What Mack Brown said after Heels dominate Camels for seventh win
All is well in Chapel Hill.
After two straight weeks in which UNC went from fringe College Football Playoff contender to an ACC afterthought, thanks to losses against sub-.500 UVA and Georgia Tech, UNC responded Saturday afternoon with a 59-7 thumping of Campbell.
Tar Heels running back Omarion Hampton reached the 1,000-yard rushing yardage mark for the season on his first of two, second quarter touchdowns. Carolina quarterback Drake Maye threw touchdowns on a quarter of his 16 completions, while UNC star wide receiver Devontez Walker caught both of his passes for scores.
Playmakers showed up everywhere on Carolina’s defense, with five different guys recording a sack or part of one. UNC recovered three Camel fumbles and limited an opponent to single-digits for the second time this year.
With all the Tar Heels did well, you know that head coach Mack Brown is a happy camper. He might event bust out some of his signature dance moves – on or off camera.
What exactly did Brown have to say exactly after Carolina’s dominating victory?
#UNC head coach Mack Brown, after beating up on Campbell to snap the losing streak: "I can see why Larry did this."
— Michael Koh (@michaelkohwchl) November 4, 2023
Mack Brown on freshman Chris Culliver
“So happy that Tez could get back he practiced a little bit this week,” Brown told Inside Carolina. “He was a bit slower. So we didn’t know until pregame today whether he’s gonna play or not. And Chris (Culliver) was gonna have to step up and take a bigger role in the game if he didn’t. So that’s the other reason we needed Chris out there more today, so he can help out if somebody gets hurt. … Really proud of Chris. He’s got length, he’s got speed, he’s tough (and) he loves to play. He just has to learn more about what we’re doing. But he’s got a chance to be really special in the future.”
Mack Brown on Tez Walker
“We actually watched him in pregame and we said if he said he was sore, we weren’t going to play at all,” Brown told Inside Carolina. “But we also thought he needed to play because he didn’t need to have the tough hit at Georgia Tech and then play against Duke without having some balls thrown in a live setting. So he’s tough. He’s a tough young man and walked out there and not only did he play, he played really good.”
Mack Brown on UNC getting its swagger back
“I think we did, I thought they had fun,” Brown told InsideCarolina. “They got their confidence back. The defense really played well for three quarters and I was more worried about the Campbell offense than I was their defense. I thought we’d move the ball, but their offense has some players and you complete 74 percent against air and you’re pretty good. I was really proud of the defense for stepping up like they did. The offense is the offense, they are pretty much the same every week.”
Mack Brown on Omarion Hampton
“Our running game was different (last year) than it is right now,” Brown said. “This is the perfect running game for him and he’s developed confidence and patience and he’s got the rare combination of power and speed. And now in one of the latter drives he picked up on pass protection, he picked up a blitzing linebacker. So he’s the whole package right now. He’s one of the reasons we’re so good on offense.”
Mack Brown on Conner Harrell
“I was really pleased with Conner,” Brown told Inside Carolina. “We told him, I thought he was uptight, he missed a read the first time we went out there. And I told Chip (Lindsey), ‘we have got to play him like we’re playing him in a game. He’s one play away from coming in and we got to keep him out there and we got to call the plays we would call when he’s in the game period and run the offense. And sometimes I haven’t done that in the past and it’s not been smart. It’s been nice, but it’s not my job. My job is to get the next guy ready to play. And that’s what we said today. But he made a great read on the zone read and he’s real fast.
