UNC begins critical stretch run amid longest winning streak in 18 years

Elijah Hood wasn’t quite sure what to say when told on Saturday night that North Carolina, after a 26-13 victory against Virginia, is in the midst of its longest winning streak since 1997.

So the sophomore running back smiled slightly and simply said, “Just keep winning.”

UNC (6-1, 3-0 ACC) has won six consecutive games for the first time since 1997. The Tar Heels are off to their best overall start since 1997, when Mack Brown’s team went 11-1 and finished No. 6 in the country.

Now the challenge to keep winning becomes significantly more, well, challenging. UNC has a short week before its game at Pittsburgh Thursday night – a game that begins the most decisive and important part of UNC’s schedule.

The Tar Heels’ final five games: at Pitt, against Duke, against Miami, at Virginia Tech, at N.C. State.

The next two, especially, will significantly affect the top of the ACC’s Coastal Division standings. UNC, Pitt and Duke are all undefeated in the Coastal Division, though Pitt has one more conference victory than the Tar Heels and Blue Devils, who are both 3-0 in the ACC.

“We’re ready to step up to the challenge,” said Hood, who ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns against Virginia on Saturday. “Looking forward to it, for sure. I think everybody is really excited going into these next couple of games, because these are the games that are going to decide the Coastal and that are going to decide who goes to the ACC championship and all that.”

The Tar Heels, though, though have taken advantage of playing against teams that had been struggling entering the weekend.

After Georgia Tech’s dramatic victory against Florida State Saturday night, the combined ACC records of the three teams UNC has defeated (Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Virginia) is 3-10. The combined conference record of UNC’s next two opponents: 7-0.

After Pitt and Duke, games await against Miami and Virginia, two teams whose conference records (a combined 2-5) might not reflect their talent. Then UNC ends its regular season at N.C. State, a team that had its way against the Tar Heels in a 35-7 victory last season in Chapel Hill.

UNC’s next five games aren’t exactly like going through the gauntlet of the SEC West. Nonetheless, they appear significantly more challenging than what the Tar Heels have experienced during their first seven games.

“Last five games are going to be tough,” fifth-year senior quarter Marquise Williams said. “We’ve just got to stick together as a team. Stick together as one unit like we’ve been doing. Through it all.

“Whatever it is, just continue to grow as a team, and continue to push forward and strive to get wins.”

The Tar Heels’ ability to “stick together,” as Williams put it, has served them well this season. It helped them during their rally from a 21-0 deficit in a victory at Georgia Tech. And coach Larry Fedora cited his team’s chemistry for its ability to overcome a sloppy performance against Virginia.

UNC on Saturday committed a season-high 13 penalties, some of which erased big plays and negated scoring chances. The offense missed chances at times, and the defense labored through a first half in which it allowed Virginia’s offense, which ranks in the 90s nationally, 226 yards.

Yet still, amid all that was ugly – and “it was a sloppy game in a lot of different ways,” Fedora said – UNC won somewhat convincingly. Fedora hopes it’s a sign of progress, yet a double-digit victory amid all those mistakes didn’t necessarily surprise him, either.

“I think we have a very good football team,” he said. “I really do. And I’ve said it before, I think the chemistry, the leadership, our locker room – I think that’s what’s driving this football team. And they’re a lot of fun to coach. They really are.”

And now comes what could be the most fun part of the season: A game at Pitt at the end of a short week. A return home to play against Duke. Two games against the other two undefeated teams in the Coastal Division.

“We’re finally going to start figuring out what we’re really playing for here,” Hood said, “and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2015 at 10:58 AM with the headline "UNC begins critical stretch run amid longest winning streak in 18 years."