CHAPEL HILL – Five weeks ago, it’s doubtful any observers of North Carolina’s football team had visions of the Tar Heels playing beyond the regular season.
There were few, if any, indicators suggesting it would happen, much less that it was even possible.
The Tar Heels were mired in a four-game losing streak and had simply caromed off the walls of an emotional gauntlet that included their offensive line coach dealing with a major illness that sidelined him a lot, losing their starting quarterback with a gruesome injury, having a third-string quarterback running the offense, and the death of a loved player.
Yet, after beating Wake Forest, 31-24, on Saturday night at Kenan Stadium, UNC reached bowl eligibility by notching its third consecutive victory. With wins at Virginia (41-14) and Florida State (35-11) before taking care of the Demon Deacons, Carolina’s first home game since Tylee Craft’s passing, it stands at 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the ACC and two more games remaining on the schedule.
"Really proud of our guys,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said in his postgame press conference. “That's back to bowl eligible again for the sixth straight year. Proud that our guys have extended their season. A lot of young people couldn't come from the hole they were (and turn) it into the positive attitude that they've had for the last three weeks.”
It’s difficult to fully quantify what this team went through because most onlookers deal solely in wins and losses, and sometimes statistics to validate their beef or support of their team. The Heels watched Craft’s condition quickly worsen starting in late September culminating in his death on October 12. They suffered national humiliation losing 70-50 at home to James Madison a week before blowing a 20-point lead and losing at Duke.
Then upon returning home. UNC dropped games to Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech. The team and program were reeling. Two bye weeks and three straight wins later, and the Heels are beaming with confidence and joy with their sixth victory,
"It's not our goal. It's an early goal, it's not the ultimate goal, obviously,” Brown said. “But when you're 6-0 and 6-1 and get to a bowl, you kind of say, 'hey, we knew that we're going to do that anyway. That's fine, but now we've got other things.'
“For this team to be in such a hole, very few teams, in my estimation, could have come out of this, and that means they've got great character.”
The players know this, but they also see a bigger picture. Games at Boston College and at home against rival NC State remain before they learn what bowl and who they will play. The feeling of freshness inside the Kenan Football suggests this team might just be getting started.
“Everybody was just excited,” quarterback Jacolby Criswell said. “That’d what you pretty much work for to keep playing, not just in the regular season but bowl season as well. We are excited we are bowl eligible but we still have two games left and we’ve got to focus on those two.”
Not getting too far ahead, but two more wins would put the Heels are 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the ACC. The bowl options would increase and perhaps improve UNC’s chances at playing in a more appealing game than if it splits the last two or closes at 6-6.
Regardless, UNC is bowl eligible for the sixth consecutive season for the first time since Brown was at the helm in Chapel Hill in the 1990s.
