North Carolina
UNC QB Drake Maye on starting ACC play with Pitt: "It's a tone setter"
UNC quarterback Drake Maye discusses the continued growth of the offense as the Tar Heels prepare for ACC play with a road game against Pitt on Saturday.
Uh here yesterday talked a little bit about your running with the ball and he said, obviously very on the ball to be smart, which, which I guess I think I did a better job of, yeah, just um protecting myself. I think that first sideline hit just gotta get out of bounds. I mean that it's just so hard when the first downs right there. Um just hard for me to run out of bounds. Uh Just, just my mentality. Um whether it's, you know, just growing up, like I said, just having that edge or, you know, watching Sam do it here, Sam never, he never saw Sam out of bounds unless um the first down was near. So need to do a better job at the same time and I'm gonna leave it all out there and not gonna change that. Just, uh like I said, I got to do a better job of knowing when to get down. Yeah, we got out of here about six. So, uh I checked the score when I come out of practice, it was 21 to 3. Uh not looking good and obviously turned it around and uh watch the whole second half and, um, it was fun to watch. No, no, never that. Um, I mean, 30 NFL is harder. Um, he's proved it, you know, wherever he's gone he's changed, changed the program. So, you know, I don't expect anything from, from him the way he prepares, the way he goes about it and hands himself. You know, I think, um, he's putting the NFL on, notice you take the app, the game you hit at the end of that and on the 2.1 and then, like you said, the start, I think the five plays in Minnesota and there was another one where a land on you like some of the harder hits you've taken. Oh, I, I'm sure, you know, you always have some hits, you know, from the game that you remember the next day, um, and stuff that, you know, you get in there and, um, treat your body, but I can't really give you power because of the hard hits. But, you know, I definitely, uh, I've taken some throughout the years but, uh, sometimes part of the game, it's part of position, um, that I play, you gotta hang in there and see guys on Sundays taking hits, um, um, guys across the college football, taking hits and, you know, we're always the ones going highlight film for getting blown up and, and smacked and, um, I'm sure you've seen, um, a lot of that. So I definitely think that first one on the sidelines, I could do a better job than not avoiding kind of a, uh, just a cluster of, of big dudes trying, trying to take my head off. But, uh yeah, I definitely, uh woke up, um, on Sunday morning, felt that one of the conference starting up. Does anything kind of, you know, change as far as, or anything like that? Yeah, I think it just a, a kind of a new with the, the no division, you know, every, every game, um you know, on the AC C, every opponent, you know, Pit would been on our, on our side anyway. But, um, you know, it's kind of a tone center, you know, pit like Coach Brown has been, been preaching, uh Pitts, the tough kind of had the tough uh personality of the AC C and uh you know, the, the, the do a little extra stuff and um hit you hard and um try to do the little, you know, extra stuff to get you up. So, um we have, there's no opportunity to set the tone like was for our season, but this is kind of another opportunity to set the tone for AC C play, whatever it takes to win in terms of the same, you know, but you guys came out a half time with the kind of as much as you want to do whatever it takes to win, how much excitement you feel when it's clearly going to be on your shoulders and we're gonna pass. Yes, sir. Um, I think, you know, establishing the run and run the football every week is, is our goal. Uh, I wouldn't say, um, that we're going into, into the game expecting, you know, for me to throw four yards of the game and we're not going to the game to expecting, you know, to run for 300 yards. We're trying to find an even balance and at the same time it's a lot of what the defense is doing. So, um, they trying to stop the run and we have some backs that are making big plays and Marian and British and Caleb, they're all running great. So, uh, it makes tough on the defense. So we're just kind of gauging it based on how we think they're going to play us and, uh, just in, in the, in the game and then taking it from there. And, um, I think coach Lindsay and, and office staff did a nice job of, you know, not, not, uh, being married to one thing and, uh, just adjusting to how they're playing us and letting it go. I guess you guys ran the ball one time in the third quarter. It was all, basically, you guys not running into heavy boxes and throwing it. Kind of, how did you feel in that third quarter when, I mean, you guys had a bumpy stretch early where you weren't getting the ball, but I mean, where you're able to throw the ball, you know, consistently going downfield with attempts over and over again and it seem like you got to really come across. Yes, sir. Yeah, you got to get in the groove there. Um That's the great thing about, you know, having guys around me and, and protect them well, and you kind of get in the rhythm and, uh, once you're moving the ball, you know, move the ball once we go up tempo, uh we got some up tempo plays that, um, you know, I can make some, some different, you know, we can throw it over on it and so it makes it tough on the defense. Um We try to catch them and we felt like on third down, it was the best to go fast and, and throw the rock and, uh it was working. So we kept, we kept on, on moving the ball well, so we didn't want to change that. You won't have a huge sex clients who have known. So, yeah, I think it, it's big coach, you know, coach Lindsay always preaches it and coach Brown preaches, you know, converting on third down and, um, you know, getting off the field for the defense on third down. Um The, I think the one of the biggest things, you know, for me is that coach Browns, you know, likely to go forward on fourth down once we get across, um, where it's the 40 or the 50. So just kind of that, that new approach of, you know, taking what they give me, you know, checking it down or, or getting four or five yards and having them run for the first. Um, at the same time, I, I like to say, you know, I feel like pretty confident, um whether down the distance, I think we had some 3rd and 12, we had some third and elevens and some long third downs, um, put the ball in my hands and, you know, studying film throughout the week and, and get the