The offensive players for the North Carolina football team were made available to the media on Tuesday following practice. Here are three things we learned as the Tar Heels prepare for Pittsburgh on Saturday.
UNC looks to build off bye week
The Tar Heels took Week 11 of the college football season off to rest and recover following a 47-20 blowout against Miami on Nov. 1.
Sophomore wide receiver Mack Hollins, UNC’s leading receiver who finished with a season-low 11 receiving yards against the Hurricanes, said the bye week allowed the Tar Heels to heal.
“It helps a lot, because we had a lot of guys that were not injured all of the way but were hurting a little bit and needed that time off,” Hollins said. “So that time off really helped everybody get back."
Redshirt junior quarterback Marquise Williams said the hits he’s taken over the course of the season were beginning to add up, but the bye helped him shake them off.
“It was awesome. It felt great. I’m back at 100 percent,” Williams said. “I’m walking normal now. I was walking like a old man from all of the bumps and bruises, but thank God I’m healthy and I can finish out these three games strong.”
The Panthers were also on the bye in Week 11 following a 51-48 loss in double overtime against Duke, and Hollins said both teams will be ready to go entering Saturday’s contest.
Looking for protection
The Hurricanes’ aggressive defense got after Williams early and often — sacking the quarterback six times behind its relentless pressure.
“They played wonderful,” Williams said. “They swarmed to the ball as a defense. I feel like they wanted it more that day.”
The Tar Heels will be without one of its best blocking running backs in Romar Morris — who was suspended for the game versus the Panthers after being arrested on Nov. 2 for driving while impaired.
With Morris suspended and freshman Elijah Hood still banged up after missing three games with an injury, sophomore running back Khris Francis said he’s been receiving more reps with the starters.
Francis said he and the other tailbacks have continued with their same routine in practice of working alongside the offensive line to learn their opponents’ blitz packages.
“We’re all doing what we can during our blitz period — picking up what we have to do,” he said. “And we have a group-pro period where we make sure we go through every blitz we’ll see through Pitt and how we’re going to handle it as an offense with the O-line.”
Hollins said extra time in the pocket for Williams will allow the offense to expand the field.
“If we can give him a little more time, we can get deeper routes in and everything doesn’t have to be short,” he said. “It should workout well if we can get that time.”
Executing on offense
The Tar Heels exited Sun Life Stadium having converted on only five of their 15 third downs.
Williams said Miami’s ability to prevent UNC from excelling on third down didn’t give the team a chance of walking away with a win.
“We didn’t execute on the offensive side of the ball,” he said. “Bad thing is if we don’t keep moving the chains on third down, it’s going to be a long day. We had a long time moving the ball on third down.”
The Tar Heels finished the game against the Hurricanes with a measly 11 yards on the ground.
Williams said Miami’s speed on the defensive side of the ball accounted for most of UNC’s struggles in the running game, but he will hopefully be able to help the Tar Heels move the chains with his legs against the Panthers’ zone defense.
“I like a team’s that’s going to stay in their cover zone,” Williams said. “The quarterback is the offense — you have to get them out of their cover zone. So I’m excited to see the plays they’re going to do and things we’re going to do to help us win this ballgame.”
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
