Turner's Take: A New Standard

December 30, 2015 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston

By: UNC Athletic Communications

By Turner Walston

Tuesday night in Orlando, Carolina lost to Baylor in the Russell Athletic Bowl. “They just flat-out beat us,” senior linebacker Jeff Schoettmer said. “Today, they were the better team.” And they were. The Bears lined up against the Tar Heels and won the battles up front, dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They ran for 645 yards, a record for Tar Heel opponents. They forced timely turnovers and earned the win.

Across the field, Carolina saw a veteran team in its eighth season under Art Briles; a team that perhaps can serve as something of a model for the Tar Heels themselves. Briles has had time to install his system, recruit and develop players that can compete among the best in the nation (Baylor was ranked as high as second nationally at one point this season). The Bears ran behind a starting offensive line made up entirely of seniors against a defensive line that featured true freshman Jalen Dalton, making the start for the injured Nazair Jones for the Tar Heels. Baylor saw a weakness and exploited it, and the Tar Heels could not afford to make the mistakes that they did and still expect to win. T.J. Logan's third-quarter goal-line fumble was followed by an 80-yard Johnny Jefferson touchdown run against an exhausted defense. That sequence swung what could have been a four-point deficit into an 18-point one. Carolina ran into a buzzsaw on Tuesday. It happens.

It's unfortunate that the last time we saw the 2015 Tar Heels came in a 49-38 loss, because Tuesday night's game was not reflective of the remarkable season put forth by this Carolina team. This team will not be defined by a single night. Rather, this team will be defined by its entire body of work. By a school record-tying 11-win season. By a first-ever Coastal Division championship. By beating every team it faced from the state of North Carolina. By going undefeated in Kenan Stadium. By the players that were freshmen on a team that was ineligible for the postseason, and seniors on one that won 11 straight and played in the ACC Championship game.

“It would have been awesome to get (win) number twelve, but we didn't,” senior linebacker Shakeel Rashad said. “But that's not going to be the defining moment in this 2015 team.” The Tar Heels began the season with two goals in mind: the Coastal Division championship and the 'state championship.' And when those goals were reached during that incredible 11-game run, the bar was set higher. That's what happens. Win a lot of games, and the games get tougher. The Tar Heels faced the nation's number one team in the ACC Championship game. That one wasn't on the schedule when the season began. Nor was the matchup with Baylor. And yet, the Tar Heels never backed down from a challenge.

“The fact that we had to reset our goals and then come back and not accomplish one of our reset goals is a great thing in and of itself,” Rashad said. “We would have loved to have accomplished our second set of goals, but we didn't get it.”

A new standard has been set in Chapel Hill. The bar is higher. The 2015 Tar Heels showed what can be accomplished when a group of players, coaches and staff buy in, when they all take care of their own responsibilities and when they have one another's back in good times and bad. The feeling after losing the 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl is immensely different than the one after losing the 2014 Quick Lane Bowl. It's not back to the drawing board. It's building on a foundation.

“We had a lot of positive things happen with this football team this year, and we came a long way, when we think back to where we were January 6^th, and the feeling about our program and what was going on with our program from the outside,” Larry Fedora said. “I couldn't be more proud of this football team, our senior class and the legacy that they're leaving, what they've accomplished this year, and they set a new standard for the guys in that locker room.”

It was fitting that those seniors had an appropriate showcase on Tuesday night. Rashad had 16 tackles, and Schoettmer had 12. Justin Thomason had seven from the defensive line. On the Tar Heels' final offensive drive, senior Landon Turner blocked for senior Marquise Williams, who ran for 12 yards and completed passes to seniors Quinshad Davis, Damien Washington and Kendrick Singleton.

Carolina loses an outstanding senior class on the field, certainly, but the classes underneath them, the players they mentored, will never forget the legacy of leadership. “Just looking back on the year, it truly made my senior year special,” Schoettmer said. “I'm forever grateful to this university, and I can't say it enough, how proud I am of the senior class and the rest of the team, because we left a legacy here and we set the standard for North Carolina football for years to come. I'm proud that my senior class was the reason for that.”

“It's been a fun ride for us seniors, and the whole team,” Williams said. “We established something. We're building something, and I'm excited to see what the guys are going to bring next year to the table because they're going to be greedy for more.”

Carolina has a lot to build on. Next year, the Tar Heels get an early test in the Georgia Dome against Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs. It represents another chance to tell the story of Carolina football, to show the nation the new standard in Chapel Hill.

“My message to [the underclassmen] has been, 'You guys go win 14 or 15 of them next year,'” Rashad said. “I'm really appreciating what they've done for us, everything they've done this season, and hoping that we put them in a place to do better next year.”

They certainly did that. And along the way, they gave us a hell of a ride.

Turner Walston is the editor of CAROLINA digital magazine. Follow Turner on Twitter.