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Mac & Bone Show - Jones Angell Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: All right, y'all, it is time, baby. It is time
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: for a little Jones Angel conversation. Man, what a night
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: coming up on Saturday night. Tar Heels hosting the number
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: one team in the country in the Miami Hurricanes. We
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: got to preview that game. We also got to talk
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: about that day. I still have not seen proof that
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: makes me believe that that Syracuse receiver was in the
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: end zone scoring in order to beat the Tar Heels.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: But we digress. Let's talk about it all with Jones Angel,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: voice of the Heels. He'll be calling the game 730
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: against Miami on Saturday. Radio pregame at 630 on the network,
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: which includes our sister station, WBT. So, Jones, what's up, man?
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Good to have you back. How you doing?
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Oh, great to be with you guys, Mac. Great to
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: be talking Tar Heels in a busy weekend upcoming. But yeah,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: frustrating one last week for sure. I think that that's
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: another example of the fact that this Tar Heel team
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: just isn't quite a finished product, not anywhere close to
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: a finished product, but that it still has some growth
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: to do. It's the third time this year that the
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Heels have had a double-digit lead in that they've let
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: slip away and let the other team take the lead
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: at the end of the game and lost the Clemson game.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: They were able to come back and still win that
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Duke game and then give this one up right at
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: the end. And so they've got to figure out a
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: way that when you're up 17 to three, like you
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: were against Clemson or 17, nothing against Duke or, 20-10
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter like you were against Syracuse, that
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: you don't let it come down to a controversial two-point play,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and you don't let it come down to the referee's
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: decision in that moment. And so it's another step in
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: the process and certainly a frustrating one for Carolina to
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: have to learn in real time, but one that they're
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: going to have to figure out.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Jones, you're... your view and observation on the Syracuse two-point
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: conversion play and really the lack of cameras and how
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: all that went down.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it comes down to an opportunity, I think,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: for the ACC to get better, right? There was no
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: way that call could get overturned. And I don't know
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: if he was in or not in. It was so close.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: But that's where you need the technology that we do
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: have available here in the year 2026, right? Um, you,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: you need to have that camera on the goal line.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: You need one on the end line. You need one
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: on the sideline. It should just be a, it should
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: be a requirement in my opinion. And, you know, Bill Belichick,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: I thought handled it in a pretty professional way on
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Monday at his press conference where he didn't complain about
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: the call. He didn't say, Oh, he wasn't in, you know,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: he just said, this is something that should happen and
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: that it would make the game better. It would make
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: the official job a little bit easier because look, there,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: there was no definitive look on that play that said
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: he was in or wasn't in. And so we shouldn't
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: be to the point where there are fan videos from
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: their cell phones that give us a cleaner look than
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: what the actual officials in the game were working with
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: to try to decide the, the outcome of that play
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: and ultimately the outcome of the game. And so we,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: um it's unfortunate that it came to that point but
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: you hope that it's an opportunity that uh moving forward
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: that the league and and that the sport can take
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: as a positive to make it better as we get
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: into the future.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah as much as that annoyed me jones like come
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: on we you know you how do you not it's
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: 2026 you can't get cameras there on the on the
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: goal line like that annoyed me but and you kind
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: of alluded to this the heels had had a double
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: digit lead yet again And it does need to be said,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: there's things that were frustrating that the Tar Heels did
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: themselves too. It's not all about officials or cameras. Like
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: the run pass differential. I know Billy Edwards was pretty solid, right?
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: And ship had a hundred yards game, but like to
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: pass it 44 times to only run at 25. When
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: I thought McGill and June were churning and then the defense,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: we can go to the run defense and the past
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: defense and gripe about it. So like there were things
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: with the heels too, that I didn't like as well.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Oh, no. This is a game Carolina should have won
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: in regulation. This should have never gotten to a point
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: where you're concerned about the cameras on the goal line.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Carolina had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: You're at home.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: You've got to win that game. For the Tar Heels,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: a couple different things. Carolina defensively right now is trying
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: to keep everything in front of it, right? Like it's been,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: and for the most part, I think the Tar Heels
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: have done a really good job with that. Syracuse hit
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: the one big play this past week, which was an
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: enormous play. I'm not minimizing that. But I think for
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: the most part, Carolina this season has done a really
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: good job at not allowing those big explosive plays. But
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: right now, when you are focusing on keeping everything in
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: front of you and not over your head, that does
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: allow for those four-yard, five-yard, six-yard type of runs that
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: I think Syracuse really lived off of in this game.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: And you started to see that blueprint some for the
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: opposition with Notre Dame a few weeks ago, where it
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: was never this high-flying, all-over-the-place offense that was just raining
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: down points. But it was this consistent move forward with
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: the offense. And Carolina just struggled to get off the field.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: And the Heels did a much better job on third
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: down in this game against Syracuse. But the Orange ended
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: up going for it seven times on fourth down. I
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: think they got four of them, if I remember correctly.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: And even the third down number was really good at
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: one point. I think it was two of 11 at
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: one point for Carolina's defense. But then Syracuse converted six
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: of its last eight as the game got later and
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the Tar Heels wore down a little bit. So if
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: they are going to play that style of defense, which
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: is clear, that's what Bill Belichick at this moment feels
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: like gives them the best chance to win. You have
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: to take advantage of the, hey, it's third and 21 now.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: You've got to get off the field. Not let Syracuse
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: gain 20 yards on third down and then go for
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: it on fourth and short and keep a drive going.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: You have to be able to pick those moments where
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: you definitively make the stop from your defensive side. And
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: so I think that's an area Carolina has to get
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: better quickly as far as the run pass. Yeah, that
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: was a strange thought. That's one of those where I
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: think a lot of the pre snap looks and all
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: those things. that you get a little deeper dictates a
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: little bit of what you do. But that's telling you
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: that the opposition says, hey, we want Billy Edwards to
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: go beat us instead of your run game. And so
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: you've got to figure out a way to be able
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: to run the ball, even if the look that you
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: have isn't exactly what you want.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: Jones Angel with us, as he is every Thursday, Tar
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: Heel Radio Network. Jones, number one Miami comes in on Saturday.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Heels have had great success against Miami in the last decade,
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: although a different Miami team now. If the Heels can
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: hang in this game, what's the formula for them to
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: do that on Saturday?
