UNC Football Hopes to Stop Living on the Edge

As fun as the last two weeks have been for UNC football fans–with the Tar Heels snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against both Pitt and Florida State—head coach Larry Fedora and his guys realize they can’t keep playing with fire if they want to achieve their goals this season.

“On Sunday, when we come in to watch the film, you guys are like ‘Oh, they beat Florida State and everything,” Fedora said at his weekly press conference on Monday. “But it’s pretty gloom in that staff room.

“Because everyone knows that you can’t keep living on the edge like that,” he continued. “The odds are gonna go against you at some point.”

The dramatics surrounding kicker Nick Weiler’s game-winning 54-yard field goal as time expired certainly captured the hearts of many people over the weekend—both Tar Heel fans and Florida Gator fans alike.

Inside the UNC locker room, however, there’s been just as much focus on the fact that Florida State rallied from a 21-0 deficit to take the lead. Not only that, but the Seminole comeback was aided by a lost fumble five yards from the goal line and a turnover on downs.

Obviously the Tar Heels never lost faith in one another, but they’re certainly aware of how close they came to letting a huge win slip through their fingertips.

“The 72 people we took down there believed we were gonna win a football game,” Fedora said. “I don’t know if they knew it was gonna come down to four seconds and a 54-yard field goal, but I really believe they all believed we were gonna win that football game.

“If you ask them, they’d probably tell you they were surprised it was that close.”

Each of UNC’s next two games—at home against No. 25 Virginia Tech and on the road at No. 10 Miami—comes against competition similar to what it’s faced in the last two weeks. Both games will be critical in the race for the ACC’s Coastal Division.

Winning the division and earning another shot at the conference championship has been the Tar Heels’ number one goal since the start of training camp.

In order to get there, every player on the roster will have to prevent themselves from making mistakes that could put the team in precarious situations. That includes quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who has become the Tar Heels’ unquestioned leader.

“I’m not only getting better in practice, I’m trying to improve in games week-to-week,” Trubisky said. “I’m highly critical of myself for what I [did] in the games from last week and the week before.

“I just keep looking at everything I can work on, and I put a huge emphasis in practice on the mistakes I made so they don’t happen again.”

To the naked eye, it may appear that Trubisky can do no wrong—especially when looking at the ridiculous stats he’s put up so far.

He still hasn’t thrown an interception and he leads the nation in completion percentage–but he and Fedora constantly remind us that the quarterback is often in charge of whether the team runs the ball or passes it.

It’s all about Trubisky protecting the ball and getting the team in position to execute the right play all game long, no matter how simple it may seem.

“If you go back and look at that [game-winning] drive in the Pitt game, how many of those plays were extraordinary?” Fedora asked. “I mean, think about it. It was just throwing and catching. It’s what they do.”

Five games into the season the Tar Heels have still yet to “do what they do” from start to finish, which is likely why they’ve found themselves in these close games.

Luckily, though, the veterans on the team went through similar situations in 2015 as UNC reeled off 11 straight victories—including some in thrilling fashion—on its way to the program’s first ever Coastal Division title.

Having that experience could be just what the Tar Heels need to weather the storm now against tough competition, and then eventually win games in a more convincing manner.

“I think there’s quite a few a guys—the leadership on this team—that has experience with what happened last year,” Fedora said. “And I think all of that carries over.”