North Carolina coach Mack Brown met with reporters following Wednesday morning's practice to provide a final update before the Tar Heels travel to Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Here are the highlights from the conversation:

On his injured right eye

I was on the injury report, but I practiced. I did not miss; I stepped up. They kept staring at me and I finally had to tell them, It is red, you all are right. I said, At my age, only Sally cares; nobody else cares how I look. So, Im fine.

On this week's practices

Practice was really good. It was good yesterday, it was good today. The guys had a lot of energy. Were all excited to go to Blacksburg; its a great environment, its fun. Frank Beamer is a great friend of mine and I look forward to seeing Frank. Its fun to go somewhere where its full, and theyve got a good team and people are excited.

We told our team, we continue to be able to evaluate where we are and how much progress weve made, and hopefully, we took Georgia Tech to a different level with the open date and then we keep getting better as a team. We said its all out there for us, so its on us to play well and win on the road.

On discussing the big picture in the Coastal Division

It was Sunday, but we really havent talked about it much since. Every Sunday, you kind of recap where you are. We put up the records, we put up the standings in the Coastal and we put up the bowls that are out there for us to go to, and we took it down and said, Now youve got to play.

We talked to them today about, It shouldnt be pressure, it should be pleasure. We had a Joe Maddon quote; he said he puts that on his card, his starting lineup every game with the Cubs. I dont want them to feel pressure about the Coastal and I dont want them to feel pressure about a bowl; I want us to get good and if you practice really good every day, then you can be a great team at some point.

On what's going well and what needs to improve

I really like the way our front is playing on defense right now. They played really well at Tech and theyve really done well the last couple of practices here. The offensive lines still got to be more consistent. Yesterday they were OK, today they looked better, but lines of scrimmage is where you win games.

Weve got to get more out of our kicking game. Weve had one kickoff return of significance and we havent had anything out of our punt return, so weve got to do better in those areas.

Have coaches had to motivate players to get going this week?

They have done it themselves this week. We meet every morning at 6:30 before we practice, we have a team meeting. I saw them walk in today and I said, You look a little slow walking in; yesterday you were pumped up. Dont walk out there on that field slow, and stirred them up a little bit. Theyve practiced really well.

The Tuesday, I think, before Georgia Tech maybe Wednesday it was just OK offensively and right now, theyre doing well. Theyre getting after it and Im excited about seeing them play.

On how the players practiced during the open week

What we did is we really worked the young ones who, some of them havent played an any might have a play in four games and redshirt and help us; some might play the last six weeks. So, we pushed them to show us what theyve got. Youre not a freshman anymore, youve been here now some of you since June its time to grow up if you want to play this year.

The others, we really sprinted them a lot, we rant them a lot, but we didnt hit them. (Aaron) Crawfords and (Jason) Strowbridge and our backs, those type guys didnt get hit, so they should be really, really fresh this week.

Most coaches don't like looking beyond the next game. Why are you willing to talk about the big picture with your team?

In my, I think my entire career, but at least here late and all the time at Texas, I wanted to be really honest and fair with the guys. So, it is what it is. We can sit around and say, Next game, and all that but they know, they read, they hear. So, I wanted them to know, Here are facts, heres what you got.

Now, use it to motivate you, forget it, whatever you want with it. Weve got to beat Virginia Tech or this stuff doesnt work, but I think its foolish to sit around and act like its not important. It is important and what I told them this morning is that message of, Dont put pressure on yourself. If youre good enough, it works. If youre not, play your best and well go to the next game.

Does it help a team to talk about playing for a championship?

Absolutely, especially a team that hasnt been successful over the past two years. Theyre proud theyre really proud that in the middle of the season, theyre in the mix for something important. You think about, at least two classes on this team havent been to a bowl game, much less had a chance to be in the mix for a conference title at midseason.

On the kicking game

Its really funny. (Noah Ruggles) missed one yesterday so I let Jonathan Kim kick first today and both of them made it, so were just constantly looking. Ive always said kickers need to make them; I mean, thats important thing. Why kick? Thats one of the reasons when you cross the 50, if its close, I usually go for fourth downs because I cant stand missed kicks. Theyre such a momentum killer because youre trying to go, youre moving the ball, everything is great and then you shove it to the right and you lose everything.

Thats what I thought happened, I thought, our first drive at Georgia Tech after the half if you make the field goal, youre up to 20-0, and it sends a great message to Georgia Tech that its important coming out for the half and then you miss it and it gets them excited. Its really, really important that we make our kicks and improve our kicking.

The other thing is we only kicked one out of the end zone on kickoffs. Michael Rubinos got a sore leg, so hes not kicking as much. Modern day, you need to kick it in the end zone on kickoffs. Most people are, most people are starting at the 25 and you dont need to give a fast team like Virginia Tech a chance to return kickoffs.

With the kickoff guys and the extra-point, field goal guys, we check them every day up until the kickoff. We check them in pregame and we decide in the dressing room whos going to kick off and whos going to do extra point and field goals. It is competition every minute of every day.

Do you have someone on the sideline watching clock and helping manage game situations?

We do and a thing that I would like to see, and I really feel passionate about this, is were seeing enough missed calls in the NFL and in college across the country, I really believe we should say the guy upstairs, the replay official, has the right to overturn anything he sees.

They say, Well, thats not reviewable. Well, it should be if its going to lose the game and the team that plays the best doesnt get the chance to win. So, to me, how hard is to say, call down and say, Pick up the flag thats not a penalty. It helps us, it takes the human error out of it. To me, until we do that, were not going to get it right, but weve got guys looking at it, but normally I see it, and Ive got a pretty good feel of what happens.

If its in the far corner like the Dyami touchdown at Georgia Tech and you cant see it, you go upstairs immediately and say, Lets look at it, but we always have coaches watching the Jumbotron and theyll replay it and you know what to do.

What areas do you feel like officials miss the most?

The two biggest ones are holding and pass interference, those are the ones that come up all the time. The other one is fumble. Its just something that, to me, if a guy absolutely grabs a guy and pulls him down and the guy upstairs sees it and the guy is stumbling and he misses it, call downstairs and say, Thats pass interference, and throw the flag. Or, like the other night in the pro game, pick it up; pick it up, its not a flag, you missed it.

To me, then everybody is better off. The fight against it is that it takes too much time; it really doesnt. If its clear enough for him to say pick it up, then you dont have to take time. Just say, Pick it up.

More:
Mack Brown Wednesday Update: Players motivating themselves, thinking big-picture and the kicking game - Sports Illustrated