NC State head coach Tom O’Brien spoke to the media Tuesday.
On North Carolina running back Giovanni Bernard…
“He is a great back. He’s tough to bring down. He has a very powerful lower body and he has great quickness and speed, but it’s their offensive line. They have three seniors up there and a junior at left tackle. In the past, they’ve been kind of like us. We’re starting our fifth different offensive line in seven games. Over there, they’ve had a lot of different moving parts, but they’ve been consistent up front. You look at [Jonathan] Cooper at left guard – he might be a first round guy. Not to take anything away from him [Bernard], because he’s a great back in his own right, but this is the best offensive line we’re going to play against this year.”
On how NC State has controlled the line of scrimmage against UNC the last few years…
“I think they’ve been beat up, banged up when we’ve played them. They’ve had different parts in there than they’ve had in the past. These guys have played every game this far this year. That’s the key to having a good offensive line. Other than having good players that they have is to be cohesive and be playing with the same guys week-in and week-out. They’re the least sacked team in the conference, today.”
On what UNC does offensively…
“it’s similar to what Clemson is doing offensively; similar to what we saw in the second half against Maryland. It’s the Rich Rodriguez offense. It’s what he started back at Tulane, to Clemson, to West Virginia. It’s very similar to that.”
On allowing Maryland to rush for 100 yards last week…
“It’s certainly concerning us when you have to play a [running] back like we’re going to have to play this weekend. We didn’t tackle particularly well in the second half. I think some of it was apprehensiveness on our part because of some of the things that were going on. As I said to the team, I’m going to treat it like it was an opening game after the break, and we have to get much better between the first and second game here in the second half of the season, if we’re going to have any success.”
Whether or not there is cause for concern having played three straight close games…
“No, I think that’s the way college football is. A lot of people are [in] tight games nowadays. It’s seems like it’s getting more like the NFL, week-to-week.”
If the team has gain confidence winning two close games in a row…
“Yeah, I think that’s a big confidence builder, especially for the quarterback. You have to be able to have success in those situations, and then i think the whole team has confidence in the quarterback, and certainly, our kicker gained a lot of success. That’s the first time he’s been put in that situation. We thought that he was special the day that we signed him – that he would be able to handle those situations and be able to kick anywhere on the field – and for him to do that should be a big step forward for him, too.”
On defensive tackle T.Y. McGill’s improvement since the season’s beginning and if he’s considered the anchor of the defensive line…
“I don’t think he’s the anchor. Those are the two guys outside – the more experienced guys – but, he’s getting better and better each and every week. He was forced into action last year, which was a good thing for us. Certainly, he exposed himself in the spring game when he ran Asa Watson down from behind on that one pass [with] some of the speed and quickness he has – power. He’s still learning the position. He’s got a ways to go, but certainly, there’s flashes of him making plays. The kid’s got a great personality. He loves to play the game. Friday, after I said something to the team before we broke the walkthrough to get on [the plane], he said, ‘We’ve got all our bullets right Coach? We’re not gonna’ run out of bullets?’ I said, ‘No, we’ll fire ’em all.’ He understands.”
On talk about the winning streak against North Carolina…
“That’s the way rivalries are – you can’t escape that fact no matter what side of the ledger you’re on in this thing. Certainly, I was at the Army-Navy game when I played in it, coached in it, certainly Virginia-Virginia Tech and then as much at Boston College as we tried to make the Notre Dame rivalry.”
If any of the wins are more special that the others in the rivalry…
“Yeah, I think the one here when Dana [Bible] was sick and missed the game, and the week before we had to go to Blacksburg [Va.] and we had one week to try and get organized on offense to win the game, and what a great job the team did and Russell [Wilson] did and everybody that day – coming back in the second half. We made a big play to get the ball back and then ran the clock out at the end. Because of the circumstances of the game. As Russell said after the game, he threw the ball in the stands, and then he had to go up and get it to give it to Dana. He had to go find the person he threw it to and give them another one. I think that was a little more special than any of the others for those reasons.”
If the players have done a good job getting focused on this game…
“It’s hard to play this game and not know that. That’s what we talk about early in this thing is that there’s certain games that are special because of all the influence on the outside looking in. No matter where you go or what you do, whether it’s in the social media or whether it’s on campus, that’s all that’s going to be talked about, and that’s the way a game against North Carolina is for North Carolina State.”
On how Maryland’s quarterback changes may have altered NC State’s ability to get sacks in the second half last week…
“I think we had one or two, but it was the style of offense for the second half that didn’t allow it. We’re going to have trouble sacking him [Bryn Renner]. He’s only been sacked five times this year. They get rid of the ball quick. He loves to throw the ball to the tight end – he’s a tough matchup for anybody because half the time he’s flexed as almost a wideout. He and [Erik] Highsmith are generally together. They’re both two big guys, and then he [Renner] does a great job screening the ball to Bernard and getting him out of the backfield.”
If he sees similarities between QB’s Mike Glennon and Bryn Renner…
“No, i think they’re different. Renner could play in our offense because he has in previous years, but I don’t think Mike’s that type of guy that’ll run the option. We could ask him to do it, but that’s certainly not his strengths. We wouldn’t do that – maybe.”
If watching the Duke-North Carolina game gave any hints to attacking their run defense…
“We’ve played the top two rushing defenses in our conference back-to-back, and North Carolina’s third, so at least we’re heading in the right direction as far as rush defense are concerned, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Hopefully, that line we’ve got in there now will stabilize, stay healthy, and they can get better and better as time goes on. The backs are pretty well set as we are right now, going forward, so maybe we can get a little more consistency and run the ball better.”