North Carolina showcases youth in bowl game victory

In the underbelly of Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, 5-foot-10 Ryan Switzer stood at the postgame podium, a North Carolina Belk Bowl championship hat on his head. He spoke about how he blessed he was to not only win a bowl game, but to be the game’s MVP.

“Everyone counts the little guy out,” he said.

He talked about his team’s tenacity in recovering from a 1-5 start, winning five of its last six games before topping Cincinnati 39-17 in the Belk Bowl.

“We’re standing here because of our coaching staff and our senior leadership,” Switzer said. “They didn’t let us hang our heads, and they didn’t let one person step in the facility who wasn’t ready to work … We knew we had the talent, and we knew we had the ability to have a good season and turn the season around. We just had to have the heart to do it.”

All the while, coach Larry Fedora stood behind him, arms crossed, laughing along with Switzer’s quips and beaming with a clear sense of pride.

“That’s an 18-year-old kid answering all of those questions,” Fedora said as he retook the podium.

That 18-year-old kid tied the NCAA record with his fifth touchdown punt return of the season in the bowl. He was a key part of UNC’s (7-6, 4-4 ACC) season turnaround, and he could be an even bigger piece of UNC’s future.

Switzer was one of several true freshmen to contribute to the UNC cause this season. After missing the early part of the season with a leg injury, freshman tailback T.J. Logan was UNC’s second leading rusher, rushing for 533 yards. Receiver Johnathan “Bug” Howard caught four touchdown passes, and several freshmen contributed in the secondary and along the offensive line.

“I’m really excited about the future now,” Fedora said. “We’ve got some young kids like Ryan and T.J. (Logan) and Mikey Bart and Brian Walker, Des Lawrence, Lucas Crowley, Bug Howard — these are all guys that are true freshmen, not counting the red-shirt freshmen that played for us this year also … We’re going in the right direction. Recruiting is going extremely well. There’s a tremendous positive buzz around the state of North Carolina about the Tar Heels. Good things are coming in the future.”

With starters like tight end Eric Ebron, defensive end Kareem Martin, left tackle James Hurst and safety Tre Boston headed for the NFL draft, those freshmen could carry heavy loads next season. The Tar Heels will need to find replacements for off-field personnel as well, with offensive coordinator Blake Anderson headed to Arkansas State as head coach and tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Walt Bell joining him as offensive coordinator.

“We’re still in a holding pattern right now,” Fedora said. “I don’t know if I have a day that I feel like I have to have it done. But we’ll get the right person. We’ll hire somebody that’s going to come in here and fit with our staff and that’s going to run the system.”

And that person will join a program that ended the season with some momentum — but that doesn’t mean the Tar Heels will rest on their laurels.

“It just means that the expectations are even higher,” Switzer said. “We have to come into the offseason with an attitude ready to work … 7-6 is great, especially with where we were at the beginning of the season, but it’s not where we want to be as a program.”

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