protection right. I feel pretty good. Um We got a good chance up on Saturday's game. How did Nate's presence impact the defense is going to make the offensive job easier moving forward, which is what he's able to do. I think, I think he's gonna make everybody's job. I think he's gonna open up some, um, some, some, uh so one or more opportunities for, for guys on the outside and, uh, you know, those, you know, kind of sneak the tight ends in there. They made big plays on Saturday. So, uh I think that position, you know, Kobe's been in that position a little bit, um, that slap position and, and same with Nate is just try to mix them up and, and get them all in there. Um, and kind of make it hard for the defense to, to realize where Nate's at or or where Kobe is at, or? Oh, hey, Bryson and in, or, hey, Bryson and Cooper in or? Hey, they're all three in, uh, just mixing up the personnel. Makes it tough. You guys in the back with me out there was a gradual change or? Yeah. Iii, I didn't really notice much. I mean, I think they, they tried to cloud some stuff. Um, they didn't really brack him. Um, they played that kind of that, that quarters with the, with the inside, um, the inside nickel. So I don't think they really changed much. Obviously, you know, he caught 15 balls for, for 100 and 70. So it sound like they shut him down in the second half. But, uh yeah, yeah. Yes, sir. Yeah, he's tough. Yeah, he, he played a lot outside in high school. I mean, I think he's one of the, the best, um, high school receivers coming out of North Carolina um in our class um in the state. I think he broke a bunch of records over Kings Mountain. Um, remember Washington highlight tape so we can do a lot of things. That's the thing about, about Kobe's Versatile. Um And, uh, you know, he played in the outside against Clemson AC championship. Um He's, he's good one on one when, when guys wanna, uh go out there and on the outside and, uh, you know, a guy I trust, you know, we've had some big players together and, um, he's got a lot of balls for me. You talking about the wide receivers trying to get them to run some plays as well. Um, you know, as the case that they get some reps on in games from what you've seen, just doing reps with them and even just observing them in practice. How have you seen those guys, those first receivers? For sure they're coming along. Um, they're nice, I think, you know, credit to the younger quarterbacks too, you know, Connor and Tad, um they've taken him after practice, I see him working on them, you know, routes and stuff and even me, I try to do my best. I'm with the older guys at the same time. I try to, you know, grab Chris Culver, grab, you know, Christian Hamilton, um, or Paul or, or Doc Chapman, grab those guys and, you know, get a route here or there. Um, and maybe routing this week that, that they may be in on. Um, so just try to, you know, move them along any time, you know, coming into the freshman, you're just trying to learn the playbook first and then, um, you know, I think it's, it's tough going up, you know, to pit the night game and throwing in a true freshman um in that, that environment against a team like that, but, you know, we're gonna need him later in the season, you know, injuries happened and, uh, kind of the same things last year and them coby stepping up, um, you know, when Josh and A G went down, um, they gotta be ready. Yeah, it could be, you know, you could throw one round, it could take five minutes or you could be working, you know, a couple of different rounds. It could be up to 20 minutes. Um, so I see Tad and Conor, they're, you know, we're all, us, us quarterbacks, we all usually out there an extra 20 minutes after practice. Um kind of fine tuning things and, and getting stuff during practice that we may have missed on, I missed a few posts today. I threw him, I overthrew him. So I was getting that after practice. So just little things like that you mentioned earlier about being hard hitting, you know, maybe, maybe a bully type team, like, was that reinforced to you? Like, I mean, I know you were up there two years ago, over time was running around but was that reinforced for you last year in the game here? Um Just the way they play, I think you had your hand cut up during that game. Was that did that like II, I think they, they try to, you know, kind of play that boy ball and um have that mentality going in the week. I remember the dude last year at the press conference. Uh One of the line backers said we try to do the same thing we did in Mali Cunningham and if he doesn't come, if he doesn't get up, then it's not our problem. So I had that mentality and they all worked out last year. So, um, just going over the same time mentality and, um, you know, trying to win a game and, and, uh, you know, play, uh, not hurt ourselves offensively was saying last year or sorry, yesterday that you guys do a lot of work on scramble plays like the first. Yeah, like how, how do you practice that? Just, I mean, because, yeah, no, no doubt. I think um one of the biggest things is, you know, our defense, uh they do a good job in seven on seven and, you know, when something's not open, I do my best to try to get out there and make a play on the scramble drill. Um We have certain players sometimes in practice where we to, um just so I get out there and work on scramble and getting open. Um That's tough, you know, so during fall camp to really replicate that because I'm, I'm trying to hit everything on the, you know, 1st, 2nd read and even sometimes you get to the third, you get to move. That's a lot of the football and that's a lot of, you know, what I feel like is, um, one of the better parts of my game get out of the pocket and making plays. Um So it's kind of hard to replicate real life because they can't really hit me in practice. So, uh, in game it's kind of just a, um, kind of a field thing and I feel like our guys got a great feel. Max and his thing that could have been a breakout. Mhm. Yeah, he's, he, he's right on the verge. Um, you know, he, he kept on, he texted me out to the game, you know, I gotta make that catch and, um, he wants it and, uh, he's, he's, he's got the tangibles. He's just, um, you know, still kind of learning it and, uh, he's, he's, he's getting down last year. The problem was kind of knowing what to do and, and how to do it. And, uh, he's got that down. So, just confidence and, uh, making that play, you saw him in the organ game, make a big catch. So he's got it in him. He's just, uh, getting more confidence and I got to do a better job of, um, finding him open. So.