Patrice Rene: "High Juices" When Duke, North Carolina Play

Emotions will be high in battle of the blues

North Carolina’s defense isn’t happy with its performance last weekend, when Virginia topped 40 points against it. UNC cornerback Patrice Rene thinks the Tar Heels will take out their frustration on Duke in this week’s rivalry game.

“I think we fell short this past weekend,” Rene said. “We’ve got to go out there and set the tone, send a message. It’s a rivalry game. There are going to be high emotion, high juices. We’ve got to go out and make a statement, especially as a defense. We didn’t have the performance we wanted last week against Virginia. We have a chip on our shoulder. We have a great mindset, great week of practice. We want to go out there and make a statement against Duke.”

Rene is confident the defense will iron out the problems from the Virginia game.

“Consistency,” he said. “We’ve just got to make sure we’re doing everything we’ve got to do, everything we’re taught to do, everything we’re coached to do each and every play. We can’t afford to take a play off. We’ve got to be in the right fits, take the right steps, have our eyes in the right place. So definitely fundamentals and make sure we’re on point every play and every snap.”

Rene said the Tar Heels are prepared to see Duke’s best effort of the year so far.

“They’re a good team,” he said. “A smart team, a disciplined team. Good execution. They’ve got good backs. They’ve been talking about their backs a lot. We’ve got to make sure we handle them. They’ve got a good quarterback, good receivers. They’re going to go out there and give it their best. It’s a highly anticipated game for them. They’re going to go out there and go hard. We’ve got to be ready for everything they’re ready to throw at us.”