Tar Heels aim to rebound

North Carolina coach Larry Fedora says the 2017 season featured more injuries than he ever previously experienced during more than 30 years of coaching.

The Tar Heels lost as many as 37 players to injury during the course of the season. Inexperienced players and a few fourth-quarter mishaps resulted in just three wins, marking the worst campaign in Fedora’s six years with the program.

“I think in times like that, any time you have adversity, you find out a lot about who you are, who your staff is, the make-up of your team and I think we'll all be better coaches, better men, better players because of it,” Fedora told ESPN before spring practice began in March.

The Tar Heels need to make significant strides, first starting with their overall health, and are No. 71 in Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel’s preseason 2018 college football rankings.

Murschel ranked all 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country. The Sentinel staff takes a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 129 to our projected No. 1 team.

Carolina

5 North

Larry Fedora (3-9, entering seventh season; 43-34 overall)

3-9 overall, 1-7 in Atlantic Coast Conference; last in Coastal Division

North Carolina was one of the most depleted teams in the country last season, resulting in its first 0-6 start in ACC play since 2006 — a far cry from the team’s ACC title-game run during the 2015 season.

But Fedora’s team believes the adversity his team faced should bode well for its future.

WR Anthony Ratliff-Williams, QB Chazz Surratt, QB Nathan Elliot, RB Jordon Brown, RB Michael Carter, TE Brandon Fritts, LB Cole Holcomb, DB K.J. Sails, DE Malik Carney, DT Aaron Crawford, DE Tomon Fox, DE Jalen Dalton, DB Myles Dorn.

Redshirt sophomore Chazz Surratt and junior Nathan Elliot will continue their battle for the starting quarterback position, but Fedora is encouraged by their progress after last season.

Surratt played in seven games in 2017, completing 58.5 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and three interceptions. UNC lost six of seven games he started.

As for Elliott, he helped UNC win two of the final three games last season, completing 51.4 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.

The Tar Heels will also rely heavily on the playmaking from leading receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams (630 yards, six touchdowns), running backs Michael Carter (eight touchdowns) and Michael Brown (four touchdowns), and tight end Brandon Fritts (four touchdowns).

UNC’s defense loses its leader in linebacker Andre Smith while the offensive line will have to gel with several new pieces in the mix.

But for the Tar Heels, a glaring weakness is the difficult the team had coping with injuries.

Road trips to California and Miami offer early tests as the team aims to improve on its disappointing play in the ACC. If the young team can handle the challenges, the 2018 campaign could set the foundation for sustained success.