Tar Heels cap football season with victory over Maryland

For the first time in program history, the North Carolina football team walked out of Kenan Stadium on Saturday as ACC Coastal Division champions.

But now, there’s neither a conference championship game for which to prepare, nor a bowl game to await. The Tar Heels — who finished the 2012 season with a 45-38 victory against Maryland on Saturday — won’t play another down of football this year.

In March, the NCAA ended a two-year investigation into the football program when it levied a slew of sanctions, including a one-year postseason ban, as consequences for infractions UNC committed.

The ending was abrupt, but coach Larry Fedora said his team had come to terms with it long ago.

“We never looked back,” Fedora said. “Then it was like, ‘OK, here’s the plan, here’s what we’re going to do,’ and we really haven’t talked about it since.”

After Saturday’s game, the unshakable pang of unfinished business dominated conversation.

A porous UNC (8-4, 5-3) defense allowed the Terrapins, quarterbacked by a freshman linebacker, to record more than 400 yards of total offense. After scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final 25 seconds of the half, Maryland went into the break with a seven-point lead, then returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to start the third quarter.

But like his team has been doing all season long, Fedora said, it took on the challenge before it and won. The Tar Heels, who were led by quarterback Bryn Renner and his five touchdown passes, held Maryland to just a field goal for the remainder of the game.

“Not just in the game of football but in the game of life, you’re going to have adversity all the time,” Fedora said. “I’m confident that these guys have learned lessons this year and understand what it takes to overcome it.”

Now with the 2012 campaign behind them, the Tar Heels have a head start on the offseason. Fedora plans to hit the recruiting trail immediately. For many of the players, though, the extra time means more opportunities to think about ‘what-ifs.’

Still, Sylvester Williams, one of 16 seniors who played in his final game Saturday, insists that his team won’t be remembered for lost potential. Instead, he said, the squad will go down in the books as one that took its obstacles — sanctions and opponents alike — in stride.

“We had many chances to lay down,” Williams said. “We had many chances to give our season up and say, ‘Oh, we lost to Duke. It’s over for us.’ No. We came back and kept fighting.”

A few unknowns remain for the Tar Heels moving forward, including the future of star running back Giovani Bernard. Fedora said Saturday he planned to meet with Bernard Sunday morning to discuss his NFL-draft potential.

Despite it all, Renner plans to focus on himself and improving his game in order to lead UNC toward its fresh start.

He won’t have a shiny piece of jewelry to remind him of his team’s accomplishments. Instead, Renner draws his inspiration from a far less tangible source.

“To win the Coastal Division title, that means more than the ring,” he said. “Going to the Coastal Division title (game) would mean a lot, but the memories that we made and the adversity we overcame is going to mean a lot more.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.