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Gaby Velasquez

On a slightly breezy Monday afternoon, the North Carolina Tar Heels football team stepped foot on El Paso turf for the first time in anticipation for the Sun Bowl. After day one of practice at the Socorro Athletics Center on Monday, Dec. 26, head coach Larry Fedora was energetic and excited for his squad’s game against Stanford on Friday, Dec. 30.

“We had great weather today and the guys moved around real good,” Fedora said. “The guys went home for Christmas, so today we got to knock out a little rust out of them. It was a real good day and we got good reps in.”

The Tar Heels (8-4, 5-3 ACC) come into Friday’s matchup with multiple storylines under their belt and hope to polish their final touches before the Sun Bowl. The squad finished second in the Coastal Division and seek their first bowl win since 2013.

The most recent storyline surrounding the game is both teams’ running backs that will miss the game. Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey decided to skip the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft, while UNC’s Elijah Hood chose not to play due to an unspecified injury.

McCaffrey’s early departure sparked national news and skepticism over non-playoff bowls rose from it. Nonetheless, Fedora believes in the worthiness of bowls like the Sun Bowl.

“I’ve heard out there that if you don’t make the final four, the bowl games don’t mean anything. People who say that have never played college football game and been to a bowl game,” Fedora said. “It’s a lot of fun for these guys. I would say that about 98 percent of these guys have never been to El Paso, Texas, and about 90 percent of them have never been to Texas, alone. The community does such a great job with this game.”

Leading the troop for the Tar Heels is standout quarterback Mitch Trubisky. For his first season as the starting quarterback, Trubisky has put up some impressive numbers. He is fifth in the nation for completion percentage (68.9 percent), 11th for quarterback rating (161.0) and 12th for total passing yards (3,468).

The 5-foot-10 athlete came out on Monday eager for Friday’s game and knows what the challenge will be.

“I’m expecting us to go out there with a lot of energy and a lot of passion so we can get the win,” Trubisky said. “[Stanford] has a really solid defense. They like to mix up coverage and they have gotten better as the year went on.”

Throughout practice, Trubisky shifted through numerous shotgun packages with a very balanced take. The gunslinger looked calm and poise throughout his reps.

“He’s [Trubisky] got all the physical tools you need to be a great quarterback,” Fedora said. “He does a great job at leading our team overall.”
Taking the place of Hood’s spot at the starting tailback position is senior running back T.J. Logan. He took the majority of the first teams’ carries during drills at practice. Throughout the season, Logan has posted 578 rushing yards as the second-string back behind Hood.

Trubisky is confident that Logan can get the job done on the ground.

“TJ has been electrifying all year, so it might be a blessing,” Trubisky said. “Not a shift in the game plan; we are just going to go out there and do what we have to do.”

Logan also admits that he has been ready to take on the reigns if need be.

“I always stay ready,” Logan said. “We always have the next man up mentality. When he [Hood] said he wasn’t going to play, it hurt me, but we gotta do this one for him.”

Kickoff for the Stanford-UNC matchup is slated at noon on Friday, Dec. 30, in the Sun Bowl stadium.

Follow Adrian Broaddus on Twitter @adrian_broaddus.