UNC coach Larry Fedora address his team after the Tar Heels' spring game on Saturday. PHOTO: Robert Willett

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina held its annual Blue vs. White spring football scrimmage at Kenan Stadium on Saturday. In case you missed the story that ran in the paper about this yesterday, you can read it right here. The Blue team defeated the White, 44-7. Well, actually, the final scoreboard read 44-21 – but that includes 14 points that the White team received at halftime to make the game a bit more competitive.

Of course, the final score of a spring scrimmage doesn’t mean much. And it’s difficult to read too much into the Tar Heels’ spring game, anyway, because it was, you have to remember, UNC’s 14th practice in the completely new, completely different offensive and defensive system that first-year coach Larry Fedora and his assistants are installing. A lot will change between now and September.

Even so, the spring game provided us some insight and some lessons. Here are some of them:

UNC coach Larry Fedora wants to see energy and enthusiasm during the Tar Heels' spring game on Saturday. PHOTO: Robert Willett

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Larry Fedora wouldn’t mind another 25, 30 practices or so this spring. Maybe by then, he said earlier this week, the Tar Heels would be able to accomplish all they need to accomplish before heading into the off-season conditioning program.

But there will not be 25 or 30 more practices for Fedora and UNC. NCAA rules limit teams to 15 spring practices, and UNC’s final one comes on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Kenan Stadium, where the Tar Heels will play their annual spring scrimmage (admission free, game televised at ESPN3.com).

Here are some things to watch:

UNC coach Larry Fedora says the quarterback competition between Bryn Renner and Marquise Williams (pictured, left) is "wide open." PHOTO: Robert Willett

CHAPEL HILL — Here’s a story I wrote today about Marquise Williams, the rising redshirt freshman quarterback at North Carolina.

Williams, a former standout at Mallard Creek High in Charlotte, came to UNC for a couple of reasons, mainly: One, his cousin played for the Tar Heels years ago. And two, Williams formed a bond with former UNC offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach John Shoop.

Two days after ending the season with a 41-24 loss against Missouri in the Independence Bowl, North Carolina quarterback Bryn Renner on Wednesday underwent successful surgery on his left ankle, the university announced.

CHAPEL HILL -- From the beginning of the season, North Carolina’s football players insisted they’d let their play do the talking, focus on one game at a time, and wait until the end of the season to judge their overall performance.

But now one victory away from bowl eligibility entering Saturday’s game against Miami, cornerback Jabari Price on Monday apparently forgot the memo.

“We’re not really getting no respect,’’ said the sophomore, who missed the first four games of the season because of a hand injury. “As you can see, we’re 5-1, and we’re still not ranked. … In order to make a statement to the world, we have to show up and eat at the end of the season, right here, right now.

“...We talk about it all the time. You see teams like Virginia Tech, they’re 5-1 but they’re ranked. Obviously, being ranked is not a big deal to me, but it shows a sign of disrespect to me, personally. I feel like we’re one of the better teams in the country right now and we’re playing like it.”

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina’s offensive line boasts plenty of experience, what with veterans Jonathan Cooper, Cam Holland and James Hurst (who have started a combined 60 games).  But new starter Brennan Williams is adding a big extra punch – quite literally.

The junior tackle from West Roxbury, Mass., earned his black belt in taekwondo when he was 14 years old. The control, focus and balance he learned from practicing martial arts makes him a force to be reckoned with in the trenches  -- especially combined with his 6-feet-7, 315-pound frame.

“He’s so big – but he’ll be in the locker room, doing karate moves,’’ sophomore quarterback Bryn Renner said.  “I’ll be like, ‘Whoa.’ It’s kind of intimidating.”

CHAPEL HILL -- As the clock wound down Saturday on North Carolina’s 42-10 victory over James Madison, new quarterback Bryn Renner made it a point to track down interim head coach Everett Withers for a sideline embrace.

“The whole week we preached that we wanted to give this ball to Coach [Butch]Davis,’’ Renner said, referring to the Tar Heels’ head coach who was fired five weeks ago, a year after the NCAA began investigating academic misconduct and impermissible benefits.

“… [Withers] has been saying all week that Coach Davis built this team, and it’s his team -- and I think it was just a little moment where I needed to give him a little hug for his first win and my first start … it was a special moment, and I’ll never forget it.”

Indeed, with Davis in attendance at Kenan Stadium, both Withers – UNC’s defensive coordinator for the previous three seasons – and Renner, taking over for four-year starter T.J. Yates, recorded history-worthy performances.

CHAPEL HILL -- Quarterback Bryn Renner was sitting near the back of the team bus last December after North Carolina’s dramatic postseason victory over Tennessee when he sent his fellow underclassmen a mass text message. It read, in a nutshell: “Hey, the Music City Bowl is great, but I think we can do bigger and better things.’”

It was the then-back-up signal caller’s first step toward becoming the leader of this year’s Tar Heels.

While much of the focus over the last 16 days has been about how interim head coach Everett Withers will fare after the sudden firing of Butch Davis, the fate of this year’s squad also rests on the arm, composure – and, perhaps, inspirational texts – of Renner, a redshirt sophomore who takes over for four-year starter T.J. Yates.

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Butch Davis called senior T.J. Yates his "starting quarterback" today but left open the possibility that freshman Bryn Renner could get the start in the No. 18 Tar Heels'  Sept. 4 opener against No. 21 Louisiana State.

Both quarterbacks will continue to work with the first team, Davis said, but Yates, who has 31 career starts, continues to lead the competition over the talented redshirt freshman.

"T.J. has the one distinct advantage that you can't take away from him, ... that he has been in games before and he has played in big games," Davis said. "I love the competition. I love the way Bryn is pushing him, and I think that will continue certainly throughout the year."

UNC coach Butch Davis raised the possibility that redshirt freshman Bryn Renner could start in the opener vs. LSU or that both incumbent T.J. Yates and Renner could play in a quarterback rotation.

Davis said Yates and Renner have both run the first-team offense in practice.