CHAPEL HILL – And then it was Jace Ruder’s turn.
North Carolina’s quest to find a spark on offense and possible replacement of Nathan Elliott had gone through Chazz Surratt and Cade Fortin before Ruder’s opportunity arose Saturday at Kenan Stadium.
And like with Surratt and Fortin, Ruder’s chance was short-lived courtesy of an injury bug that has ravaged UNC’s quarterback room in an almost shocking manner.
Surratt tore ligaments in his wrist on the first play of the fourth quarter in a loss at Miami in late September, Fortin went down getting popped after running the ball in the second quarter of a loss to Virginia Tech three weeks ago, and then Ruder, a true freshman and 25 snaps into his college career, went down with an injury to his left shoulder or clavicle.
Ruder didn’t return and may not play again this season. Wash, rinse and repeat.
“It’s frustrating. It’s part of the game,” UNC Coach Larry Fedora said, mainly noting the eerie similarities in Fortin’s and Ruder’s situations. “We have worked with those young guys, and both them have worked extremely hard to put themselves in a position where they can help the football team.
“They got out there and they were doing a good job, and unfortunately they did not make it through the games. The next guys step up and they’ve got to get it done.”
Like Fortin, Ruder’s day was pretty productive. He led UNC to a 15-play, 64-yard drive consuming 5:39 from the clock on his first series, ending with a 23-yard field goal by Freeman Jones. Ruder’s third series, if it can even be called that, came at the end of the first half, as the Tar Heels ran two running plays and went into the locker room for halftime.
His only series of the third quarter went 85 yards in 8 playing spanning 2:58 on the clock. In all, Ruder’s 25 snaps resulted in 160 total yards using 9:05 from the clock.
“I thought he did a nice job handling the situation,” Fedora said. “We expected to play Jace in this game and when he went out there I thought he was well prepared mentally. I thought he did a nice job physically.”
Ruder’s teammates embraced his being in the game and liked what they saw.
"He just took control, he took control, made plays when he needed to, put our offense in the best position to score," junior running back Antonio Williams said.
Even Elliott, who’s been through this a few times and has always supported the other quarterbacks, praised Ruder.
“We’ve been preparing and getting him ready for whatever situations come up,” Elliott said. “He got in and did a great job. He ran the ball well and threw the ball a couple times. He did a great job.”
The staff put together some packages for Ruder going into the last few games, but they added to it this past week, pretty much ready to turn him loose, which was happening before the injury.
There’s no word on how long he will be out, but it’s very possible he’ll miss the final three games, which means if Fortin’s also out and with Surratt done for the season, UNC is down to one scholarship quarterback, Elliott. Manny Miles, a senior walk on and son of former LSU coach Les Miles, was warming up a lot in the fourth quarter, and if anything happens to Elliott, he’d get the call.