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a tough one. Miami is really, really good.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: And this is an odd series. And Carolina has a
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: pretty sizable lead in the all-time series. They've won five
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: in a row in this series against some good teams,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: but not a team like this. Miami is, I think,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: pretty clearly to this point. had the best season of
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: anybody in the country. Now, there's a long way to go,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: but you look at some of their numbers, guys. I mean,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: number one rush defense in the nation, number one scoring
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: offense in the nation, number two total offense in the nation.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: They lead the country in red zone defense. They lead
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: the nation in time of possession. Darian Mensah, 22 touchdowns,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: one interception, and 81% completion percent. I mean, that's insane.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: That's video games, man. Malachi Toney is an All-America at
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: the wide receiver spot. It's just an excellent team. And
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: so for Carolina, you, A, have to play a really
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: clean game. You can't hurt yourself in any way. You
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: have to be able to get a couple of turnovers,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: which Miami's only turned it over three times all season.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: But you have to get one of those, even if
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: it's not a technical turnover, a punt block. You've got
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: to get something like that, I think, that gives you
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: kind of a free possession or a shot of momentum.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: And if you're the Tar Heels, you just have to,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: in my opinion, can you limit the possessions that Miami's
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: terrific offense has? But to do that, you've got to
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: hold the ball and be able to run the ball
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: against the number one run defense in the country. And
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: so it is not an impossible task. It never is.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: But it is a tall task. Carolina's going to have
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: to play its best game. But this is also, guys,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: and I know I've gone long here, This is a
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: game where you're glad you have a Bill Belichick, right?
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Like I can just imagine coach Belichick loving this challenge.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: of trying to figure out a way to get a
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: team that's solid. Carolina's solid, but Miami's excellent right now.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: And so how do you get your team that's a capable,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: solid team to be able to compete with this team
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: that has championship aspirations right now?
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was talking some X's and O's during the press,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Sir Jones.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: It was so interesting.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: We were talking about how you can double Malachi Toney,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: but he says this dude is so good, he beats
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: double teams constantly. So like you are taking a guy
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: away that can help elsewhere and it's not even working.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: So it's, I agree with you. Like I will, he
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: will like the challenge schematically. Um, but man, that's my him.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: team is legit i did want to ask you real
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: quick jones before we let you go on the hoop
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: side and i am i'm actually happy to report i
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: thought a bunch of charlotte 49er fans would be on
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: here saying hey jones why why were we so close
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: to you but they're being very respectful today but it
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: was it was interesting yesterday on the show jones Charlotte
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: fans were really encouraged and excited by the way they
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: pushed UNC. UNC fans, like Fitty over there, were upset
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: and stressed out about it despite the fact it was
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: a win. Did you feel like, man, I think Wes
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: Miller's got himself a team there that can do some stuff,
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: or did you watch that game and feel like, man,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: the Tar Heels were bad? What did you think?
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: It was both as it normally is. I mean, first
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: of all, Wes Miller is an excellent coach and you
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: can win at Charlotte. And it's been a while since
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: somebody has, but you can win there. And Wes Miller's
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: a really good coach. He gets his guys to play
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: really hard. I had a chance to talk to him
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: for a while after the game, and he just talked
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: about how excited he was about this group and how
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: much he liked them and how hard he could coach
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: them and that They would take that coaching and try
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: to apply it. I think Wes is really excited about
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: what he has and thinks he can win there and
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: win there soon. The Tillery guard is a really good player.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: and they're physical and just play tough. So I think
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: if you're looking at it from the Charlotte angle, a
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: lot of positives there. From the Tar Heel angle, a
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: couple different things. One, the heels were awful for the
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: first 14 minutes of that game. It looked like one
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: team was playing it like it was a regular season
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: game and one team was still playing like it was
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: an exhibition. And so then they did get much better
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: after that, but you had dug yourself a 15-point hole,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: and I don't care who you're playing, it takes a
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: while to get out of a 15-point hole. But then
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: you get to the point where you're up seven in
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: the second half and you then let Charlotte back in
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: it again. And so all those things are areas of
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: growth for Carolina. The Tar Heels need their full roster.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: Matt Abel didn't play in this game. They desperately need
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Cam Fins to get eligible to provide them some size
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: and experience in the post. And this is the thing
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: that I've had to remind myself too, guys. None of
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: these games have counted yet. You feel like the season
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: is like several weeks old because you've seen all these
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: teams a fair amount, but none of these have counted yet.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: And so it's still so early. If Carolina's playing like
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: this in late February, then they will have had a
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: difficult season. but you hope that they are able to
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: improve and get better as they go along this journey.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: And the good news is they do have a really
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: good coach in Michael Malone. Now, Coach Malone has said
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: he's still, you know, kind of adjusting to the college
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: game and figuring all that out, and there are changes
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: and differences. We've seen it in football, and we've talked
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: about it from that angle. And so can Michael Malone
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: kind of assimilate faster than what has happened in football?
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: He'll need to for the Heels to have a season
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: like they want to have. They have some individual talent.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: But can they get it to play together at the
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: college level? We'll find out. All right.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: We appreciate it, Jones. Thanks, as always, man. Enjoy the
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: game on Saturday night.
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Thanks, guys. Talk to you soon.