Oct. 9, 2007

Opening Statement
“We’re getting ready to start the second half of the season. We’ll try to improve like most of our teams have done (in the past). If we’re going to have a chance to have a big year, we have to get a lot better in a lot of areas. Sometimes I just look at the SEC stats to see how we measure up in certain areas, and right now we’re No. 11 in run offense and in run defense. We’re not stopping the run and we’re not running very far, but some how or another we’re making plays. Our scoring defense has been excellent; our pass defense has been excellent. We need to continue hopefully doing those things.”

“Offensively we didn’t play very well last week. We did have some drives and scored touchdowns. Like I said last night, our offense outscored Eric Norwood by one touchdown, so that was pretty good for us. Other than that, we’re trying to get back this week.”

“North Carolina is a good team that lost some close games at 2-4. They could be 4-2 just as easy as that. They played Virginia Tech in a 17-10 game. They beat Miami last week. They could beat us, we know that. If we’re going to beat them, we have to really play well. We have to play better than we have been playing.”

On the offensive line
“We’re still believing our offensive line will play better. I don’t know who’s going to play in there yet. We’ve tried about everybody we have. We’ll try them again. Just because we bench them (doesn’t mean) we won’t bring them back the next time. Lemuel Jeanpierre will get a shot at guard this week.”

On playing North Carolina
“We’re looking forward to playing the Tar Heels. We thought it would be a big game when we scheduled it three years ago. It’s on regional TV so we got us a TV game. I heard it’s a sellout up there so there’s some interest. It should be. We’re hoping we can beat them, but we know it’s going to be a dogfight.”

On rankings
“We don’t talk about it much. It’s just voting. It’s just the midway point…it’s something to talk about. Our players hopefully are realistic to know we’re a long way off from really being an outstanding team. Every game we play is close.”

On North Carolina coach Butch Davis
“He’s a good guy. He did an excellent job down there at Miami. He’s back in college coaching and should do well there. North Carolina has always done a good job recruiting. It’s a pretty nice place they have there.”

On North Carolina’s team
“They have a lot of good players. Physically they look like a lot of teams we’ve played. They’ve had a lot of close games. They match up with us as good as anybody we play in the SEC.”

On coaching against North Carolina while at Duke
“I’ve been fortunate in my years at Duke. That was a while back. I don’t quite have the offensive team I had that year (in 1989). That team averaged 500 yards a game. That 1989 Duke offensive team was right there with the best team’s I’ve been lucky enough to coach. We had three fifth year senior offensive linemen. Then we had a fourth year guy and a third year guy. They all stayed healthy that year. It was easily calling plays back then.”

On team identity
“We’re a scrappy bunch. We need to do better on the line of scrimmage stopping the run and running for some yards. We’ve been stymied in our run offense, which was pretty good until we went to LSU. We really haven’t gotten it back since then.”

On North Carolina’s defense
“They mix their zones and mans up. They blitz a little here and there. Their guys look well coached. We have to be pretty good throwing the ball, which we’ve not been super.”

On difference between SEC and ACC
“It’s not a whole bunch different, I don’t think. We always brag in the SEC about having the best defenses, but those other schools have good ballplayers. Everybody’s got ballplayers and coaches. Our job is to just try to put them in position and let the players play the game.”

On the team
“We’re not going to dominate many teams just because we can’t dominate the line of scrimmage. But we can beat them all; we can get more points if we play exceptionally well. That’s what we have to do. We have to play smart and play without a lot of errors. That’s the fun part of the game really. We know it’s going to be a tough, close game so we have to come ready to play, play smart and with a lot of effort. If we do that then we’ll have a chance.”