Larry Scott makin soup better than Dan Campbell to defeat NC

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina is heeding the course at 8-1 (5-0 ACC) just as it has during each week of the season to this point. Ahead of hosting Miami in the home finale Saturday, head coach Larry Fedora says he’s sure Miami “plans on coming in here and knocking us off,” and ruining their perfect ACC record. Nevermind the Tar Heels are coming off their best-ever game against an ACC opponent or boast a No. 17 national ranking.

Despite the loss of head coach Al Golden, the Hurricanes are 6-3, 3-2 ACC with two straight wins against Duke and Virginia.

“All we’re worried about is Miami and this week and that’s it,” Fedora said. “It’s all we think about. We don’t think about polls, we don’t think about other things that everybody wants to talk about. We think about our goals and what’s going to get us there and not all the other obstacles that’re out there to keep us from getting there.”

Marquise Williams – who now holds the UNC record for most passing yards in a single game and who was named ACC back of the week for the second time this year following North Carolina’s 66-31 win against Duke – harps on the importance of the admittedly repetitive nature of remembering how the team has gotten to be in charge of its own destiny.

“I tell the guys, you just can’t get complacent,” he said. “I keep saying that over and over, but that’s the thing. When you get complacent, that’s when things go wrong. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing that’s gotten us this far and that’s practicing hard, keep competing hard and having fun doing it, not having a bad or negative body language. I’m just excited to keep getting better and keep reaching toward our goals. Try to be state champs, try to be Coastal Champs, try to get to the ACC Championship.”

North Carolina’s offense excelled last week beyond any explosive level Fedora says he’s ever seen.

“I don’t remember a day like that that you hit all those deep balls,” he said.

And while Williams feels the same way about their team’s most recent performance, saying he doesn’t “remember the last time (UNC) hit so many long balls and completed them all,” the Tar Heels are paying the same lip service to their next opponent as they have every other this year.

“Those guys have a lot of life now with a new interim head coach and they’re 2-0 under him,” Williams said. “They’ve been playing phenomenal.”

Saturday will be senior day for Williams and UNC’s other redshirt and true seniors. For Fedora, it’s the first exiting class of players he brought in as the head coach in Chapel Hill, which does make the day extra special. For Williams, the day brings yet another opportunity for this group of Tar Heels to do something they haven’t done before.

“My focus is just trying to get to the ACC Championship,” he said. “As a senior that’s my goal. I haven’t beat Miami since I’ve been here. My whole main focus is to beat Miami Saturday and that’s just what Jeff Schoettmer and Shak(eel Rashad) and Landon (Turner) and the rest of us (seniors say).

“That’s our focus this week -- we haven’t beat Miami since we got here, so why not beat them Saturday.”
No. 17 Tar Heels heeding course ahead of Miami matchup :: WRALSportsFan.com

 

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Already once this season, the Hurricanes have been a double-digit road underdog to a team from North Carolina and come out with a win.

So when Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya learned Wednesday that the Tar Heels – winners of eight straight – are favored by double digits, he couldn’t do much more than chuckle. Then he proceeded to share that information with teammate Stacy Coley, was standing nearby and had a similar reaction.

“That’s it? That’s the line this week?” Kaaya laughed, when asked about North Carolina being favored by 12.5 points. “That’s funny. I mean, I never look at it. … I never pay attention to that stuff. It’s cool. I mean, 11 points? That’s fine. We’re like 11, 12-point underdogs. It’s straight. I think we were like 13 or something against Duke. It is what it is. I’m not a statistician, I’m not a math major. That’s more for the ESPN analysts, Las Vegas guys to look at it. I just play football and control what I can control.”

Right now, for Kaaya, that control means trying to figure out a way to be effective against one of the nation’s top past defenses. The Tar Heels are holding opponents to just 159 passing yards per game, a number that ranks second among FBS programs behind only San Jose State, which allows 141 passing yards per game.

“They have some good [defensive backs], a few good guys that can make plays on the ball and take away the deep passes and deep shots,” said Kaaya, second in the ACC with 2,132 passing yards. “We just have to read them out and play our brand, establish both the running and the passing attack against them.”

*Left tackle Trevor Darling, who left Saturday’s game with a foot injury, participated in Tuesday’s practice. Fellow lineman Joe Brown, who has been going through Miami’s concussion protocol, returned, but was in a limited contact jersey. Receiver Lawrence Cager, who was in a boot Saturday with an ankle sprain and did not play against the Cavaliers, was also limited in Tuesday’s practice.

Several other players that were looked at by the medical staff during the Virginia game were also back on the practice field Tuesday, including linebacker Trent Harris and defensive linemen Courtel Jenkins and Anthony Moten.

After practice, interim coach Larry Scott said there were a few players dealing with minor injuries, but nothing serious considering the point of the season.

“For this time of year, where we’re at, we’re in pretty good shape,” Scott said. “Pretty good shape. I’m very encouraged with our health right now. And that was part of the deal. Guys, you have to treat yourselves. You have to understand at this time of year, it’s vital you’re taking care of your bodies.”

*Receiver Braxton Berrios was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team on Monday and is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. Those will be selected later this month.

Berrios, a sophomore that is majoring in entrepreneurship and finance, has a 3.99 GPA, a number he admitted he was actually disappointed in on Tuesday.

“It hurts me to say it,” joked Berrios, who shared that it was an A-minus in a class that lowered his GPA slightly. “I think [academics] are very important. I think if you come to college and you don’t do one of them, or one of them [academics and football] is not important to you, then I don’t think you’re coming to college for the right reason. I’m not ignorant of the fact that, what, less than 1 percent of college players go to the NFL? That’s something everybody in the building and everybody around the country should know. If you don’t shy away from that and you understand it, you can use this college experience to your benefit.”