UNC hopes to end 2014 season on high note in Quick Lane Bowl

Perhaps Larry Fedora put it best.

The third-year North Carolina football coach opened his team's press conference leading up to its appearance in Friday's inaugural Quick Lane Bowl with quite an honest statement.

"Our kids are really looking forward to another football game," said Fedora on Tuesday.

UNC's season, which began full of promise with a No. 23 preseason ranking before big losses at times wavered hope for postseason play, relies on one final game. One last chance at redemption after the Tar Heels (6-6, 4-4 ACC) became bowl eligible with a 45-20 upset win of then No. 25 Duke on Nov. 20 before falling handily in its Nov. 29 regular-season finale to N.C. State, 35-7.

The Tar Heels will face Rutgers (7-5, 3-5 Big Ten) in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, looking to secure back-to-back bowl wins under Fedora. In 2013, UNC defeated Cincinnati 39-17 in the Belk Bowl, which was played in Charlotte about two and a half hours from Chapel Hill at Bank of America Stadium, the home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers.

Now, the Tar Heels find themselves somewhat out of their element.

"This question is for Marcus," a reporter directed to redshirt junior second-team All-ACC quarterback Marquise Williams at the press conference.

Playing more than 10 hours away from Chapel Hill, UNC has had to quickly adjust to change, from the fresh faces of the Detroit and New Jersey media, to the game-day environment the team will soon experience.

The game will be played at Ford Field, a dome stadium that serves as the home of the NFL's Detroit Lions — the team of former UNC tight end and 2014 first-round draft pick Eric Ebron. The Tar Heels are no strangers to playing in an NFL stadium after the Belk Bowl, but most of the players have never played in an enclosed stadium, which presents unfamiliar circumstances.

"The first thing was it's pretty humid in there," said redshirt junior linebacker Jeff Schoettmer. "It's something we've gotta get used to, and Coach was telling us we've gotta hydrate."

Other players, like sophomore wide receiver and punt returner Ryan Switzer, are relishing the opportunity to play at Ford Field.

"I didn't really mind it," Switzer said. "I like the turf. It's a fast surface."

During his freshman season, Switzer earned first-team All-America honors after tying an NCAA record with five punt return touchdowns, including a career-long 86-yard in the Belk Bowl. This season, Switzer has zero punt return touchdowns to his name, but has become one of Williams' most reliable offensive threats at the wideout position with a team-high 55 receptions for 703 yards to go with four touchdown receptions.

Like Switzer, Williams is looking forward to playing at Ford Field.

"To play in a dome — that's what you always dream of as a child," he said. "(You) play Madden and you're like, 'Man, I want to play in a dome one day.' And now to get the opportunity to play in the dome, I'm like, 'This is really Madden now.'"

But perhaps the biggest change the team has encountered heading into the bowl came before UNC made the trip to Detroit. On Dec. 11, the team parted ways with associate head coach for defense Vic Koenning, who led a Tar Heel defensive unit that ranked 115th nationally in total defense, allowing 495.7 yards per game, and surrendered a school record 467 points during the regular season. Assistant coach Dan Disch took over the defensive coordinator duties leading up to the bowl.

"Dan Disch is calling it now for the defense," Fedora said. "These guys have just adjusted … It wasn't a whole lot of change. We've tweaked some things — some different personnel changes and just (changes) in the game plan. But I know, practice-wise, I haven't really noticed any difference."

UNC will match up with a Rutgers offense led by senior quarterback and three-year starter Gary Nova, who Fedora sees as nearly flawless given his ability to "pick you apart." Nova's favorite target is 6-foot-1 junior wide receiver Leonte Carroo, the team's leader in every major receiving category with 53 receptions for 1,043 yards and 10 touchdown catches on the season.

Williams said the coaching change on defense doesn't put any pressure on him or the Tar Heel offense, which ranked third in the ACC this season in scoring with 34.2 points a game, to keep up with the Scarlett Knight attack.

"We don't worry about anything else," he said. "We just do what we need to do on the offensive side of the football. We just focus on our style of football. That's just moving the ball with tempo — running the ball well, throwing the ball well."

Finally, the Tar Heels had to adjust to preparing for a bowl held the day after the biggest holiday of the year. Yet UNC treated Christmas like any other day before one of its Saturday games. Players had the morning off, as if they were in class, to briefly celebrate the holiday before getting back to work. 

"That'll be Christmas," Fedora said Tuesday. "That afternoon, we'll do everything like we would on a normal Friday, whether we're at home or on the road.

"Our routine doesn't change."

Perhaps the only difference for the Tar Heels is they're playing for their season.