As the losses pile up, staying motivated becomes tougher. But the Tar Heels say they won’t quit.

When North Carolina entered the 2018 football season, players and coaches were motivated to prove critics wrong.

Last year, the Tar Heels had their worst season in a decade after finishing 3-9. So they were ready to redeem themselves. They had gotten past the injuries that had plagued them in 2017. And many players were returning. They fully expected to win, even after 13 players were suspended for selling team-issued sneakers.

But after a 1-6 start, it has become apparent that the Tar Heels don’t have the team they were expecting. They have been hit by injuries again and are in jeopardy of finishing with another losing season.

“Obviously it’s hard. I mean, it’s not easy to continue to fight through a situation like this,” junior quarterback Nathan Elliott said. “It’s easy whenever you’re winning. It’s always easier when you’re winning. But we’ve just got to pull together and keep fighting.”

That is easier said than done. After a 47-10 loss to Miami on Sept. 27 in a Thursday night game televised on ESPN, UNC’s players were embarrassed. Motivated by the loss, they entered their next game against Virginia Tech ready to win. It was another prime time game, and a chance to change the latest perception of UNC football.

The Tar Heels led for the majority of the game, and were one play from winning. But Virginia Tech forced a turnover at the goal line, and added seven points on a 98-yard drive on its final possession to win 22-19.

As much as the loss hurt, the Tar Heels felt they were close to winning, UNC coach Larry Fedora would say after the game.

Syracuse heartbreak

The following week, on Oct. 20, UNC went to Syracuse and led by a touchdown in the fourth quarter. And again, the Tar Heels had multiple opportunities to end the game. But Syracuse sent the game to double overtime, and won.

After two consecutive losses in similar fashion, they felt hopeless. No one had answers.

Last Saturday’s 31-21 loss to Virginia only made things worse.

Fedora said there has been “plenty of frustration” among the players and the coaches about the losses.

“Nobody is happy with what’s going on, so everybody is searching and everybody is looking to me,” Fedora said. “I’m the leader of this team so they are looking to me for answers and I’m the one responsible for giving them answers.”

“Since we haven’t been successful, then that’s the way I look at it that I haven’t come up with that answer,” he added. “And that falls on me. I’m the one that has to put them in position to be successful.”

Four games left

UNC has four games remaining on its schedule — Georgia Tech, Duke, Western Carolina and N.C. State. Judging by the way it played in its last three games — two against now ranked opponents (No. 22 Syracuse and No. 23 Virginia) — UNC can put itself in a position to win.

But as the losses pile up, keeping players motivated becomes tougher.

“We always talk about it,” senior linebacker Cole Holcomb said. “We always try to remind guys why they’re playing. At this point, you’ve got to fight for pride. And as a man, our leaders called everybody out and said fight for your pride now.”

UNC junior safety Myles Dorn said it’s about earning respect.

“Every man wants respect,” he said. “We’re not going to be a rollover team, we’re not going to be that team where you’re just gonna run over us. We’re still going to play hard, we’re still going to go win. That’s it. That’s the DNA we’re going to have here and we’re not going to quit.”

This story was originally published October 29, 2018 at 3:52 PM.