Cutcliffe: UNC Better Because Of Rejuvenated Enthused Players

Coach David Cutcliffe has an explanation for UNC's improvement under coach Mack Brown, who replaced Larry Fedora after last season.

"I think any time you have new, you get enthusiasm,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of enthusiasm around the program. The coordinators are good football coaches, but the schemes are not that much different. It’s just a matter of rejuvenated, enthused football players.”

As for Duke, Cutcliffe is concerned about the offensive line after last week's performance.

"I thought we passed protected extremely well against a very difficult team to protect," he said. "I thought at times we run blocked interior really well. We didn't block them the second and the third time, sometimes. And that's what it takes against a team like Virginia where their front is going to compete. And I hope you understand what I mean by you can fit a guy. And if that's it, you're not winning the battle. He turns here, you've got a block, and he turned back here, you have to block. And we can do that better inside."

Duke needs to do better at blocking on the edge, Cutcliffe said.

"Where I was most disappointed was just in our perimeter game," he said. "We got absolutely nothing out of it and we blocked very poorly in that regard. We have to be consistent from sideline to sideline. We've worked hard on that. We had some live work today. I mean live ones versus ones, tackling on a lot of different aspects of perimeter football."

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