Tar Heels getting back to work
North Carolina got an unexpected break in the schedule, though the price from Hurricane Florence that hit the state and brought about the cancellation of last week’s game against UCF was a high price to pay.
The state is still recovering from flooding brought on by the storm. Chapel Hill escaped without heavy damage, but several facilities on campus are serving as shelters and relief centers for storm victims and the players just returned to practice this week.
Saturday’s home and Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Pittsburgh (2-1) is on.
The Tar Heels (0-2) will be looking to break into the win column and end a three-game losing streak that includes last year’s finale loss to North Carolina State. They won only three games last season, but one of them was a 34-31 decision over Pitt.
In fact, the Tar Heels have won the last five meetings against the Panthers with Carolina’s Larry Fedora holding a 3-0 advantage over Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi. But Fedora says he holds no secret to that success.
“Every game we played against Pitt in the past has been close,” he said. “Every single one of them. He’s going to have his guys prepared.
“Last year’s team was different from this year’s team. The year before was different. Every scenario is different. I don’t think that there’s any common characteristic that is the reason why.
“He’s going to have his team prepared to play. We’ve got to have our team prepared to play. We’re going to have to do the best job we can.”
The cancellation of the UCF game has caused some juggling with the schedule. That particular matchup won’t come about because the teams don’t have a common open date, but Fedora said that athletic director Bubba Cunningham is looking for a potential 12th game to replace the Knights.
“I know Bubba is in constant contact with other schools, and we’re talking about that and trying to take advantage of other opportunities out there,” Fedora said. “We’d like to have a 12th game, yes.”
One consequence of the cancellation is that with an 11-game schedule, the nine players who were suspended for four games because of the selling of school-issued shoes would have to sit only three games. If a 12th game is found, their punishment would go back to four games.
“If we play 11 they have to sit out three,” Fedora said. “If we play 12, they sit out four.”
Among the players affected would be quarterback Chazz Surratt and defensive end Malik Carney. Carney had 12 tackles for loss in starting all 12 games last season, and Surratt was competing with Nathan Elliott, who has been struggling, for the starting job in fall camp.