‘Put the cherry on top’: What to watch as UNC can play spoiler role against rival NC State

CHAPEL HILL — Knocking rival North Carolina State out of the race for a divisional title in Atlantic Coast Conference football isn’t the main motivator for North Carolina entering Friday night’s regular-season finale, but it’s among the incentives in play.

“I definitely think that’ll put the cherry on top,” Tar Heels linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel said this week, “but I think for the most part everybody on the team understands we want to end the season on a positive note. We need to finish it on the right note.”

North Carolina can avoid going winless in road games this season, secure a third straight winning season under coach Mack Brown, perhaps improve its bowl destination, deliver a sweep of its in-state opponents, defeat N.C. State for a third year in a row and, yes, spoil the No. 24 Wolfpack’s chances of claiming the Atlantic Division title and reaching the ACC championship game.

“Just beating State, honestly, it’s just a good feeling,” Tar Heels defensive back Giovanni Biggers said this week.

N.C. State (8-3 overall, 5-2 ACC) marks the fourth Top 25 opponent for North Carolina (6-5, 3-4) across its last five games. The Tar Heels have lost at Notre Dame 44-34, staged a remarkable rally past Wake Forest 58-55, and fallen short in overtime at Pittsburgh 30-23 during this stretch of ranked opponents.

The Wolfpack needs to defeat North Carolina on Friday night and Boston College to beat Wake Forest on Saturday to win the league’s Atlantic Division.

“State has played better this year than we have,” said Brown, whose North Carolina teams have won seven straight meetings with N.C. State. “So we’ll have our hands full on Friday night, but I’m looking forward to that challenge, because that’s what you do.

“You can upgrade the type bowl you go to by winning this weekend. You can beat your rival by winning this weekend, and we need to get better as a program. So this is a huge program game for us to win on the road and get better at winning on the road. On the road, we’ve been in fights late and we haven’t finished. So we’ve got to finish.”

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Tar Heels linebacker Cedric Gray said this week he’s “ready to beat down on the Wolfpack,” before admitting minutes later that while growing up in Charlotte he didn’t fully grasp the passion that fuels the rivalry between these teams until he arrived in Chapel Hill.

“I didn’t really kind of understand the circumstances of the rivalry until I got here,” Gray said, “didn’t understand the importance of it. But it’s just like any other rivalry in the country. It’s two schools who are close to each other, who hate each other, and who want to beat each other bad. So I just kind of fit right in with it.”

N.C. State, installed as a six-point favorite over the Tar Heels, has put together a nine-game winning streak at home in Carter-Finley Stadium. Here are more areas worth watching, as North Carolina takes on the rival Wolfpack on Black Friday in Raleigh:

UNC defense in makeshift mode

North Carolina lost possibly its most athletic defender last week when Ja’Qurious Conley suffered a significant lower-body injury while returning the opening kickoff against Wofford.

Conley, the Tar Heels’ fourth-leading tackler and a big hitter from his nickelback spot in the defensive secondary, is out for the remainder of the season. His absence has moved Trey Morrison from safety to nickelback and elevated Biggers to a starter’s role beside Cam’Ron Kelly at the two safety positions in defensive coordinator Jay Bateman’s scheme.

“We’ve had tough luck with our defensive backs,” Brown said, referring to season-ending injuries that also have ensnared Don Chapman and Ladaeson DeAndre Hollins.

Gray said North Carolina will miss the physicality and playmaking Conley provided, whether supplying tackles for lost yardage, interceptions or fumble recoveries.

“Losing ‘JQ’ is a big loss,” Biggers said, “he’s definitely one of the most talented guys on the team. We’ve just really got to step up and fill that void he’s leaving. I think we’ve managed a really good rotation.”

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Josh Downs faces father’s school

North Carolina speedy sophomore Josh Downs, who leads the ACC with 90 receptions, is six catches and 24 receiving yards shy of the Tar Heels’ single-season records in those categories.

Ryan Switzer holds North Carolina’s single-season mark with 96 catches in 2016, while Hakeem Nicks’ output of 1,222 receiving yards has been the program’s single-season standard since 2008.

Downs is the son of former N.C. State standout Gary Downs, a running back who went on to play in the NFL from 1994-2000. Josh Downs said this week that the Wolfpack was among his final choices during the recruiting process, before picking North Carolina.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “N.C. State was a big school in my recruitment. I really came down to Carolina and N.C. State, so I’m excited to go over there and play at my dad’s alma mater against a really good team. It’s going to be a fun game and it’s a rivalry game, so it’s going to be even more jumping because of that.”

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Mack ahead of the Pack

Brown, who forever has preached the importance of defeating in-state opponents, is 23-1 across his last 24 games as coach of the Tar Heels against N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest.

One of his North Carolina teams hasn’t lost to the Wolfpack since 1992. He won five straight games against N.C. State from 1993-97, before leaving for the Texas job. Since his return in 2019, the Tar Heels have rolled 41-10 (in Raleigh) and 48-21 (in Chapel Hill) against the Wolfpack.

“I’ve always loved the rival games,” Brown said this week, while also mentioning his pitch to his players. “I said people are going to come up to you 25 years from now and say, ‘Did you beat State? What was your record against State?’ And that’s why this is so crazy.”

KICKOFF

Who: North Carolina (6-5, 3-4) at No. 24 N.C. State (8-3, 5-2)

When: 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN)

Where: Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh

Series: North Carolina leads 68-36-6 and has won the last two meetings. The road team has won six of the last eight games in this series.

Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC football can cap regular season in spoiler role to rival NC State