Larry Fedora brusquely entered the room and strode up to his familiar podium.
He stared at the assorted media members and promptly gave his opening thoughts following the North Carolina football team’s 24-17 season-opening defeat at California this weekend.
“After a thorough evaluation of the tape, you saw on offense, especially in the first half, you saw a multitude of issues as far as execution and taking care of your job,” the head coach said. “On defense, I thought our guys, especially in both halves, played well. I thought there was one drive where we got on our heels a little bit with tempo. (We) didn’t communicate as well as we could have and gave up a drive there.”
The issues on offense included three first-half interceptions from redshirt junior quarterback Nathan Elliott. His first two takeaways resulted in California touchdowns, and UNC trailed 17-0 at the break.
But despite the troubling lack of control from his signal caller in the first half, Fedora was pleased with how Elliott responded coming out of the locker room after halftime.
“I think his response has been good,” Fedora said. “I think it’s exactly what I expected from him. I mean, he’s not a wishy-washy kid. He’s pretty strong, and he understands what he needs to do, and he understands what we need to do as a team, and I think he will do a good job of leading.”
The head coach credited Elliott’s ability to get outside the pocket in opening up the offense in the second half. The lefty ran for 53 yards on eight carries after halftime, as UNC outscored California, 17-7.
Despite Elliott's four-interception performance, Fedora stated full confidence in his quarterback on Monday.
“I’m not worried about Nathan’s confidence, if that’s what you’re asking me,” Fedora said. “He’s played this position a long time, and there’s pressure that comes with being the quarterback and leader of the team and he understands that.”