I'm sure he was anxious, because this is the first time he's ever started at home. Played a little bit against Campbell in the second half, but he really hadn't played any. And you're following Drake and Sam, so that's a load. You're following Max, who had a great third quarter the other night, that's a load. And he knows we got a chance to have a really good team. We've got to have a quarterback step up, so there's a tremendous amount of pressure, and we've got to take that pressure off of it and really help him. He gives you an added dimension, because he's so fast.</p><p>"And, I mean, when he turns up, there's 15 yards real quick. So it's going to change how people play us, and it's going to allow us to have more people open, because they can't play man as much, they can't blitz as much. Because if they Blitz and miss, he gone. So we're gonna have to figure out how people are gonna play him. It's gonna be interesting to watch, to see how he develops, the plan that we develop with him, and how people play against him."</p><h2>On Harrell’s throw over the middle to J.J. Jones on the first quarter:</h2><p>"Yeah that's one of the plays where you go, 'no, don't throw. Oh, good job, that's a great play.' When Drake made so many, and Sam, so many plays off schedule, I thought that was a great play for him. And I thought the he had a lot of poise on the trick play, because the corner was coming, he was coming fast, and he sat right there. And the one interception he had, he got hit. That's our fault. I couldn't tell exactly what happened, but he's tough, he's smart, he can throw it. He's got everything, but we've got to help him more. We can't have penalties, and we're so proud of our discipline. The first game, we didn't have as much offensively tonight, and part of it was young players, but it doesn't matter."</p><h2>Is there an update on Bryson Nesbit’s injury?</h2><p>"Yeah, it's upper body, and he should be fine. He should be. … All those guys would have a chance, I would think, to play next week. But if not (next week), within two. Nobody is in danger of not playing the rest of the year. Kaimon is probably a couple of weeks, maybe three, you know, but he's gonna be fine. And Kaimon's out there singing and jumping up and down, screaming and leading, and he's just the best. He led the fight song in the locker room after the game."</p><h2>How important is it to see a lot of true freshmen making plays out there today?</h2><p>"There were a lot of guys out there. Jordan Shipp screen, he stopped, he planted, he looked like an older guy, and he went north and south, and made a great play. And he had a bad shoulder for a couple of weeks, so he didn't get to play. So that'll be so much fun to watch him now. And what I've learned is, when those young guys play in a game, they practice so much harder the next week because they think they have a chance to play again. And if you're not playing, then you don't practice well. So I was excited to see Alex Taylor out there, and Vari Green out there for the first time they've been in Kenan Stadium in a game. So it has to be a great thrill for them."</p><h2>On Davion Gause’s standout game:</h2><p>"He is a lot like Omarion in that he never speaks, that room doesn't speak. I mean, none of them do, so it's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. And Coach Porter doesn't speak. So they just, it's like a bunch of guys just sitting there watching video. Maybe they got sign language or something, I don't know, but he is. He's really cool, he's mature, he's tough. He is not emotional at all. We've seen that in the spring. We've seen it every day in practice, when you put him in a situation, he looks like an older player, and he's tough. He's 220 (pounds) and he's got really good vision."</p><p><b>Did we see stuff from him tonight of a guy that came mature and ready to contribute?</b></p><p>"He is and he is such a great story. He was recruited by everybody. And I said, 'why'd you come here?' And he said, 'because when I was a sophomore, I went to the Miami game where you all played, and Javonte Williams and Michael Carter ran up and down the field. And I said, I want to play there.' And he said, 'I made a decision that night, I was coming to North Carolina if you all would offer me a scholarship.' So that's really cool, and I love the young guy. He is not afraid of anything. He's tough, mature, and smart. He handles himself well."</p><p><b>What have you seen from Jahvaree Ritzie that has led to the success he’s had in the early season?</b></p><p>"First, I'm a huge fan of Ted Monachino. I mean, the guy's been a defensive coordinator in NFL, he's coached 16 years in NFL and he's coached the best pass rushers ever. So the guy really knows what he's doing, so he has helped. Jahvaree is confident, he's really healthy for the first time, because he's always had a shoulder, an ankle, he's always had something. And I think because he's playing so well at such a high level, and we're able to substitute for him and keep him fresh, that he's playing with as much confidence as I've ever seen.</p><p>"And pro scouts were in there the other day just buzzing, saying, 'where'd this guy come from?' And Des Evans is playing his tail off, and he's playing so hard that I'm really proud. I thought Travis Shaw played good again tonight. The interior people all played good. Josh Harris has added so much to us just because of depth. Kevin Hester doesn't have to play tired anymore."</p><h2>How important is Alijah Huzzie’s versatility as a playmaker?</h2><p>"It really hurt us last year when Alijah had to move to nickel star because we lost DeAndre Boykins, because we weren't as good at corner. He is a ball hawk. He's got tremendous hands, he's got unbelievable instincts, he's tough and he's one of the best players that we've got, period."</p><p><b>Are there any concerns with the big chunk passing plays Charlotte had?</b></p><p>"Yeah but those are individual plays that we gotta get better at, or we've gotta get more pressure on the quarterback. Everybody wants to blitz, but when you blitz, you got them back there by themselves, so you better get there. And a couple of them were over Kaleb Cost, and he'll get better at it, because the star position is a position test to tackle, he has to blitz and he has to cover their fastest guy.</p><p>"And there was a great out and up on Marcus Allen that they caught and he played it really good the second half. The similar thing, he played two really good plays there. So I'm all in to Geoff Collins and stopping the run and blitzing the quarterback and trying to get there before they can throw it. But if not, those corners better hang on. And I'd rather give up three deep throws, than 355 yards passing, because then we don't have the ball. … So many positive things about this defense. We can get rid of the couple of long passes.</p></div></body>

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UNC-Charlotte: Mack Brown Postgame Q&A

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — UNC jumped out to an early lead and went on to defeat Charlotte 38-20 in Saturday's home opener at Kenan Stadium. Conner Harrell made his second college start and finished with 219 passing yards, three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and one interception. He added 39 rushing yards. True freshman Davion Gause stepped up with Omarion Hampton sitting out the second half. Gause supplied a game-high 105 rushing yards and one touchdown.

UNC-Charlotte: Mack Brown Postgame Q&A

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