TIME TO PLAY SPOILER

It's approximately 11:46 pm on a chilly evening in Richmond, Virginia. I'm fresh off watching an underwhelming Virginia Tech squad get absolutely drilled on a Thursday Night in Lane Stadium. In typical Bees fashion, one Paul Johnson's weaker Georgia Tech squads done showed up. Like many of the folks I consider close, I watched the levees break in Blacksburg. A Virginia Tech defense, who many thought had overcome the following obstacles:

•  lost 3/4 of it's production from 2017 before spring ball even started 
•  experienced pre and early season attrition on the defensive side of the ball in the form of *multiple dismissals, transfers and season end injuries,
•  forced to play with lots of underclassmen

Many thought, including yours truly, that the inexcusable loss to Old Dominion, was just a fluke. the successive weeks continued to reveal that maybe the disaster in Norfolk showed an undercurrent that many have never seen in the Hokies (unless you followed the program early and pre-Beamer). The time was ripe for Paul Johnson to do what he does best, coach his players to play with some stink and coach his players to play spoiler. To spoil what hope remained in many of the Hokie Faithful.

Watching Georgia Tech run the Hokies out of their stadium had me thinking: When was the last time my Tar Heels played spoiler?

Has it happened this year? No. 

How about in 2017? LOL, you're kidding. 

2016? Sure, with the Walk off at FSU , but Carolina got thumped by VT, and upset by Duke and NC State.

2015? That season was the last time Carolina played spoiler often. Outside off an incredible ending in Tallahassee, it's really the only time one can point at the Larry Fedora Era and say Carolina had the stink and desire to piss folks off. Whether it was besting GiT in Atlanta following a 3 scre deficit, boat racing the likes of State and Duke or winning Beamer's last game in Lane Stadium, the 2015 Tar Heels loved to play spoiler. 

But how have the feels fared to the mid way point of this season? The opportunities to upset and shock have resulted in the following face plants for Carolina in 2018:

• Ending the losing streak of P5 openers: Lost 24-17 to Cal
• Redemption against ECU: Torched in Greenville, 41-19
• Thursday Night In Miami: Pants'd 47-10
• Upset VT in Kenan - Blew 4th Quarter lead to fall 21-19
• Knock off Cuse in the Dome - Blew 4th quarter lead to lose in double OT

This all after going 3-9 in 2017. When will it end?

When trying to reverse some misfortune, especially on the gridiron, you've got to zero in and hammer home the positives for the week and for the season. Carolina's shown 4 main positives:  

1. Carolina's OL Play and Ground Game - Carolina' s offensive line play has continued to grow and evolve since their dreadful first couple of ballgames. The unit's stayed as healthy as they have in years. The youth isn't as youthful anymore. With ACC running back of the week honors two games running, look no further than the good the Hawgs are enforcing up front. With the stallion trio of Michael Carter, Jordon Brown and Antonio Williams, I expect Carolina's ground game to punish opponents for the remainder of 2018
2. Suspensions (Almost) Over - But more specifically MALIK CARNEY BACK. The defensive lineman, who's racked up 5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss in just three ballgames, is fully back after serving his suspension for selling his Nike's (ridiculous but them's the bullshit rules). He'll get to wreck havoc against an offensive line that is ranked next to last in sacks and tackles for loss given up per game. 
3. UVA's record vs UVA's schedule - UVA's meat of their schedule is on the tail end. Wins over Richmond, Ohio, Lousiville and yes, Duke, are nothing to shake a stick at. Their best win comes against Miami, a team we still know nothing about. Carolina has the best rushing attack and second best front seven UVA's faced to date. However, with Pitt, GiT and VT, Wahoo Nation and many of the talking heads believe they're in the driver seat for the Coastal crown....
4. Another Game - Carolina's steady improvement over games 5 and 6 has to give the coaching staff and the players a beacon of hope. The coaching and scheme are starting to work. The program just has to keep chipping away, keep playing above their heads, and continue to focus on finishing plays, drives and ultimately games. Another opportunity to showcase that improvement is tomorrow. Go seize it. 

I can relate a bunch to this 2018 unit. (Many years ago) I played on a squad that got torched early in the year, proceeded to lose the next couple in heartbreaking fashion, decided to retool and revamp. We ultimately stripped down the playbook to the basics. We kept chopping wood in the film room, weight room and on the practice field, kept grinding for each other. The Tides turned and ended up a play away from the State finals. You can see the fire in the players. 

The tide and fortune turn tomorrow. Carolina plays spoiler in Hooville. 29-22.

Go Heels.