CHAPEL HILL– The wait is over. It’s time. All the hype and anticipation feeds into the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes rolling into Chapel Hill to take on the struggling 1-4 Tar Heels Thursday night.

Yes, the Tar Heels beat Miami a year ago, but that contest seems like ancient history with the way the season has unfolded.

But Head Coach Larry Fedora says he has liked what he’s seen out of the team in practice all week.

“We’ve had a great week of practice. We came in on Sunday in practice, that was our Tuesday practice, and that was our big work day. And then yesterday and today was a polish day. I thought we moved around really well,” Coach Fedora says.

Despite his belief that the offense is beginning to run smoother in practice and really gel as a unit, Coach Fedora says until he sees it during live game action, it’s all for show.

“You got to go do it. You got to go do it in a game. That’s the thing. You have to overcome the mistakes you make. You’re going to make some mistakes. That’s going to happen and you have to overcome them,” Coach Fedora says.

In order to pull out an upset victory Thursday night, Coach Fedora says he knows his team cannot afford to commit the penalties they’ve been racking up all season, especially those silly mistakes that come pre-snap and post-snap.

“You got to play smart. When you’re having as many penalties as we’ve had, you’re just not playing smart. […] The pre-snap and post-snap penalties, those are stupid mistakes,” Coach Fedora says.

Yes, Miami presents enormous challenges for the Tar Heels. But Coach Fedora says he’s been focusing on cleaning up his own team’s act more than worrying about the top-ten team Carolina is facing.

“I have to tell you we put more emphasis on ourselves, trying to correct the mistakes that we’ve made, and the things that are keeping us from being a good football team,” Coach Fedora says.

Well, Zero Dark Thursday is upon us. And senior safety Tre Boston hopes the atmosphere is “ridiculous” inside Kenan Stadium.

“It’s an opportunity for us to go “blackout.” I don’t think Kenan’s ever done this before. We’re trying to get fans involved in this to help us and get an atmosphere that is ridiculous. I know our fans can do it. It’s been sold out. That’s what it means to us to get fans involved and get their emotions in here,” Boston says.

And that atmosphere will start to build when WCHL’s pregame coverage starts at 4:30 p.m. Thursday live from Ram’s Plaza and Franklin Street for Tar Heel Downtown. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m.