CHAPEL HILL — The 24-hour rule says that a winning team is allowed a day to enjoy its victory before putting it behind and moving on to the next game. Members of the North Carolina football team only got about half that much after Saturday’s 48-20 victory against Georgia Tech. And even that’s about 12 hour more than their coaches had, thanks to a quick turnaround in preparing for Thursday night’s rivalry showdown with Duke. “When I finish here we’re going to go back in the office and start on Duke,” Coach Larry Fedora said during his postgame press conference Saturday. “We’re going to be in here tonight, all night with the coaching staff.” Because of that preplanning, film work and the necessary recovery time after playing a competitive college football game, the Tar Heels (7-2, 4-1 ACC) will have only three practice sessions to get ready for their annual battle for the Victory Bell. None of those workouts will be in full pads. That doesn’t concern Fedora, though. He said that at this point in the season, after nine games and more than three months of practices, conditioning and execution have become more important considerations than a lack of contact work. “It’s a big deal how much energy they use in a game,” Fedora said. They’ll be beat up, bruised, all those things. The key is making sure they’re fresh on Thursday. As a coach, you want to make sure we game plan and all those things, but we’ve really only got two days. It’s more about them being mentally fresh.” The good news for UNC is the Duke is facing a similarly short week after playing Virginia Tech last Saturday. For the Tar Heels, the lead up to Thursday’s game is a sharp contrast to their previous game, in which a midseason bye gave them an extra week to prepare for Georgia Tech and its unique triple option offense. “We went from having buckets of time to prepare for Georgia Tech to having almost no time to prepare for Duke,” running back Elijah Hood said. “So we’ve got to get on that as soon as possible.” Although Fedora and his staff are understandably concerned about the perils of a short week, their players don’t seem to mind it at all. “At this point, with this team, I just think we have a good mindset and were eager to get to that next game,” quarterback Mitch Trubisky said. “The sooner we play, it means we’re going to have lighter practices. We’re going to be ready to roll and pumped up to play this game Thursday.” It helps that the Tar Heels had a bye week before playing Georgia Tech and that they managed to come out of the game healthy. That includes Hood, who looked stronger and fresher than he has all season while rushing for 168 yards and three touchdowns, offensive tackle Jon Heck and the duo of senior Dajaun Drennon and freshman Tomon Fox — two key performers who returned from injury to bolster UNC’s defensive line. Their return to full health, combined with the fact that UNC is coming off its most impressive performance of the season, gives linebacker Andre Smith faith that his team’s best is yet to come. Even with such a short time to prepare for the next game. “I think we have a lot more,” said Smith, the Tar Heels’ leading tackler. “I think our offense can go down and score every time. I think our defense can definitely step up and get more turnovers. I really think we can keep on gaining and getting better and better as the year goes.”
