When the UNC football team takes the field at Kenan Stadium this Saturday against the Miami Hurricanes it will be a matchup of two teams who have each broken tradition in a big way recently.

An afterthought on the college football landscape for many years, the Tar Heels are 8-1 in 2015, and have won eight games in a row—including an undefeated 5-0 record against conference opponents.

At 17th in this week’s AP Top 25, and 23rd in the College Football Playoff rankings, this UNC team is heading toward uncharted waters.

Just don’t tell that to senior quarterback Marquise Williams.

“We’re still irrelevant,” Williams said after posting a school-record 524 yards of total offense last week against Duke. “We like that. We like being irrelevant. It keeps a chip on our shoulder, and we like to play hard.

Marquise Williams

Marquise Williams and the Tar Heels are just fine flying under the radar. (Photo: Smith Cameron Productions)

“If we continue to just win football games, eventually we’ll be known.”

Miami comes to Chapel Hill at 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC. But the Hurricanes are no longer the perennial national championship contenders they once were.

Former head coach Al Golden was sent packing just under three weeks ago after a 58-0 loss to Clemson—the worst in the school’s history.

However, interim head coach Larry Scott has led the Canes to back-to-back victories over Duke and Virginia since taking over—leading UNC head coach Larry Fedora to hand out some praise at his weekly press conference.

“They definitely have a lot of talent, and they’re playing well,” Fedora said. “I think Larry [Scott]’s doing a good job with them. They’re gaining confidence as they go. I think they have the quarterback back I believe, and so they’re probably feeling pretty good right now.”

Brad Kaaya, Miami’s talented, 6-foot-4 sophomore quarterback, missed the Duke game with an injury. However, he’s thrown for over 2,000 passing yards and put together a touchdown to interception ratio of 12 to three–as he’s been unquestionably the most consistent offensive player for Miami this year.

Defensively, though, this is a group ranked 75th in the nation, giving up 410 yards per game. But looking at the film, Williams says they still have athletes good enough to run with anybody–including the explosive Tar Heels.

“Their defense has got a lot of life,” Williams said. “Big up front, very fast. This is a fast Miami team. You know those Florida boys have always been fast. And they come out and compete.”

The Charlotte native continued by recalling the stranglehold the brash, energetic Miami teams of the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s had over young football fans.

“Growing up I was a Hurricane myself,” he said. “It’s gonna be fun to have the opportunity to play against those guys.”

Anyone watching this year has noticed that UNC is the new team on the block making all kinds of noise with its athletic exploits.

Brad Kaaya will present the Tar Heel defense with a stiff challenge. (Getty Images)

Brad Kaaya will present the Tar Heel defense with a stiff challenge. (Getty Images)

As the seniors head into this, their final home game, fifth-year offensive guard Landon Turner reflected on what it’ll mean to play underneath the Kenan Pines one final time–knowing the ACC Coastal Division can be won on Saturday if the Tar Heels beat Miami and Duke beats Pittsburgh.

“I feel comfortable enough with my maturity that I’ll be able to handle that,” Turner said about the emotions surrounding this weekend. “If anything it’ll probably give me a little more motivation, or give me an extra edge—just because I do know after this it’s my last game here.

“It’s been five years, and it’s been a great ride,” he added. “So I wanna go out and leave a legacy.”

Whether they’re ready or not, the Tar Heels are relevant again on the national scene.

The Hurricanes are fighting to get back to that point, and can speed things up by winning out and stealing the Coastal for themselves.

So if Turner and company want to be remembered as the class that re-wrote the narrative on Carolina football, they can start by beating Miami on Saturday.

Broadcast Information:

The game will be carried live on WCHL’s airwaves, and will begin at 3:30 p.m.

Game Notes:

  • UNC is looking to go 7-0 at Kenan Stadium for the first time since 1980, which was also the last time the Tar Heels won the ACC Championship.
  • Miami has won the last two meetings between the schools–winning 27-23 in 2013 and 47-20 last season.
  • Sophomore cornerback MJ Stewart, who was suspended against Wake Forest and Virginia, leads the ACC in passes defended (13) for the UNC pass defense, which ranks third in the nation in yards allowed (158 per game).