Marquise Williams left Saturday’s game with leg injury

Tucked away on the ground level of Kenan Memorial Stadium, far from the field’s sideline, far from the imaginary lines of scrimmage and far from the noise, sits the team training room.

It’s a box of hope and despair for a player, his fate decided in this room — is he going to be OK? Can he return to the game?

Marquise Williams hobbled back and forth between the field and the team’s training room in the second half of the North Carolina football team’s 35-7 loss to N.C. State on Saturday.

Long after the defeat, the first time N.C. State has beaten UNC since 2011, junior offensive guard Landon Turner paid a visit to his quarterback in the training room.

“I just apologized,” Turner said. “Especially being a leader of the offensive line, I take full responsibility.

“It’s deflating: Your quarterback got hurt, and it’s your fault.”

For two quarters and one drive, the Wolfpack defense relentlessly pressured Williams — bursting through the offensive line to hurry the quarterback’s progressions. Three times, the play ended with Williams sacked to the ground.

The third instance, taking place on UNC’s first drive of the second half, proved to be the most fatal blow. N.C. State senior defensive tackle T.Y. McGill plowed his way to Williams, the leader of the ACC’s No. 2 scoring offense, sacking him for a loss of 11 yards.

Usually it takes some time for Williams to get up. This time, it took longer. Williams walked to the sideline under his own power, and a cart took him to the locker room. The quarterback wouldn’t play another down the rest of the game, ending his day with just 97 passing yards, 11 rushing yards, no touchdowns and an interception.

Williams sustained the injury to his lower right leg, on which a team spokesman confirmed X-rays came back negative, N.C. State led UNC 21-0 with nearly two full quarters left to play. However bleak it was, hope persisted with backup redshirt freshman quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who competed with Williams for the starting job during the offseason.

Still, it’s hard to replace the quarterback with the most offensive touchdowns in the ACC.

“I don’t think you ever want to lose your starting quarterback in a game,” Coach Larry Fedora said. “I thought Mitch came in and did decent with the time allotted.”

Williams tried to return. He emerged from the locker room at the end of the third quarter, but his leg couldn’t get past warm-up exercises on the sideline. His figure disappeared into the tunnel, likely bound for the training room — a place where he could come to terms with his cruel fate.

On the field, UNC’s fate without its starting quarterback was ultimately decided. The Tar Heels concluded the afternoon with a season-low 207 yards of total offense and the fewest number of points in three seasons under Fedora. Defensively, N.C. State pressured whomever lined up under center, recording four sacks and 10 total tackles for loss.

Though he watched from the training room for nearly two quarters, Williams didn’t hold Turner nor the offensive line nor the defense nor the special teams accountable for the loss.

Tucked away in the depths of Kenan Memorial Stadium, nursing his leg, the quarterback expressed guilt to senior defensive tackle Ethan Farmer, who’d just lost his final home game of his UNC career.

“Sorry,” Williams told him.

“But there’s nobody you can blame on this game,” Farmer said.

sports@dailytarheel.com