Tar Heels Still Tackling ‘The Little Things’

Carolina junior offensive guard Landon Turner and head coach Larry Fedora agree it’s the fine details that are tripping the Tar Heels up so far this season. At 2-3 on the season, UNC is hoping to shore up its deficiencies soon.

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If the 2014 college football season has shown us anything, it’s parity. After a weekend littered with upsets that flipped the rankings on their head, the Tar Heels will be aiming to author a surprising win of their own Saturday at Notre Dame.

Turner says he’s confident the Tar Heels can beat anybody in the nation on a given week.

“That’s what college football is about. Anybody can win on any given Saturday. As a team, we have to believe we can win any week. I think we have the talent to beat anyone in the country. We just have to find a way to put it all together,” Turner says.

For the offensive line, penalties have been a major issue. Turner says he remains optimistic despite being discouraged by all the ‘little things’ that have been holding back the unit.

“We just need to refocus as an offensive line and make sure that when we come to compete on game day, we remember the technical things, the smallest things that are easy to correct. I’m encouraged by it, but it’s disappointing at the same time,” Turner says.

Five games deep into the season, Coach Fedora is still waiting for some light bulbs to go off in his players’ heads. He says it’s up to the individuals to make a decision to block out the big picture and focus on what they can control – the ‘small stuff’.

“You can fix it. You can fix it when you decide as an individual you want to fix it. I’ve been talking about it from the beginning and will continue to talk about it until those switches flip. We’ll get it going. We’ll get it corrected. But sometimes, as an individual, you’re worried about the big picture and forget about the smallest detail that we just need you to take a six-inch step at a 45-degree angle with your right foot,” Coach Fedora says.

With so few returning players in the starting lineup, Coach Fedora says youth can cloud the ability to lock in on the details.

“Every detail is very important or we wouldn’t give you the detail. We would just say, ‘step’. We do have to get all of those and sometimes, when you’re dealing with young kids; their focus is not on the smallest details. Their focus is on everything that’s going on,” Coach Fedora says.

By contrast, perhaps it’s fitting that UNC’s opponent this weekend, Notre Dame, is making a living on doing all the ‘little things’ well. There’s nothing flashy about the Fighting Irish, but they take care of the football.

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels continue to grind it out on the practice fields, striving for cohesiveness. Turner says putting all the small pieces together is what makes football special.

“That’s the one thing I love about this game. It takes 11 guys moving almost perfectly. If there’s one chink in the armor, the whole play falls apart. I guess it is alarming, but when you play it for a while, it’s what makes the game great,” Turner says.