Completion on fourth downs is critical
Offensively, UNC has been exceptional and is currently ranked fourth in the nation in yards per game. Despite this consistent success, North Carolina's coaches honed in on the completion of critical plays on fourth downs as a key to the team's performance on Saturday.
With a quarterback as trustworthy as redshirt first-year Drake Maye, Brown said he is “going to go for fourth and three” when given a chance.
The key to converting these fourth down opportunities? Good decision making, something Longo praises Maye for.
“I always talk about being a good, consistent decision maker, and that's what he's done,” Longo said. “When you do that it puts you on a better stage to show what you can do athletically.”
Maye needs to keep things simple
“I’ve been around a lot of great college quarterbacks — Drake Maye is special,” assistant head coach for the defense Gene Chizik said. “He’s got things that you can't teach.”
With Heisman buzz getting increasingly louder for Maye, each play becomes more and more important for the redshirt first-year. In order for Maye’s Heisman hopes to stay alive — something he's alluded to in his postgame interview following UNC's 36-34 win over Wake Forest — the Tar Heels have to keep winning.
Maye's teammates are well aware of this fact and the role they have to play in assisting their quarterback. On Monday, Longo highlighted the importance of ball protection against the Yellow Jackets. He labeled them a “huge pressure team” and made it clear that UNC would not be underestimating their opponent's defensive abilities.
“It's going to be about Drake IDing protection and being able to get rid of the ball,” he said.
UNC's defensive must prepare to face the unknown
North Carolina's offense alone won't be able to carry the team to victory against Georgia Tech. The Tar Heel defensive line must also work to counter an unknown threat in the Yellow Jacket offense.
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Georgia Tech has been plagued with injuries, losing both its starting and second-string quarterbacks over the past month. It is still unclear who will step up and fill the crucial role this weekend, but it will present a novel threat for the UNC defense to deal with.
Despite this element of surprise, Chizik is delivering the same message to his defensive line that he always does: bend, don't break and never panic.
“It’s business as usual,” Chizik said. “It’s never really about them anyway — it’s really about us.”
This weekend, the Tar Heels will be keeping those 23 points in the back of their minds.
Even though the circumstances going into this game are completely different than they were last year, the stakes are just as high. The outcome will determine the team's fate just the same, which is something Brown reminded the Tar Heels of after their win against Wake Forest.
“There's a lot of teams that have won nine games in North Carolina history — you can be one of those,” he said. “Or you can be one of those that accomplishes things that haven't been accomplished very often around here.”
@PeaceGwen
@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com
Gwen PeaceGwen Peace is the 2023-24 assistant sports editor at The Daily Tar Heel. She has previously served as a senior writer. Gwen is a sophomore pursuing a double major in media and journalism and peace, war and defense.
