Goodwin says Tigers 'know the challenge' leading up to ACC Championship

Wes Goodwin 

On getting the players to understand the importance of a conference championship

“It's a tremendous opportunity, most people coach and play this game for a long time and don't get the opportunity to be involved in a championship game like this.  They know the importance and winning the ACC is one of our goals as well as the next one presented.  They came in with the right mindset yesterday, obviously disappointed from Saturday, but they know the challenge of the week and the opportunity.  We're looking forward to a great week of practice back on the field and being able to flush everything.”

On Josh Downs and UNC wide receivers 

“Top to bottom best receiving group we have faced this year.  They're fast, really good route runners, get out of breaks, and catch the ball.  Josh (Downs) is having a tremendous year, 83 catches on the year and a lot of big time plays.”

On coaching players to limit targeting calls

“Just always trying to teach guys to keep their eyes up.  That's the biggest thing when tackling, once you duck your head it puts you in position to hurt yourself but it also increases the chance for a targeting call as well.”

On red zone defense

“Unfortunately I feel like that was a big difference in last week's game, giving up touchdowns in the red zone.  Fourth and four I thought we had a great coverage call and didn't execute and on another drive we missed the opportunity of a sack in which they (Spencer Rattler) scrambled for a touchdown.  We were presented with some short fields but our job is to go out there and get stops.”

On the final third down of the USC game

“Yeah They lined up with an empty backfield so we knew what was coming.  Unfortunately we missed two opportunities to bring him down before he converted the first down.  We missed tackles on that play.”