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CHAPEL HILL -- The North Carolina Tar Heels spent the past week catching their breath thanks to a break in its schedule, but now they turn their attention to the final six games on the schedule.
The Tar Heels face a stretch of six consecutive ACC games, which kicks off with a nationally televised matchup against Florida State on Thursday (8 p.m., ESPN).
It will be the first time UNC has hosted a Thursday night game and the first time the Seminoles have been in Chapel Hill since 2003.
The Tar Heels said they're excited to play under the lights and on the national stage, but they also know what a win over FSU could mean for their season. UNC is 4-2 overall but both losses were to ACC opponents.
"A win would be very important because it would start the momentum we need to finish this season strong," UNC senior defensive lineman E.J. Wilson said. "I think if we beat Florida State it'll be a statement win, in my opinion, because we're proving that we can go out there and play with anybody."
This Florida State team may not be as dominating as the Seminoles were in the 1990's -- FSU is 2-4, 0-3 ACC this year -- but they still are considered a historical powerhouse, Wilson said. UNC coach Butch Davis said FSU has a great program built by legendary coach Bobby Bowden, and the Seminoles' reputation will only add to the excitement of the game.
"Games like this, to a certain extent, become measuring sticks," Davis said. "Are you making the progress that you'd hoped you'd be making?"
Davis said he discussed bringing a Thursday night game to Chapel Hill after he was hired, and he thinks it's a great way for the school, not just the football program, to get exposure.
"You get basically a four-hour infomercial that you get a chance to talk about Chapel Hill, talk about the University of North Carolina," Davis said. "It was an unbelievable cooperation by a lot of people to help make this happen, and we're very grateful they allowed us to do it."
Davis admitted the Thursday night game can interrupt the players and their class schedules, but UNC doesn't have class this Thursday or Friday because of fall break. The weeknight game also pushes the practice schedule back two days, so Monday's practice is like a normal-week Wednesday workout.
"We're on our so-called Wednesday day, so it's a little bit different because you get sidetracked, like today's only Monday and I'm thinking that today's really Wednesday," junior cornerback Kendric Burney said. "It plays with you a little bit, but you know just because the game's on a Thursday night, you're just so jacked up that you're not even worried about what day it is."
Burney said he loves night games and has been antsy to play for the past week. UNC has had success on Thursday night and is 4-2 in those games, including a 44-12 victory over Rutgers a year ago. Burney said the Seminoles' record and recent woes don't matter much to the Tar Heels, they just want to win and get some momentum back.
"This is definitely a game that could flip our season totally around to get back on the right track to contend and get back in any kind of races that we want to get in to," Burney said.
NOTES -- Freshman tailback/quarterback A.J. Blue and redshirt freshman Jamal Womble will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery at UNC Hospitals on Friday. Blue had the anterior cruciate ligament and posterior cruciate ligament reconstructed and his medial collateral ligament repaired on his left knee. Blue also will not participate in the 2010 spring practices. Womble's surgery was to repair his fractured right wrist.
