Fedora: Win would ‘feel good’
North Carolina coach Larry Fedora doesn’t expect his players to have a “letdown” in their approach to Western Carolina on Saturday, nor does he think a win over a struggling FCS will have any less value than one over anybody else.
“It will feel good for me,” he said, “because those players will get something that they’ve earned.”
The Heels (1-8, 1-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) haven’t won since Sept. 22 when they upended current ACC Coastal Division leader Pittsburgh 38-35. A week later they lost 47-10 at Miami to start a losing streak that has stretched to six games going into this weekend.
But after that thumping by the Hurricanes, the Tar Heels have not lost any game by more than 10 points (twice), and twice they were within a field goal. Their average losing margin over their last five games is less than touchdown, which adds to the frustrations of the season.
“We need a win,” Fedora said. “Everybody knows that. And our guys, they deserve it more than anybody.
“But it’s not just going to be something that just happens. We’re going to have to do a great job of preparing this week and preparing for Western Carolina, and we’re going to have to outplay them on Saturday.”
The 42-35 loss to Duke last week saddled the Tar Heels with their second six-game skid in two years. They haven’t lost seven consecutive outings since 2006, which probably not coincidentally was John Bunting’s last season.
The Catamounts (3-7, 1-7 Southern Conference) come into the game off a 38-23 loss to Wofford that stretched their losing streak to seven games. They began the year with three consecutive wins.
Fedora was just getting down to his game week preparations when he met with the media.
“I know they’re scoring a lot of points on everybody, but I’m watching their defense right now,” he said “They’re very similar to the style of defense we saw against Georgia Tech where they’re going to be multiple fronts from a 50 to a 4-3.
“If you look at their games, there have been a lot of close games. It’s been a lot of points on both sides of the ball.”
Fedora said he expects his players to take the same approach to the game as they have all season. Senior defensive end Malik Carney seemed to corroborate that.
“You can find the easy way out and just give up,” Carney said. “That’s the easy way out. Of course, it’s harder to keep trying to do the right things and keep working and trying to get a win.
“We’ve just got to keep our head down and keep grinding.”