Quarterback remains an issue for Tar Heels
North Carolina will continue its search for a quarterback when the Tar Heels (1-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) play at Syracuse Saturday, but who will be in that hunt may not be clear until Game Day.
True freshman Cade Fortin made his first collegiate start last week against Virginia Tech and completed 10-of-18 passes for 97 yards but was knocked out of the game late in the first half.
“I thought he did a really nice job,” coach Larry Fedora said. “There are a couple throws that he would like to have had back, but if you really watched what he did, he took care of the football. He didn’t throw the ball into coverage.
“There may be a couple where his feet got a little happy and he was concerned with the rush, but that was early. He kind of settled in, and I thought he did a nice job.”
Fedora gave no update on Fortin’s availability. It is his custom not to comment on injuries unless the injury ends a player’s season.
“He’s got a really big arm,” Fedora said of Fortin. “He can make about any throw that you could possibly want. And he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
Junior Nathan Elliott finished the game and was 11-of-15 passing for 147 yards and a touchdown. He will be available to start against the Orange (4-2, 1-2 ACC) if Fortin is out.
Sophomore Chazz Surratt, who split time with Elliott against Miami in North Carolina’s game before its open date, is out for the rest of the season with a wrist injury.
Carolina’s running game showed some life in the loss to Virginia Tech, rushing for 235 yards with sophomore Michael Carter going for a career-high 165. But Carter had a key fumble deep in Tech territory late in the game, and the Tar Heels had trouble finishing drives. They managed only one touchdown on seven trips inside Tech’s 20-yard line.
“We’ve got to finish,” Fedora said. “We’ve got to execute. We’ve got to have a nose for the end zone, and we’ve got to get in there.”
Defensively, the Tar Heels held the Hokies to 375 yards in total offense and came up with four sacks. But end Malik Carney accounted for half of them, and he may or may not play at Syracuse.
Carney was given a waiver to play last week when he was supposed to serve another game of a three-game suspension levied by the NCAA for rule violations concerning the sale of school-issued shoes.
“It’s still up in the air right now,” Fedora said of Carney’s status.