Mysteries Abound as Carolina Football Reaches Game Week

Game week is upon Chapel Hill. After all the hard preparation in the long offseason, UNC head coach Larry Fedora says the Tar Heels are eager to suit it up and hit somebody in a different color uniform Saturday. But a number of unresolved questions are hovering around the team with the home opener just four days away.

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“I think our team is extremely excited. They’re tired of camp and of hitting each other. They’re biting at the bit to get out there and play another team. It should be a lot of fun,” Coach Fedora says.

The Tar Heels kick off their 2014 season in a 6 p.m. Saturday contest against the Liberty Flames.

Even for Coach Fedora, who notoriously loves to mess with the media, Monday’s press conference was a sarcasm-filled doozie.

When asked who he expected to name as starting quarterback, Coach Fedora had some fun with his answer.

“We haven’t made that decision yet. Somebody’s going to go out there. It will probably be a quarterback though,” Coach Fedora says.

The teasing didn’t stop there for Carolina’s skipper. He revealed some sick rationale for why he’s drawn out his starting quarterback decision so long.

“It bothers a lot of people. That would probably be the number one reason. Everybody wants to ask about it. It just gives me pleasure,” Coach Fedora says.

Jokes aside, it appears Carolina fans will just have to wait and see who trots out behind center Saturday. But either way, Coach Fedora says he has the utmost confidence in both Mitch Trubisky and Marquise Williams to play winning football for the Tar Heels.

Will we see both men get plenty of action in the Liberty contest? Coach Fedora says he values the backup taking meaningful snaps.

“I think in every season, you want no matter what, to be prepared in case something happens. When Bryn [Renner] went down, Marquise [Williams] had reps. It helped us. […] You’d always like your No. 2 guy to have some meaningful experience going into a season,” Coach Fedora says.

But the signal caller spot isn’t the only position shrouded in mystery heading into Saturday. With a plentiful stable of athletes at running back, the Tar Heels certainly have options. But who will receive the majority of carries come game time? Has anybody separated themselves in training camp?

Coach Fedora isn’t tipping his hand in that department either.

“That’s another thing we’re trying to iron out. You only get so many snaps in a game. We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to distribute that. It’s still going to boil down to the guy who produces and the guy who shows that the offense is better when he’s on the field. That’s the guy who’s going to get the majority of the touches. That’s the way it’s always going to work here,” Coach Fedora says.

Another big question mark for UNC comes in the form of whether defensive stalwart Ethan Farmer will be cleared to take the field. Coach Fedora says the senior’s status remains up in the air.

“I don’t know the speed of it. Nobody has indicated to me it will happen one way or the other. We’re preparing both ways, which makes it a little bit tougher, but we’re preparing both ways,” Coach Fedora says.

With the clock running out on the preseason and the ultimate test of the regular season set to begin, the Tar Heels will soon be forced to provide timely answers to questions unable or unwilling to be answered in the offseason.