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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2016

Larry Fedora

Greensboro, North Carolina

LARRY FEDORA: Our team is anxious to get back out on the field and fortunate for us, we get to play at home. We've got a really good football team coming in here. A team that's rated six in the country. They're number one in the country in rushing. They're like number six in the country in points allowed defensively. So they do a great job running the triple option offense, and so we're going to have our work cut out for us.

Q. To look at the evolution of Mitch Trubisky, he's obviously been there with you for a while. What can you say from the beginning of the season to where he stands right now leadership-wise on this team, and if he's gotten to the level you expected from him when you started the season?
LARRY FEDORA: Well, I think in basically all of his play he's achieving. He's reaching a level that I would hope he had, and he's even gone farther in some phases of it. He's still growing as a leader. He's a good leader. Don't get me wrong, he's a good leader. But he's still going to -- as he starts more football games and he's going to even grow as a leader. But he's come a long way, he really has, and really proud of where he is right now as a player.

Q. Then as far as the ACC as a whole, with new coaches coming in, and just what you can say about this season, the level of competition and the evolution of the ACC as it continues to bring in more talent and become, if possible, even more challenging?
LARRY FEDORA: I'd say the ACC is as strong as it's ever been. Each year, I mean, in the last four years that I've been here it's gotten stronger and stronger. You've got quality, quality coaches that are coming into the league and doing great things. So anybody can beat you on any given Saturday. That's been proven this year, and it's been proven in the years before that, but even more so now.

So we've got a lot of talent, and we've got a lot of great players throughout this league.

Q. With all the espionage going on on the sidelines as far as signals are concerned, how much actual sign stealing do you think there is in college football, and is there an ethical question there or is it part of the game?
LARRY FEDORA: I think it happens quite a bit, actually. I think it happens quite a bit. Ever since teams quit huddling and started signaling things, I think it happens a lot, a whole lot, more than anybody ever thinks. I think it's part of the game. If you're going to signal, then you're taking a chance of someone stealing those signals.

So you have to have a sophisticated enough system that that doesn't happen. I think that's your responsibility. We signal everything. We know that probably that's going on, so we have to do a good job with our signals.

Q. Have you talked to your team about the fact that obviously the Citadel beat Carolina last year, have you hammered that home to make sure they don't take the Citadel lightly it week?
LARRY FEDORA: I don't think they're going to take the Citadel lightly. We talked about what this team this year has done. They already know the Citadel beat South Carolina at the end of last season. This team right now is number six in the country. They're number one in rushing. They're number four in time of possession.

So we know they're going to limit the possessions that we get. Defensively they're only giving up 18 points a game. So our team knows they're a really good football team. By them running the triple option, we know what that can do for a team.

Q. What is your assessment of your run defense heading into this test?
LARRY FEDORA: We're going to have to play very well. Hopefully there will be a little bit of carryover in what we did a couple weeks ago against Georgia Tech, but we're still going to have to play really well. These guys have their own version of it, so you only have a couple days to put in your scheme and what you're going to do against it.

Q. Is their triple option similar to Georgia Tech? Does it help to have played Georgia Tech?
LARRY FEDORA: It does help to have played it because our guys have enough recall, and they are similar. They're not exactly the same. They're probably more fullback-oriented than they are quarterback oriented, and their fullback is the leading rusher on their team. Runs really hard, very physical kid.

Scheme-wise because of that, they change up a little bit what they do up front. But they're very, very effective running it.

Q. What is it about their defense that makes them so good on that side of the ball?
LARRY FEDORA: They get their safeties involved quite a bit in everything they do. So they have designed their defense to stop the run. So we're going to have to do a really good job. We're not going to be able to sit there and say, okay, no, we're not going to run it. We're going to throw it. We've got to be able to run the ball effectively.

Q. With your defense's performance against Duke, was that a step back? Do you think this is a temporary thing? Was there something there more problematic?
LARRY FEDORA: I hope it's temporary because it was a step back. We didn't play the way we had been playing, which was very, very surprising. You've got to give them some credit. They did a nice job. I don't want to take it away from them. But, yeah, I hope it's temporary. We really do. It needs to be.

Q. Is the quarterback picking up yards like that on the ground, was that maybe something you hadn't seen a lot of against you?
LARRY FEDORA: No, we knew that's what they were going to do. We saw it.

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