Momentum is firmly on the side of the UNC football team at the moment, as it’s coming off back-to-back blowout victories over North Carolina A&T and Illinois.
This week the Tar Heels conclude their three-game home stand at Kenan Stadium against the Delaware Blue Hens. They’re looking to stay sharp in their last game before ACC play begins in October–while also trying to start 3-1 for the first time since 2011.
The Blue Hens come into Chapel Hill with a record of 1-2, and are the second team from the Football Championship Subdivision that UNC has played this season.
Usually this means the game would be an easy blowout victory for the Tar Heels, and another victory towards bowl eligibility. However, NCAA rules state that only one win against an FCS opponent may be counted towards a team’s postseason credentials.
This scheduling curiosity has gotten the attention of fans, media, and even UNC head coach Larry Fedora.
Senior receiver Quinshad Davis (14) will have a good shot to extend his all-time school record for touchdown catches against Delaware this weekend. (UNC Athletics)
“I don’t really like having two FCS opponents, but it is what it is,” Fedora said at his Monday press conference. “We had two power five non-conference games [against South Carolina and Illinois]. It is what it is.”
He then added a solution, saying that, “I’m OK with having one FCS team and a power five non-conference team. Then having a couple out of conference games where they come from the other five [conferences].”
No matter what conference or division is represented on the other side of the field, Fedora doesn’t want his players sleeping on their opponent– telling them that upsets are part of what makes each week in college football worth watching.
Senior quarterback Marquise Williams even took it upon himself to make sure some of his younger teammates got their minds in the right place.
“I came in the cafeteria and heard some of the freshman [saying] ‘Yo, we gonna be able to play. These guys are not even better than A&T,’” Williams said. “And that’s when I stopped them. I said ‘Did you see Ohio State’s game this past weekend? They only won 20-13.’ It doesn’t matter who you play that weekend, Saturdays are upset days.”
Delaware’s defense has only given up 19 points per game in 2015 under head coach Dave Brock, a former wide receivers coach at UNC—which means a low scoring battle like the one Ohio State recently had with Northern Illinois can’t be ruled out as a possibility. They’ve been a solid program at the FCS level for many years, even producing a recent Super Bowl winning quarterback—the Baltimore Ravens’ Joe Flacco.
Delaware’s top football export–elite NFL quarterback Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo: USA Today)
“I’m familiar with Coach Brock, who coached here under Coach Bunting [during the 2005 and 2006 seasons],” Fedora said. “He’ll have a very solid team.
“From some of the film I’ve been looking at right now, defensively they run around and make a lot of plays,” he added. “The school has a lot of tradition. I think they have six national championships at the FCS level, so they know how to win. There’s a tremendous amount of pride and tradition there.”
The group that certainly wouldn’t mind a grind-it-out type of game is the much-improved UNC defense.
Riding a streak of three straight outings holding opponents to 17 points or less has junior cornerback Des Lawrence and the rest of the guys on the defensive unit walking around with a huge chip on their shoulders.
“We feel like we should be undefeated,” Lawrence said. “We know that we let the South Carolina game go. That feeling didn’t feel too well after that game.
“So with Delaware coming in here, we’re in front of our fans–so we want to put on a show for them.”
Offensively, the game plan for this week should be pretty simple.
Williams will have to continue to play turnover-free football while also not being afraid to take off and run when it’s necessary. The other key will of course revolve around getting sophomore tailback Elijah Hood as many touches as possible.
Elijah Hood (34) said he’s looking to do the same thing to Delaware that he’s done to all other opponents in 2015–destroy them. (UNC Athletics)
Hood, a bulldozer disguised as a football player, is sure to be heavily involved, but there’s a few other things he’d like to see from his team this weekend.
“We had some dropped balls, some missed assignments—we’ve got a lot of stuff to clean up,” Hood said. “Defense had some tackling issues, they wanna secure those tackles a little bit earlier. Every week we just try to get better and better.
“Delaware is no different than Illinois to me,” he added. “They’re no different than South Carolina. They’re no different than A&T.
“I’m coming to destroy them. Like I said earlier, nothing’s gonna change.”
Broadcast Information:
Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 12:30 Saturday afternoon, with the game being broadcast live on WCHL and shown on the Regional Sports Network.
White-Out:
Fans are encouraged to wear white as part of the university’s plan to “white-out” Kenan Stadium. The team will also be decked out in similar attire–white helmets, white jerseys, and white pants.
Game Notes:
- Hood has run for 323 yards on just 45 carries this season, with averages of 7.2 yards per carry and 107.7 yards per game. He also has three touchdowns.
- Through three games, the Tar Heels have had a balanced offensive attack, putting up 225.7 yards per game on the ground and 232.3 per game with the pass.
- The strength of UNC’s defense has been it’s secondary, which ranks 12th in the country in passing yards allowed. No team has thrown for more than 172 yards this season against the Tar Heels.
- Junior kicker Nick Weiler remains a perfect 5-for-5 on field goals in 2015, including three from 47 yards or longer.
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