Injury lists keeps growing for Heels
Just when you think things couldn’t get worse for one-win North Carolina, they do.
The latest example came in last week’s 38-28 loss to Georgia Tech, the fifth loss in a row for the Tar Heels (1-7, 1-5 Atlantic Coast Conference).
With starting quarterback Nathan Elliott struggling, coach Larry Fedora turned to true freshman Jace Ruder for immediate help. Ruder had started the season behind not only Elliott but sophomore Chazz Surratt and another freshman, Cade Fortin, on the depth chart, but with those three injured, he was the only remaining choice.
Ruder gave the Tar Heels a little lift, completing four of his five pass attempts with one for a touchdown, the first igniting an 18-point outburst that moved the Heels into a 28-28 tie. But he was also hurt trying for extra yardage on a run and left the game. Elliott finished up and threw two late interceptions, his second and third picks of the game.
Ruder’s status this week against rival Duke is uncertain. Fedora doesn’t give updates on injuries unless they are season-ending, but his silence doesn’t mean Ruder will be available against the Blue Devils (6-3, 2-3 ACC).
That would mean that behind Elliott would be a walk-on senior who has attempted one pass in his career, Manny Miles, or former-quarterback-turned-wide-receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams. A junior, Ratliff-Williams has thrown six passes in his career, completing three, but has missed both of his attempts this year.
And so the frustrations mount for the Heels, Fedora, and passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf.
“I’ve never experienced this in 30 years of coaching where you’re at the point now where you could be running out your fifth different quarterback in one season,” Fedora said. “Three times now we’ve made a change trying to find the spark we need to get over the hump. And now all three of those guys are hurt.
“What gets lost in all of that is the job Keith is doing to have these guys ready to deal with that adversity and answer the call when it comes. It’s hard enough to get enough meaningful reps for two guys to be ready each week, but to juggle what he’s had to juggle is extremely difficult. But I think he’s done a great job with it all.”
What has made it harder to accept is that in the last four games — a three-point loss to Virginia Tech, a double-overtime loss to Syracuse, and 10-point defeats to Virginia and Georgia Tech — one or two plays at the end could have swung things in the Heels’ favor, including the setbacks to the Cavaliers and Yellow Jackets.
“The common thing is that we’re extremely close,” Fedora said. “The thing is there have been opportunities in those games in certain situations where we could have put the game away or ended the game at that time on both sides of the ball.
“And we failed to do that.”