For years, fate has smiled on Florida State's football team, bearing it national title games and championship crowns. Heisman Trophy winners came and went, and Tallahassee was blessed by a glorious year-in-year-out glow of national dominance that few programs ever know.
For years, fate has frowned on North Carolina, handing loss after loss. Injuries came to stay, coaches left, and Chapel Hill was cursed by a disturbing year-in-year-out trend of roller coaster seasons that programs dread.
So when Florida State came into town Saturday, fate seems to be shining its familiar light on the game. North Carolina had lost its first three contests; Florida State had taken its first two.
But there was that certain something, so subtle that only a few could feel it. North Carolina cornerback Errol Hood could; UNC wideout Kory Bailey couldn't. Maybe what Hood felt was fate finally shifting the playing field, giving the Tar Heels a boost and knocking the Seminoles to their knees.
And when fate was through with North Carolina and Florida State, the score read 41-9. With North Carolina on top.
"Today, something felt funny," Hood said after the game. "It was like, we're ready to play. We went out there and it was like everything was going right for us. The boys were excited, the fans were excited, the coaches were excited.
"It was fun out there."
Fun had been missing from Kenan Stadium for a while. Although UNC won its last game there, a 13-10 victory against Maryland on Nov. 11, 2000, the Tar Heels struggled at home in the Carl Torbush era, going 7-10. John Bunting was supposed to make his debut at Kenan Stadium as UNC's new coach Sept. 15 against Southern Methodist, but that game now won't be played until Dec. 1.
Instead of the easier task of SMU, fate gave Bunting Florida State, a team that North Carolina never had beaten, a team that had exactly two losses to ACC teams since joining the conference 10 years ago.