2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The 2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tar Heels were led by seventh-year head coach Larry Fedora and played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium. They competed as a member of the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). They finished the season 2–9, 1–7 in ACC play to finish in last place in the Coastal Division.

2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
	Coastal Division
2018 record	2–9 (1–7 ACC)
Head coach	Larry Fedora (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Chris Kapilovic (5th as coordinator, 7th overall season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	John Papuchis (2nd season)
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 50,500)
Uniform

2018 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Atlantic Division
No. 1 Clemson x$#^		8	–	0					15	–	0
No. 15 Syracuse		6	–	2					10	–	3
NC State		5	–	3					9	–	4
Boston College		4	–	4					7	–	5
Wake Forest		3	–	5					7	–	6
Florida State		3	–	5					5	–	7
Louisville		0	–	8					2	–	10
Coastal Division
Pittsburgh x		6	–	2					7	–	7
Georgia Tech		5	–	3					7	–	6
Miami		4	–	4					7	–	6
Virginia		4	–	4					8	–	5
Virginia Tech		4	–	4					6	–	7
Duke		3	–	5					8	–	5
North Carolina		1	–	7					2	–	9
Championship: Clemson 42, Pittsburgh 10
– College Football Playoff champion ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

On November 25, one day after the conclusion of the season, head coach Larry Fedora was fired.[1] He finished at North Carolina with a seven year record of 45–43. On November 27, the school rehired Mack Brown as head coach.[2]

Previous season

The Tar Heels finished the 2017 season 3–9, 1–7 in ACC play to finish in last place in the Coastal Division.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Doak Walker Award[3]	Michael Carter	RB	SO
John Mackey Award[4]	Carl Tucker	TE	JR
Paul Hornung Award[5]	Anthony Ratliff-Williams	WR/KR	JR
Wuerffel Trophy[6]	Kyle Murphy	LS	SR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award[7]	Nathan Elliott	QB	JR

ACC media poll

The ACC media poll was released on July 24, 2018.

Media poll (Coastal)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Miami	998 (122)
2	Virginia Tech	838 (16)
3	Georgia Tech	654 (8)
4	Duke	607 (1)
5	Pittsburgh	420
6	North Carolina	370 (1)
7	Virginia	257

Schedule

The Tar Heels' schedule was released on January 17, 2018.[8]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	4:00 p.m.	at California*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	FOX	L 17–24	42,168
September 8	3:30 p.m.	at East Carolina*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPNU	L 19–41	39,268
September 15	12:00 p.m.	No. 18 UCF*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPNU	Cancelled[lower-alpha 1]
September 22	12:20 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN	W 38–35	44,168
September 27	8:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Miami (FL)	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	ESPN	L 10–47	60,845
October 13	7:00 p.m.	Virginia Tech	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPNU	L 19–22	50,500
October 20	12:20 p.m.	at Syracuse	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ACCN	L 37–40 ^2OT	35,210
October 27	12:20 p.m.	at Virginia	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry)	ACCN	L 21–31	43,128
November 3	12:00 p.m.	Georgia Tech	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN	L 28–38	40,782
November 10	12:20 p.m.	at Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Victory Bell)	ACCN	L 35–42	35,493
November 17	3:00 p.m.	Western Carolina*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN Extra	W 49–26	41,151
November 24	12:20 p.m.	NC State	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	ACCN	L 28–34 ^OT	41,510
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

1. This game was cancelled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.[9]

Game summaries

at California

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	0	0	3	14	17
Golden Bears	7	10	7	0	24

at East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	6	13	0	0	19
Pirates	7	14	7	13	41

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	21	0	7	35
Tar Heels	7	14	17	0	38

at Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	10	0	0	0	10
No. 16 Hurricanes	14	19	0	14	47

Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hokies	7	0	7	8	22
Tar Heels	6	3	7	3	19

at Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Tar Heels	7	0	17	3	7	3	37
Orange	0	13	7	7	7	6	40

at Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	7	7	0	7	21
Cavaliers	14	3	7	7	31

Georgia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	7	14	7	10	38
Tar Heels	7	3	10	8	28

at Duke

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	14	14	0	7	35
Blue Devils	14	21	7	0	42

Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	7	9	3	7	26
Tar Heels	14	21	14	0	49

NC State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Wolfpack	7	0	14	7	6	34
Tar Heels	0	6	15	7	0	28

2019 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
5	173	Cole Holcomb	LB	Washington Redskins

References

1. http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25373518/north-carolina-fires-coach-larry-fedora
2. Kirshner, Alex. "UNC's really, officially bringing back Mack Brown". SB Nation. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
3. "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
4. "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
5. "43 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2018 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
6. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
7. "2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award" (PDF). August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
8. Pearson, Zack (January 17, 2018). "UNC Football: Full 2018 Tar Heels football schedule released". KeepingItHeel. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
9. "UCF Football Game, Other Events Will Not Be Played Due To Storm - University of North Carolina". University of North Carolina (Press release). September 11, 2018.