CHAPEL HILL– The Tar Heel football team played with passion and fought hard in front of a spirited crowd on hand in Kenan Stadium for Zero Dark Thursday. But it wasn’t enough.

Falling to the Miami Hurricanes 27-23 was a tough pill to swallow for the coaches, players and fans.

“There’s nothing that I’m going to say that’s going to make them feel any better. They’re hurting, our fans are hurting, and everybody’s hurting. Those are hard to swallow. Our guys did everything we asked them to do as far as believing in each other and playing hard to the last second. I’m hurting for them. I really am,” Coach Fedora says.

That was Head Coach Larry Fedora following the game. One of the more questionable plays of the contest came in the second half when Carolina was called for a delay of game on offense on third down and inches to go. Coach Fedora says he is at a loss for what happened there.

“We substituted. They felt like they needed to hold up the ball. You’re supposed to give the team three seconds to be able to substitute, which we felt like we gave them more than three seconds. That was his [referee’s] explanation to me,” Coach Fedora says.

Despite the crushing defeat and final touchdown drive given up to the Miami attack, Coach Fedora says the defense played a strong game overall, snagging four interceptions of Miami quarterback Stephen Morris over the course of the contest.

“It put us in position to win the football game. Any time you create four turnovers you got a chance. Our defense made a lot of plays. I hate to look at it as those two drives in the fourth quarter,” Coach Fedora says.

But make no mistake; Coach Fedora says the Tar Heels will not abandon ship on the season. He hopes to still make something of the season despite the 1-5 record.

“We’re just going to go back to work. We’re going to do what we do. Our kids are going to come back and continue to work hard. And the coaches are going to continue to coach them hard. And we’re going to hopefully build off it and get better,” Coach Fedora says.

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