Losers of five straight, the Tar Heels will travel to Tallahassee this weekend to take on perennial ACC powerhouse Florida State, a team with revenge on its mind.
There's little doubt the Seminoles could not have forgotten the 41-9 beating they suffered at Kenan Stadium a year ago.
"I'm sure that they're going to be excited about playing us because of the way the game went last year," said UNC coach John Bunting at his weekly press conference Tuesday. "Paybacks, sometimes, can be really tough on you, but I love the challenge of that."
The Seminoles might in fact be talented, but they also have had a down season, by their standards. A 7-3 record is a disappointment in Tallahassee.
But Bunting said Florida State has made progress since last season.
"I think they're better than last year," Bunting said. "They are a year older; had a young team last year. I think they suffered an injury or two, which we all have to go through, which takes away, but the games they've lost have been just bitter losses for them. But they are an incredible ACC football team, as they always have been."
FSU is not the first tough opponent the Tar Heels have faced this year. UNC played tough conference foes N.C. State, Maryland, Virginia and Georgia Tech when each was playing its best football of the season.
And the Tar Heels were in a hole early in the year because of their tough non-conference schedule, which pitted them against a pesky Miami (Ohio) team and a stellar Texas squad, in addition to trips to Syracuse and Arizona State, the only games UNC won.
Bunting has no regrets about scheduling the challenging matchups, rather than piling up wins against weaker non-conference foes, as the Wolfpack did.
