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North Carolina's midseason breather just got a whole lot more significant.

Not long ago, the Tar Heels figured their glorified exhibition today (3:30 p.m.) against Georgia Southern would give them an opportunity to pad some stats and keep themselves flying high in the polls entering the heart of ACC play.

But after consecutive league losses in which the offense struggled, the Tar Heels are approaching this as their last chance to figure out what exactly has gone wrong.

"Are we trying to do too much with a young, inexperienced offensive football team?" coach Butch Davis asked. "Some of the things that we did last year, there were some guys that aren't ready to do some of those things all the time, whether it's the receivers, whether it's the offensive line. And obviously, as the season has gone on, we've gotten younger and more inexperienced."

There isn't much on the line during North Carolina's second matchup with a Football Championship Subdivision member -- except for the Tar Heels' self-esteem.

The game means nothing for bowl eligibility because teams may use only one FCS victory per season toward the six required to make the postseason, and North Carolina (3-2) already claimed one in the opener against The Citadel.

BLACK COLLEGE HALL OF FAME: The city of Atlanta will soon have two football halls of fame. Former NFL quarterbacks Doug Williams and James "Shack" Harris announced Friday the Black College Football Hall of Fame plans to hold an inaugural induction ceremony in Atlanta on Feb. 10. Eight players and coaches from Historically Black Colleges and Universities are to be enshrined, though a permanent location in Atlanta for the facility has not been announced.

SOUTHERN MISS: Peter Wilkes, a walk-on punter at Southern Miss, is in critical condition at a Memphis, Tenn., hospital after being shot at his home in Union City, Tenn. Union City Assistant Police Chief Perry Barfield said the case is under investigation as an accident or self-inflicted gunshot wound.