Georgia Tech victory boosts confidence of UNC football team

Since Aug. 30, the Georgia Tech football game was the first time the North Carolina running backs had gotten more than 30 touches in a game .

It was the first time all season that corps had caught more than eight passes in a game — they had 13 .

It was the first time UNC had all five starting lineman for an entire game in consecutive weeks

And since Sept. 6, the Tar Heels’ matchup with Georgia Tech was the first time UNC had won a game .

“When all the pieces are there, it breeds more confidence in all the guys,” said co-offensive coordinator Chris Kapilovic .

And confidence breeds success.

It would have been easy for confidence to be at a shortage for the UNC running backs against the Yellow Jackets. UNC had lost four games in a row, star rookie Elijah Hood was injured and out of commission, and with quarterback Marquise Williams’ success with the ball, they were seeing fewer and fewer touches.

But with three minutes and seven seconds left on the clock, down by one point at home, there wasn’t a shred of insecurity in their eyes.

T.J. Logan , Romar Morris and Khris Francis combined for five of the twelve plays of that drive, which ended when Logan burst into the end zone and sealed the comeback win .

“Those kids ran hard tonight,” coach Larry Fedora said after the game. “They did a nice job as a unit, as the three of them."

Though they found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard in the last minute of the game Saturday, assistant head coach for offense Seth Litrell said there was one distinction in the Georgia Tech battle that made all the difference.

“I think the biggest thing the last couple weeks, offensively, (is that) we haven’t shot ourselves in the foot early and had to play catch-up,” he said.

A large part of that, he said, is Williams’ momentum early in the past two games. The better his quarterback plays, the bigger of an asset his running backs become.

“As long as he’s in a rhythm, I’m not going to take him out,” Litrell said. "It’s worked the past couple weeks. He understands that right now, he’s the guy, which probably brings a little bit more confidence too.”

That confidence had Williams throwing check-down after check-down on that final drive, safely utilizing his running backs instead of risking an aggressive play.

The bold decisions had paid off greatly early in the game, and in its waning minutes, their ever-present threat paved the way for the running backs to shine, and for Logan to save the day.

“Every week, we’re built for an aggressive style and an aggressive game plan,” Litrell said.

But for the first time since Sept. 6, it finally paid off.