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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 31, 2016

Larry Fedora

Greensboro, North Carolina

COACH FEDORA: Our team is extremely excited to play in this game, excited to play against the University of Georgia, their rich tradition. Looking forward to finding out what the 2016 team is all about.

Q. Could you just talk a little bit about the chip on your team's shoulder with them feeling disrespected not only throughout last season but coming into this season.
COACH FEDORA: I think playing with a chip on your shoulder is the way you're supposed to play the game of football. You have to have an edge about you when you play. I think this team has that.

I don't know if they felt disrespected last year or disrespected going into this game. I do know that they're hungry to get into this game because we have a bad taste in our mouth by the way we finished the season last year.

Whether we were disrespected or not, I don't know. I couldn't keep up with that.

Q. How have you been preparing your team for either quarterback this week? What do you remember about Greyson Lambert from facing him in 2014?
COACH FEDORA: Well, we haven't done anything different in our preparation. I mean, we know there's going to be a guy under center that's going to be able to throw it, hand it off, give it to Nick Chubb and the bevy of backs that they have. They're going to put a good player out there. They've got a lot of good players at the University of Georgia. It hasn't changed the way we prepared.

Lambert, I just remember he's a really good quarterback. He can throw it, run it, does a great job with his play-action fakes. He can move around a little bit. That also adds to the mix.

Q. Going up against that loaded Georgia ground game, what is your assessment of your run defense going into this game?
COACH FEDORA: Well, I don't really know what to tell you there because we haven't played a game yet.

But in our scrimmages and the things we've done against ourselves, I thought our guys have done a nice job with the additions scheme-wise that we're doing. They're just a year better up front. We have another year of experience under our belt.

The oldest guy we got up there on the front is a junior, Naz Jones, Dajuan Drennon, those two. Most of them are younger than that. Every rep they get is a learning experience, and I'm excited to see where they are.

Q. Obviously you proved last year that a season-opening loss is something you could rebound from. If you were to win in this one, would it change the team mindset, help make those goals a little bit more realistic as the season goes on?
COACH FEDORA: This game has nothing to do with our goals actually. It would be great start to the season, there's no doubt about that. That's what we want. But it won't change the way we prepare when we come back on the field on Sunday night the day after the game. We prepare the same whether it's the first game, sixth game, the tenth game. It doesn't really matter who we play as far as our preparation.

I hope that our program, that you can't tell who we're playing by the way we practice, that we're consistent week in and week out.

Q. What effect do you think Jalen Dalton and Naz Jones, their presence in the interior of the line, can have on your defensive line in general?
COACH FEDORA: Well, it can have a tremendous impact for us. Both of those guys, again, Jalen now is a true sophomore, played half the season for us last year. And he was moving inside. He's picked up the nuances of the position. He's much better than he was last year.

Naz Jones, again, he's just a year older and a year more experienced and the leader of that group, being the oldest guy out there as a junior.

I think those two will be a big presence inside for us.

Q. I wanted to ask you about perception. You're playing an SEC team which is usually perceived as the dominant conference. It's on national TV. ACC has three big matchups with the SEC this weekend. What does it do for your program and for the conference if the ACC does well this weekend?
COACH FEDORA: Well, going into my fifth year now here, I mean, I think the ACC has proved themselves nationally. We played for a couple national championships, won a national championship, won all the major awards that are given out on a yearly basis.

I think the respect that we get nationally is much better than it was when I got in the league, and it continues to grow.

Perception, you guys are the ones that create the perception. All we can do is go out there, put a product on the field, compete, and hopefully play well.

It would do wonders for us to do well in this game, this week. It will open your guys' eyes to what this league is all about.

Q. I was thinking of Elijah Hood, had a terrific year last year. He's matched up against Nick Chubb, a guy that nationally gets more hype. Is this a chance for Elijah to put himself in that conversation among the best runningbacks in the country?
COACH FEDORA: No doubt about it. That's at every position. People remember what you do against great teams. Every guy in our program that's going to step on that field has an opportunity to make a name for himself in a good name, whether it be Naz Jones, Mitch Trubisky, Andre Smith, whoever it is. They all are going to get matched up against great players. You get to find out where you stand.

Q. Now that Mitch Trubisky's time has come, he's unquestionably the quarterback, what should people expect to see from him?
COACH FEDORA: I don't know what people should expect. I can tell you what I expect and what this coaching staff expects. That is for him to take care of the football, number one. We've got to be very, very careful with the football. And number two, move the chains. That means just take the ball and put it wherever the defense dictates. If he does those two things, he'll have a great chance for success throughout this season.

I know there are a lot of expectations out there publicly on Mitch. This will be the first game he is ever starting in here at the University of North Carolina so it will be different for him, instead of coming off the bench in relief. It will be interesting for him as he goes into this game.

But I'm telling you, I think he's really prepared. I think he's done a great job of preparing himself. I think Coach Heck has done a great job with him.

Q. I believe in the spring you mentioned voicing concern about not necessarily being 100% sure what they're going to do on offense. With that being the case, do you go back and watch any of Jim Chaney's film when he was at Pitt or Arkansas or Tennessee to get an idea?
COACH FEDORA: Yes, on all three of those. Broke down all three teams, every film we could find on all three teams. In an opening game like this, one thing that Gene and I have talked about, and Coach Kap, is that you got to be careful because you start chasing ghosts. You 'what if' yourself to death on all the things that could happen on either side of the ball.

Your worst nightmare is not having your guys prepared for something. That's your worst nightmare. I think we've done that, but at the same time I think we've kept our game plans short and concise, so our guys can play fast and not have to think.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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