UNC-UCF Postgame Interviews: Max Johnson & Will Hardy

ORLANDO, Fla. — Saturday afternoon at the Acrisure Bounce House gave North Carolina the opportunity to prove something. UNC’s game against UCF placed them in another nationally televised game against a power conference opponent. But more importantly, the Tar Heels were given the chance to show the country that they were no longer the team they were 19 days ago, when they were dismantled by TCU at Kenan Stadium. So–did they avenge themselves and prove the nation wrong? Not even close. Carolina had it handed to them by the Knights, en route to a 34-9 defeat.

Quarterback Max Johnson and defensive back Will Hardy spoke to the media after the loss. Watch the complete interview below and read some noteworthy excerpts… 

Max Johnson

“We just gotta stick together as a team. We’re all on the same team, wearing the same helmet, wearing the same emblem. We’re all together, and we have to choose to be together, choose to be closer, choose to support each other, and play complementary football…

“We need to do a better job of sticking together and encouraging each other. That’s kind of what we talked about at halftime was ‘hey, stay together, stay together.’ That’s what we need, and I think that’s gonna be a main focus point for us moving forward…

“I did not get to talk to (Gio). I’m not really sure what the injury was, but I hope he’s doing well, and hopefully I’ll be able to talk to him pretty soon.”

Will Hardy

“It’s not our job to think about where we stand in the outside world. We show up each every week, focus on the opponent, and we did not do good enough job out there today. We prepared well, not well enough, but we really just didn’t execute. If you look down and you watch the film, it’s one guy here and there not not making the play that we need them to make. It starts with every single player doing their job and us holding everyone accountable. We’re gonna have a good bye week, we’re gonna get better all around, and then we’re focused on the next opponent. We’re not looking to where we stand against anybody else right now. We’re focusing on ourselves…

“We can take this loss and we can split apart, or we can get closer together. I know we’re gonna get closer together. So we’re gonna use this loss for the good of the team…

“You play the game to win, and so whenever you don’t win, you put in a lot of work, and you’re disappointed. We have to do a great job of sticking together. Moving forward it’s ‘what do we gotta fix?’ How are we going to change the way we play if we don’t change the way we practice or the way we communicate. Things have got to change in how we prepare and how we how we perform and how we hold each other accountable. Emotionally, everyone’s locked in, everyone’s still very motivated, maybe even more motivated now.”