UNC-Richmond Postgame Interviews: Gio Lopez, Jordan Shipp, Demon June, Mikai Gbayor

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s just what the Tar Heels did Saturday afternoon in their new head coach’s second game in Kenan Stadium, as North Carolina handled business against Richmond, downing the Spiders 41-6.

Quarterback Gio Lopez, wide receiver Jordan Shipp, running back Demon June and linebacker Mikai Gbayor spoke to the media following their team’s first victory at home this season. Watch those complete interviews below and read some noteworthy excerpts… 

Gio Lopez

“It’s just chemistry and executing the offense. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re a bunch of new guys still gelling together. And I think every day counts. Practice counts, meetings count, just everything we do together counts. So I think as an offense, we’re just gelling more and more, and more…

“For me, there’s a lot I gotta clean up. There’s reads I’m missing, there’s just stuff I gotta clean up. Everyone can be a lot better. I’ve got to be better myself”

Jordan Shipp

“I feel like the biggest thing with us is just trust. I trust him. He trusts me. There’s times in practice where he throws me some balls that maybe he shouldn’t technically throw, but he just trusts me. I’m able to go make plays for him. And I feel like that really starts with just our connection off the field, that’s one of my closest friends, one of my best friends…

“I’ m just happy we won, we got away with the win at Charlotte. I could have had no catches. I feel like I could have played a key game, key part in the blocking game. Whatever my team needs me to do, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Demon June

“It’s a good competitiveness in the room with other guys like Bullet, Hoodie and Ben, just having them to push me every day to be able to showcase this stuff. It just felt good…

“Being a North Carolina kid, you just always wanted to play for this. So when Bill did come, I just felt like, Okay, here’s another obstacle you had to go through. But stay down, stay consistent, and trust the process and trust the man above with whatever he wants to happen for you, and you go with that.”

Mikai Gbayor

“I was just trying to get to the ball. You know, CJ was there first, CJ hit the guy, and it was a little loose. So you give CJ that, and I, just as it was falling out, I just took it and scored…

“It’s just a process throughout the week. And what we do throughout the week that gets us these results — it’s just our process throughout the week. I feel like this week and week before even that week, it was just we practiced hard, so we just gonna continue to practice hard and continue to elevate. It’s only up from here.”