After two losses which were quite literally decided by inches, you couldn’t blame Tar Heel fans for asking this: is Carolina football cursed?
As the program prepares to play on Halloween night up in Syracuse, it’s a fair question. UNC fell victim to a fumble out of the end zone for a touchback in back-to-back weeks, then came just a few blades of grass short of upsetting Virginia at Kenan Stadium. Will it cause the Tar Heels to see ghosts when they venture into the JMA Wireless Dome tonight?
Quarterback Gio Lopez didn’t seem too worried about curses earlier this week. In fact, he said the team’s morale has been boosted by its recent near-misses.
“As a team, I think we’re in a good place,” Lopez said Tuesday. “Our first couple losses were non-competitive games, so for us to have two competitive games against a good Cal team and a good Virginia team, you don’t want to say ‘uplifting,’ because you lost the game. But it showed we can compete and play with everyone in our conference. We’re just gonna keep stacking days and keep getting better.”
How can the Tar Heels remain so levelheaded amid a four-game losing streak? According to defensive back and team captain Will Hardy, it comes from an unlikely source: head coach Bill Belichick, who some might call the spookiest man in Chapel Hill.
“The message from Coach Belichick is keeping the positivity and encouragement throughout the locker room,” said Hardy. “Trying to get an idea of how guys feel. As a captain, we’ve got to continue to uplift people, be positive and correct the negatives. But we can’t just look at the negative. We’re improving a lot, and I think it’s gonna start showing on the scoreboard this weekend.”
Hardy’s confidence doesn’t suggest a team beaten down by a losing streak. As for Belichick himself, the head coach took a typically blunt view of Carolina’s perceived bad luck.
“We’re the ones who control it, so we just have to do a better job of controlling it,” Belichick said. “That’s all. If you’re sloppy and you make mistakes against good teams, they take advantage of it. If you don’t, then you’re a lot better off.”
While Belichick’s terse nature can understandably put some people off, his overarching point is one which the Tar Heels have taken to heart: they control their own destiny. The fumbles on the goal line and other bad bounces aren’t the work of a higher power hellbent on torturing UNC football fans. The players are at fault, yes, but they are also the ones who can turn the tide.
For Lopez, that revelation is a freeing one, and also clearly shows the task at hand.
“It’s on us. That’s how we feel,” Lopez said. “A lot of these last few games have been on us. We had situations where we could’ve played better. For us, it’s not a ‘comfort’ thing, but an ‘urgency’ thing to want to get it right and get better.”
The next chance to do that is tonight in Syracuse. And while this matchup initially looked to be a tricky one after the Orange started the season 3-1, the team’s recent struggles have opened the door for Carolina to take home the ultimate treat: an ACC win.
Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown
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