Putting ECU in the past, UNC football prepares for Clemson

Somewhere in the Kenan Football Center, a tape with the North Carolina football team’s worst loss in school history sits unattended, waiting to be watched.

Larry Fedora has already seen it. So have his assistant coaches. But Ron West, UNC’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach won’t be showing the film to his position group any time soon, if at all, despite the 70-41 clobbering UNC endured Saturday at the hands of East Carolina.

“You know, we didn’t even watch it,” redshirt junior linebacker Jeff Schoettmer said. “Coach Fedora left it up to the position coach to make that decision. Since we ran a little different scheme than we do normally, there’s no need to dwell on it, too.”

Schoettmer and the defense gave up nine touchdowns to fuel ECU to 70 points and 789 total yards.

But now, just three days later, the Tar Heels are tasked with moving on as quickly as possible to prepare for Clemson on Saturday.

The Tigers were minutes away from knocking off No. 1 Florida State Saturday in Tallahassee and will emphasize their running game again, much like the Pirates did.

Though the Tar Heels’ performance made its way into the UNC record books in the worst ways possible, Fedora doesn’t plan to change his approach in practice.

“I can change a lot of things, like the way we practice, but I don’t think that’s the answer,” he told media at his weekly press conference on Monday.

“I think the way we practice is the right way. I think it’s a proven way, and I do think we will continue to do that.”

Though the 2-1 record doesn’t show it, the Tar Heels feel like they are in a situation all too similar to the 2013 season, when they opened with a 1-5 record, looking for a fix.

Senior bandit Norkeithus Otis reminded his teammates of that Saturday in the Greenville locker room.

“He talked about what we went through last year and how we have a chance right now to fix that,” sophomore wide receiver Ryan Switzer said.

“ Otis talked about how we can go one of two ways. You’ve got that awkward fork in the road. You can go left or you can go right. And he talked about making the right decisions, staying positive and going right versus left.”

For Schoettmer and the linebackers, going right means forgetting the tape. It means ignoring the critics who say the 4-2-5 scheme doesn’t work or that defensive coordinator Vic Koenning isn’t doing his job.

Most importantly, it means finding a way to be mature enough to keep fighting even in the toughest of times.

Fedora is looking for that strength, too. And this week is his chance to find it.

“The true test of a man is finding out who you are,” he said. “Until you’re really tested, you don’t know. But when you are tested, the true man comes out. It’s who you are. You can’t hide it at that point. And why would you want to hide it?”

sports@dailytarheel.com