UNC-Richmond: Bill Belichick Postgame Q&A

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina eased its way past Richmond, blowing out the Spiders 41-6 on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

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True freshman Demon June earned his first start and powered UNC (2-1) on this day, supplying 148 rushing yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. Gio Lopez was unable to get into a groove, but completed 10-of-18 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Shipp hauled in four catches for 52 yards and those two touchdowns.

The Tar Heels held an opponent without a touchdown for the second straight game. It’s the first time UNC has held consecutive opponents without a touchdown since 2012. Carolina forced three turnovers, including a grab-and-score fumble that linebacker Mikai Gbayor returned 62 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Here are the key points from coach Bill Belichick following Carolina’s second win of the season. And look below for the full video of the interview …

Opening Statement

“First of all, after the game Chancellor Roberts and the team dedicated the game ball to Mitch (Mason) who’s been with the team for a long time. He’s a real inspirational person for us. And of course, I’ve only known him since I’ve been here, but he’s been an important part of this team through the years. And so just want to make sure that everybody realizes how important he is to us and how he was recognized by the team after the game, and we dedicated the game and the ball to him. He got on the iPad and talked to us afterwards. He’s fighting and we’re praying for him, just all want to wish him well and let him know how much we’re behind him. 

“As far as the game goes, it was a real good team effort today. Thought we got good plays out of all three units. Our special teams stopped the fake punt, gave some good field position in the kicking game, (made) field goals. Offensively, we got a couple big plays, scored some points. And defensively, the goal line stands was a big series for us. And turned the ball over and scored on defense. So overall, a good, solid effort. Certainly, a lot of things we can still work on and do better. There’s no question about that. We left some plays out on the field. … So good to win. Hopefully we can still continue to improve each week with good, solid practices and preparation. Big challenge this week going down to to Orlando, but looking forward to it.” 

What progress have you seen from your defensive front the last few weeks?

“Yeah the second half of the TCU game, it was tough. We kind of got banged around a little bit there. We’ve done a better job of defeating blockers and holding line of scrimmage, playing with better technique. Coach (Bob) Diaco, Steve (Belichick), Ty Nichols, those guys really have done a good job with the front the last couple of weeks. And players have worked hard to improve. It’s about fundamentals. I mean, there’s no secret sauce, and you gotta line up and be able to defeat the blocks in front of you. And we did a much better job of that today.”

On Demon June’s performance:

“He’s earned it. Nobody gave him anything. I mean, he started at the bottom of the depth chart, and just kind of worked his way up. And he’s had some opportunities, he’s done pretty well with them, but he’s made some yards on his own, and that’s a big thing. … He can make that first guy miss. Short yardage play was really a good run, we didn’t really block it that well, there’s two unblocked guys in or near the hole, and he made a miss and turned into a long run. So he’s doing a good job with the ball in his hands. And we got him on that screen pass. That was a big play to set up a score. He’s done a good job in running and catching.”

Have you seen enough from your guys to where you think they’ll have more confidence returning to playing Power 4 competition next week?

“Yeah, I hope so. We’ll see next week, but we’ll just go through the preparations for Central (Florida). It’s another good football team. I know Scott (Frost) does a good job down there, but we’ll have to gear up for what they do. And they’ve got a lot of skilled athletes. They get the ball in space a lot. And defensively, they’ve got some explosive guys we’re gonna have to handle. So, we’ll find out.”

How would you evaluate Gio Lopez three games into this season?

“I think we’re getting more comfortable with him, he’s getting more comfortable with us. There are things that he obviously does really well. We want to try to feature those. (There) are some other things that we need more work on, and some timing and things like that. But he’s done a good job protecting the ball, done a good job making decisions in critical situations for us, and so that’s allowed us a chance to win. So we had a turnover at the end of the game today, but really prior to that, another turnover free game from the offense. And you know that goes a long way to winning.”

What makes Demon June’s style of running so effective?

“He’s a strong, one-cut runner. There’s not a lot of dodging when he gets the ball. If he gets a crease, and can accelerate through it with some power, it’s hard to bring him down with an arm tackle. And he can step through some soft tackles. So that’s his style. If he can just continue to play, if we can create some creases for him, we saw it last week in Charlotte and again today, I think that’s how he can be effective.”

On Melkart Abou-Jaoude’s two-sack performance:

“I think Melkart’s been a great story for us. Came to us from Delaware, wasn’t that big of a transfer coming in, but just was getting better and better and better and better every day all through the spring. He had a good spring. By the end of the spring, he’s probably our most productive defensive lineman. Of course, we didn’t have Leroy (Jackson) at that point. He was still out. And then he just continued to build on that through the offseason and training and we got to training camp. He’s just put a lot of consistency together, and that’s a guy that you can count on to come in and work hard and do the right thing almost every single day, every single time. And he’s earned a lot of respect and trust from his teammates, obviously, and the defensive coaching staff and certainly head coach. But it’s really been impressive, and he’s just improved so much in every area. His pass rushes, run defense, playing space, his ability to stunt and run games. It just keeps getting better and better. And it’s the kind of guy that you just love to work with, because he continues to improve, and just can take those little fine coaching points and continue to move in and make him be effective for his game.”