The UNC Football program closes out a disappointing season with a home game against NC State on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill
The North Carolina Tar Heels will wrap up their disappointing 2018 football season with the chance to upset N.C. State at home.
It’s been another rough season for the Tar Heels under head coach Larry Fedora, entering Saturday’s game with a 2-8 record overall and a 1-6 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But if they want to match their 3 wins from last season, they are going to have to stop a good Wolfpack team.
N.C. State enters the game at 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the ACC after beating Louisville last week.
The Wolfpack avenged a disappointing home loss to Wake Forest in a Thursday night game by making it look easy against the Cardinals on the road. Now they enter Saturday’s meeting with the Tar Heels, hoping to make it three-straight wins in the series.
For UNC, they have shown some signs of having a talented roster but they just can’t seem to put it all together.
In their 8 losses, four of them have been by a single score and they’ve either held the lead or been tied in the fourth quarter of losses four times this season. Outside of the Pitt win, they haven’t shown the ability to close things out.
Saturday’s game could provide another chance to close a game out if UNC can get up on the Wolfpack early. It won’t be easy as the Wolfpack’s offense, led by Ryan Finley, has put up at least 40 points in three of their last four games.
The Tar Heels are going to have to find a way defensively to slow down the Wolfpack’s offense and keep them in the game.
On the other side of the ball, it will be interesting to see who starts for the Tar Heels. Nathan Elliott has had the majority of the starts for UNC this season but we’ve also seen Cade Fortin, Manny Miles, and Jace Ruder at time. It’s likely Elliott gets another start but Fortin could still keep his redshirt eligibility even if he does play in the season finale.
No matter who starts, the Tar Heels are going to have to rely on the run game to get this offense going.
Against Western Carolina, Javonte Williams had a big game rushing for 3 touchdowns on 17 carries with Michael Carter missing the second half. Carter has been the Tar Heels best back all season long but they’ve used rotation of the sophomore, Williams, Jordon Brown and Antonio Williams this year.
Expect a heavy dose of the run game, especially with rain in the forecast for the entire game.
The big question going into the game is the status of head coach Larry Fedora. This could very well be the end of the Fedora era in Chapel Hill with the team’s struggles this season.
AD Bubba Cunningham will have a big decision to make following the game in the coming days or weeks on whether or not he wants to move on from Fedora. The head coach has struggled in the previous two seasons, going 5-17 since the start of 2017.
It’s been all downhill since the Tar Heels lost in the ACC Championship Game against Clemson back in 2015. That included a 2016 season in which they were loaded with talent highlighted by Mitchell Trubisky, Ryan Swtizer, Elijah Hood and Mack Hollins but they lost three of their last four including games against Duke and N.C. State, then the bowl game vs. Stanford.
Fedora is also on a five-game losing streak in games against Duke and N.C. State with the chance to make it six-straight on Sunday.
Will Fedora survive this season and be given another chance? Or will Bubba make the decision in the coming days and begin a new era?
What you need to know
WHAT? N.C. State 7-3 (4-3 ACC) AT UNC 2-8 (1-6 ACC)
WHEN? Saturday, Nov. 24 12:30 p.m. ET
WHERE? Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
TV? ACC Network
RADIO? Tar Heel Sports Network. Jones Angell (play-by-play), Brian Simmons (analyst) and Lee Pace (sideline). Sirius 133, XM 385
WEATHER? Rain with a high of 39 degrees.
LINE? UNC +7
PREDICTION? N.C. State 38, UNC 27