Special teams stout against NC State

For North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora, special teams is just that. Special.

It’s something that he drills into his players from day one of training camp. If you want to start on offense or defense, you better start with special teams.

The unit is a proving ground for new players and a venue for veterans to make a lasting impact.

“That’s important to them,” Fedora said. “It’s a matter of pride here. You better fight and scratch and claw to get on special teams because it’s important to us.”

But senior cornerback Jabari Price said the unit is not always glamorous.

“I didn’t pick punt return, I didn’t pick kickoff, I didn’t pick kick return, so punt (coverage) was left for me.”

Yet when junior punter Tommy Hibbard lofted a 2nd-quarter punt so deep into the N.C. State red zone that it was optimistically flirting with the goal line, Price was there to down it.

The play pinned the Wolfpack on their 2-yard line. Hibbard would go on to place three more punts inside the 20-yard line in UNC’s 27-19 win Saturday after only having nine in the past seven games.

“Tommy’s been getting a good hit on the ball all year,” Price said. “That’s a great hit. Tommy’s doing all the dirty work. I’m just there to help.”

Those perfect placements of punts — three inside the 12-yard line — gave UNC’s defense a bit of much-appreciated breathing room.

UNC has allowed the second-most yards in the ACC this season, but the special teams’ performance Saturday set the defense up for success.

“That’s four possessions that they’ve got to go over 90 yards or 89 or whatever that is,” Fedora said. “That’s tough on offense, it really is, and unless you’re getting some big, explosive plays … That is a huge weapon for us.”

Earlier in the season, those big, explosive plays were far too common for North Carolina’s opponents.

Though the Tar Heels were consistently beaten for long gains earlier in the season, UNC allowed only one play for more than 25 yards against N.C. State, and it was on a last-second Hail Mary with the Tar Heels in prevent coverage.

But the special teams wasn’t just specialized to downing deep punts.

Late in the first quarter, up 10-7, N.C. State faced a fourth-and-eight on their 30-yard line. On a questionable call, the Wolfpack lined up in a punt formation but snapped the ball to a linebacker instead.

The Tar Heels quickly got wind of the ruse and smothered the attempt for a loss of a yard and a turnover on downs.

It wasn’t a last-second, game-winning punt return, yet Fedora said it was the type of monumental moment he had been calling for.

“To stop them on a fake punt … that was a game-changing play,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking for.”

Both the players and coach agree that the past three weeks have been more of what they were looking for since August.

“We feel like we’re finally kind of reaching our potential that we might not have in the earlier part of the season,” senior offensive lineman James Hurst said.

The Tar Heels were potent with potential in the beginning of the season but seemed to have squandered it early.

Now, with four games left on the schedule, the Tar Heels are focused on proving that those preseason predictions weren’t completely misguided — something that will certainly take a special effort.

sports@dailytarheel.com