The day before the North Carolina football team faced Boston College, senior cornerback Jabari Price expressed his biggest fear to his teammates as the Tar Heels looked to avoid extending its worst start to a season since 2006 with yet another loss.
“I didn’t want losing to become an OK feeling, like guys just being OK with it,” Price said.
When game day arrived, senior tailback A.J. Blue relayed a similar message to select members of the team on the bus ride to Kenan Stadium.5
“It was just win in the worst way — no matter how pretty it is, no matter how ugly it is, let’s just try to get this W,” Blue said. “I was just talking to a couple guys like Marquise (Williams) and Romar (Morris) and never have I in my career been 1-5 — in Pop Warner, middle school, high school — never.
“So this is a new feeling for us, and it’s a sour feeling. We don’t like it.”
The words of both seniors translated to the field Saturday as the Tar Heels channeled a sense of urgency, a feeling of desperation, to defeat the Eagles 34-10 in a dominating fashion — the team’s first win since Sept. 7.
UNC displayed its urgency early. On just the second play of the game, a botched handoff between Boston College quarterback Chase Rettig and running back Andre Williams led to a fumble, which redshirt sophomore linebacker Jeff Schoettmer recovered.
The Tar Heel offense then took the ball 35 yards on five plays in 1:43 to the end zone — a drive ending on a 13-yard touchdown pass from redshirt senior quarterback Bryn Renner to freshman wide receiver Ryan Switzer. The score was the first of the freshman Switzer’s career after having two 80-yard touchdowns called back due to penalties in previous games.
Coach Larry Fedora commended the efforts of his defense led by senior defensive end and team co-captain Kareem Martin, who led the team in solo tackles on the afternoon with five and sacks with two.