CHAPEL HILL – Shoe Gate is almost entirely behind the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Thirteen players were suspended back in early August for their roles in selling team-issued shoes last winter, with nine of them drawing a four-game reprimand. That number was reduced to three games after Hurricane Florence forced the cancellation of the Central Florida game, as the punishment was to reflect 30 percent of the team’s schedule.

So, week number five is here, though it’s game number four, as UNC visits Miami on Thursday night and welcomes back eight of those players in the process.

It’s not rocket science understanding the lift this will give the Tar Heels.

“Yeah, it’s a boost. Just the morale around the whole team whenever you get your teammates back,” UNC quarterback Nathan Elliott said. “We work so hard to play this game, and whenever everyone can be out there and play it makes us all happier because we want everyone to have the opportunity to see the rewards of what they’ve invested.”

This signals the suspensions for 11 of the 13 are now completed. Malik Carney, who played in the opener but missed the last two games and was slated to also sit out against UCF, will play at Miami and then sit on Oct. 13 at home versus Virginia Tech to complete his suspension. Tomon Fox, who played 67 snaps and was a beast in the win over Pitt, hasn’t yet sat out a game but will do so Thursday.

With defensive end Tyrone Hopper also among the 13 suspended Heels, the NCAA gave the team a waiver to stagger the suspensions. So UNC won’t have Fox but it will get Carney, who might be the teams’ best defender and is clearly the leader of the defense.

“Malik is definitely a great player to have out there; Tomon had a hell of a game against Pitt,” senior defensive tackle Jeremiah Clarke said. “So, you’ll miss a player like that, but with a great leader like Malik coming back for a game like this is really big to have him out there.”

Carney was a force in his only game so far, a 24-17 loss at California. He registered eight tackles, including three for a loss of yardage, 2.5 of tackles were actually sacks. He also has a QB hurry.

UNC will also now have the services of 6-4 wide receiver Beau Corrales, who scored two touchdowns against Miami a year ago, offensive lineman Jordan Tucker, who would have battled for playing time had he been available, center Brian Anderson, who received a waiver by the NCAA and dressed for the East Carolina game, though since UNC didn’t use him it didn’t count against his suspended games.

The Tar Heels will also now have available quarterback Chazz Surratt, the likely opening-game starter had it not been for the suspension. UNC Coach Larry Fedora didn’t show his hand when speaking with the media following Monday’s practice regarding how he’ll use Surratt, but it’s highly probable the sophomore will get on the field.

Fedora had no problem expressing clear excitement over having almost his entire team available Thursday.

“I’m looking forward to seeing them all because we need every single one of them,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys that give us some depth at some positions where we’ve been really thin and it’s been really shaky to this point.

“But now we’ve got some guys that can get back into the fray, start competing; Beau Corrales, Jordan Tucker and guys like that we really need to get back involved – Tyrone Hopper. Those are all guys that we’ll get back into the game plan.”

Also available are linebacker Malik Robinson, who had a very good spring, and walk-on offensive lineman Quiron Johnson.