It looked like it would be a very long year for Larry Fedora and the North Carolina Tar Heels football program following an uninspired performance in their regular season opener. They lost 17-13 loss to South Carolina and remember that the Gamecocks are having a tumultuous season. At that point, Fedora was on the hot seat, the Tar Heels were supposed to be in for a long season and fans were already face-palming.
However, the Tar Heels have completely turned things completely around with seven straight wins. They’re suddenly right there atop the ACC Coastal division and in control of their own destiny. This week, they play in one of the biggest games of the weekend as they square off with rival Duke. It’s hard to believe but here’s how North Carolina turned their season around:
Defensive Improvement Under Chizik
After his run at Auburn came to an end, it looked like Gene Chizik would be the perfect candidate to take over as the defensive coordinator for the Tar Heels. They had a group of talent that was underachieving and he was supposed to be a shrewd defensive mind. He has lived up to that billing by doing a tremendous job coaching up his unit.
North Carolina ranks 15th in the nation in points per game allowed with an average of just 17.0 per game. That includes holding Pittsburgh to just 19 points in a big road win last week after holding Virginia to 13 points the week before. Chizik’s defense has looked so good that suddenly there has been a ton of talk about when and where he will get his next head coaching gig. Remember, this is a team that allowed 75 points over their final two contests last season. There is no doubt that the improvement of his defense is among the biggest reasons for the Tar Heels’ turnaround.
Marquise Williams’ Improvement
As impressive as the defense has been this season, the offense has been lighting opponents up as well and one of the biggest reasons for that has been the quarterback play. Senior quarterback Marquise Williams has taken a major step forward as his poise and intelligence has matched his talent this season. Williams has completed 66.1% of his passes for 1,623 yards and 11 touchdowns.
He’s also added more than 400 yards rushing and an additional five rushing scores. He’s arguably the second-best quarterback in the ACC right now and one of the more underrated signal callers in the country. He’s helped guide this team to their 7-1 start.
Offense Is Lighting It Up
Williams’ improvement has made the offense that much more dynamic and that has led to some big numbers for North Carolina this season. They have scored at least 26 points in every single contest this season while averaging 40.1 during their seven-game winning streak.
Williams has led a passing attack that ranks 39th in the nation with 259.8 yards per game while joining up with running back Elijah Hood to lead a rushing attack that ranks 25th in the nation with 210.1 yards per game. This is what Fedora was supposed to bring to the table and it appears that things are playing out perfectly. The Tar Heels have found the perfect balance between run and pass on offense, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that they have been one of the most effective offensive units in the ACC.
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Fedora Coaching Up Both Sides Of The Football
While Chizik gets a lot of credit for the defensive improvement, the reality is that Fedora deserves a little more credit as well for the job that he has done coaching up his team on both sides of the football while managing his team in-game situations.
This was a guy who was left for dead after the season-opener but he kept this team together. They regained their confidence while beating up on teams like Illinois and Wake Forest, and have since impressed with a quality win on the road against a Top 25 foe. He brought in Chizik to fix the defense and it’s worked, and he has guided the offense to be one of the more effective units in the country. As of right now, Fedora deserves plenty of credit for pushing all of the right buttons.
