Fresh off its first win of the season, a dominating 53-14 victory over North Carolina A&T, the UNC football team returns to action this Saturday at Kenan Stadium–playing host to the Illinois Fighting Illini—a team the Tar Heels and their head coach, Larry Fedora, believe is better than the South Carolina squad that defeated them just two weeks ago.

“We’ve got the best team that we have played this season coming in,” Fedora said at his Monday press conference.

“So we’ve got a lot of work to do to get prepared for Illinois. Offensively they’ve scored a lot of points in the two games they’ve played this year. The quarterback’s been playing really well. Defensively they haven’t given up a touchdown this year.”

Despite sitting at 1-1 thanks to the Gamecocks, the Tar Heels feel the Illini present a more intimidating threat.

Led by junior quarterback Wes Lunt, a transfer from Oklahoma State, Illinois is 2-0 and has scored 96 points while only allowing three in its wins over Kent State and Western Illinois. Lunt threw for 478 yards and five touchdowns combined in those games, before earning himself a breather at the end of each one.

After looking at the Illinois film, one of Fedora’s captains, senior offensive guard Landon Turner, had to agree with his coach’s bold declaration.

Missed opportunites cost UNC the season opener against South Carolina. They feel they beat themselves. (UNC Athletics)

Missed opportunites cost UNC the season opener against South Carolina. The Tar Heels feel they beat themselves. (UNC Athletics)

“They’ve got a veteran group, lots of juniors and seniors—so you can tell team leadership is not an issue,” Turner, the preseason First Team All-American, said after practice on Tuesday. “They’re pretty sizable guys. They’re probably the biggest team, looking at the whole defense itself, we’ve played.

“I think they are better than South Carolina was. It’s an exciting challenge for us.”

Sophomore running back Elijah Hood, the Tar Heels leading rusher, wasn’t afraid to speak his mind on the subject either—showing that there may still be a bitter taste left over from what happened on opening night in Charlotte. Despite the loss in that game, Hood trampled the Gamecocks for a career-high 138 yards on the ground.

“I feel like they look like a better tackling team,” Hood said about Illinois. “South Carolina’s just learning their defensive scheme, so they had to go very vanilla with what they were doing with their calls and stuff.”

Shockingly, the Illini’s start has come after firing their head coach Tim Beckman just a week before the start of the regular season. Interim coach Bill Cubit has done an incredible job in his first few weeks, especially given the circumstances.

The way they’ve handled the situation has impressed UNC junior wide receiver Ryan Switzer, who has been paying attention from afar.

“They could have tanked it,” Switzer said. “Obviously, when you lose a prominent figure like that in your organization–that shows they’ve got strong senior leadership and they’ve got guys who ultimately just want to go out, have fun, and play football. That’s always a tough task when you’re playing guys who are self-motivated.”

Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt has helped his team stay strong while going through a bit of coaching turmoil.

Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt has helped his team stay strong, as the Illini have endured a bit of coaching turmoil this season. (Photo Credit: Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports)

Not long ago, the Tar Heels dealt with something similar.

Former head coach Butch Davis was fired before training camp opened in 2011 as the school’s academic scandal was just beginning to come to light. Landon Turner, along with quarterback Marquise Williams, was originally recruited to Chapel Hill by Davis–so it’s no surprise that he feels his opponents’ pain.

“I really adored Coach Davis, he was a big reason why I came here,” Turner said. “To see him get axed like that, it [was] tough.”

He added that, “It’s a testament to them. That’s very impressive that they can rally and stick together. Whether it was better or not that they fired that coach, it just shows that they stick together and that’s a group that really cares about each other.”

At the end of the day, many of UNC’s players and coaches believe the season opener slipped through their fingertips. As much respect as they have for Illinois, they know this weekend is their shot at redemption for what happened two weeks ago.

Game Notes:

  • Senior cornerback Malik Simmons will return to the field this weekend after serving a two-game suspension relating to a pair of misdemeanor charges he received this past offseason. It is unclear, at this point, how much playing time Simmons will see.
  • Quinshad Davis, the senior wide receiver from Gaffney, South Carolina, is still seeking his first touchdown catch of the year, noteworthy because it would be the 22nd of his career–enough to break a tie with Hakeem Nicks atop the school’s all-time receiving touchdown list.
  • The UNC defense looks to continue its season-opening streak of holding opponents under 20 points. The Tar Heels, under new coordinator Gene Chizik, have held each of their first two opponents below that threshold, after not doing it a single time in 2014.
  • Tar Heel linebacker Shakeel Rashad, also a senior, was named the ACC’s Linebacker of the Week for his performance against North Carolina A&T. The Florida native picked up his first career interception in that game, to go along with a forced fumble, a pass deflection, and a pair of tackles.