Blog: UNC's season comes to end in Detroit

DETROIT (WTVD) -- Dream seasons don't end at the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, but that's where Carolina football finds itself, putting a post-Christmas bow on a season that derailed early on.

This game still feels like something of a pendulum for the Heels -- look good in a win and as Marquise Williams said early this week -- UNC can enter spring practice with some semblance of optimism and resume the chase "for that ACC championship." Lose to a less than star spangled Rutgers team, finish 6-7 after starting the season with Top 25 buzz and I think it's fair to question where exactly Larry Fedora's program is headed.

It's been weeks since their most recent games but the Heels and Scarlet Knights arrive to this game off polar opposite results. Carolina absorbed that drilling at home by archrival State, while Rutgers overcame a 25 point second quarter deficit to stun Maryland 41-38. It's impossible for me to believe in the notion of momentum or lack thereof after weeks off, but it will be interesting to see if UNC plays like a team wanting to finish strong or just one that wants to finish, period.

UNC's defense needs to be primarily concerned with shutting down the combo of QB Gary Nova and first team all-Big Ten wideout Leonte Carroo. Offensively - if Carolina's o-line can keep Marquise Williams upright, points should flow.

I think the Heels will win today. The bigger question going forward is whether this program can get any traction and break free from the spinning wheels of mediocrity**. That's an answer we won't get at Ford Field.

**(that was my mandated terrible automotive metaphor here in Detroit).

One other preview postscript -- do you think I could throw this souvenir football all the way to the field?