Mack Brown made his weekly appearance Monday and spoke with the media following UNC’s disappointing loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday. He praised the Georgia Tech coaching staff throughout the press conference, saying that they did a better job preparing their team to play than the UNC staff did. Brown was proud of his defense but did not like the fact that they could not get off the field late in the game and give the offense another chance. It was a very uncharacteristic performance from the UNC offense, and the UNC staff is very dissatisfied with the play that the Heels showed Saturday. He referred to the GT game as a “trap game” but also said that “good teams don’t have trap games because they show up to play.”
Drake Maye may have struggled against Georgia Tech, but Brown reminded the media that “we would not have won nine games without Drake playing the way he has.” Maye has thrown for 34 TDs and 4 interceptions, not to mention Heisman consideration. He says the same thing about Josh Downs, who dropped a potential go-ahead TD late in the game.
Looking ahead to the rivalry game against NC State, Brown emphasized the importance of being ready to play, even after a loss, “you can’t let one game beat you twice.”
He made it clear that UNC must step up offensively to combat State’s top 30 defense. Good luck State, UNC will be motivated and ready to fight on Friday.