UNC coach Butch Davis
CHAPEL HILL — Butch Davis' message doesn't change, whether its two losses by a combined five points or a 27-point blowout loss. Davis is still trying to figure out what he has at UNC and what the Tar Heels can be this season.
Every week is a revelation, as Davis has said each of the past four Mondays.
"This week is an enormous challenge," Davis said. "I know that it sounds like you say that every week but for our football team at this stage of the program, every week is a challenge."
The Heels travel to Virginia Tech on Saturday (noon) to face what Davis calls the best team his team has seen this season. Davis is still more concerned about his his players will react to the South Florida loss.
"We'll say this for a long time, a lot of this stuff, still has to be about us," Davis said. "There's just things that we have to grow and learn and every game presents new challenges. It's an opportunity for us to find out what our kids can handle."
In particular, Davis is interested to see how quarterback T.J. Yates reacts to the beating he took by USF. Yates was sacked four times and threw four interceptions.
"I suspect that he'll respond positively," Davis said. "It will be part of his growth."
Davis never entertained sitting Yates in the second half of the USF game to get him a breather.
"He's our quarterback right now and there's no reason to believe we should make any kind of change," Davis said. "You want to see how he processes and battles through that."
