PITTSBURGH – With just a pair of victories over the previous two months and having lost six of its last seven games that have been decided in the final minute, one might wonder how North Carolina has anything left for its final push toward bowl eligibility.
But that’s not even close to an issue. This is a football team that still has some of its goals on the table, provided it takes care of business.
At 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the ACC, the Tar Heels have two games left to try and reach a 6-6 record and qualify for a bowl game. The postseason is important for this team, as it’s proven a bowl worthiness every time it’s stepped onto the field. But the Heels have lacked enough in the personnel department to close the door in some games it perhaps should have won.
Their six losses have been by a total of 26 points with each defeat a whisker from victory. In spite of that, the Heels have shown an uncanny ability to keep chugging along and swatting away the stress.
“I’m so proud of this team because I think a lot of teams would have just folded and say, ‘Can’t catch a break,’” senior offensive tackle Charlie Heck said following Thursday’s overtime loss at Pittsburgh. “But every day we come back and work and we’re out there fighting to keep on winning.”
It has to be hard, though, right?
At some point, one might think human nature would steo in and dictate that the Tar Heels’ become numb to one photo finish after another and lose their emotional charge. But it’s not happening.
“Every week we practice like we’re going to win the game, we go out and we play so it’s never numb,” senior safety Myles Dorn said. “Our emotions are still the same as it was the first time we were in a close game.”
There is an underlying fuel there, however,
These guys want to win so badly and have maintained that mission with such intensity it’s allowed them to charge through difficult times like a jet airline pierces through a storm. There’s a lot of turbulence, a little bit of stress-related sweat and some upset stomachs, but they make it through and are onto the next game.
Senior running back Antonio Williams originally went to Ohio State before transferring back to his home state. But he speaks like he’s been around the program from day one of his college career, and in many respects speaks for the other seniors whose time in Chapel Hill are also nearing an end.
As the veterans on the roster, the importance of them quickly buying what Mack Brown was selling last winter and maintaining that course through so many tough losses has been vital in the proper mindset becoming the program’s DNA. Winning is the mantra, and these guys wear that like a chip on their collective shoulders.
“I know I’ve only got two games guaranteed left in a Carolina uniform, so whatever I need to do to help this team win, whether it’s carries or playing special teams, I just want to win,” Williams said.
And if the Heels do, they have a chance at hammering down some important nails in Carolina’s foundation.
“When I came back my goal was to help make this place better, was to leave this place in a better place than it was, and we’ve got an opportunity to put ourselves in a bowl game,” Williams said. “And obviously, we didn’t do last year, and as I’m heading on my way out, that would be leaving it better than when I got here.”
That right there is why the older guys haven’t checked out, and therefore, the rest of the team has followed in their path, stressful losses and all.
