I have been saying for some time, even before UNC beat South Carolina, that people should slow down on the "routing UNC" talk.
https://miami.rivals.com/news/breaking-down-north-carolina-2
The team was an almost two touchdown underdog in its opening game last weekend against South Carolina ... but then the Tar Heels went out and did what few expected. The team played well and upset the Gamecocks, 24-20.
That’s going to be an electric atmosphere on Saturday night at home.
A closer look at the season opener saw UNC take a 20-9 lead late in the third quarter and hold on - the team was balanced on offense, running for 238 yards and passing for 245. Meanwhile the defense only allowed 270 yards with three sacks and a pair of interceptions.
Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that North Carolina was relevant - the team was 11-3 in 2015, and three years ago this was a bowl team (for the eighth time in a stretch of nine years).
Canesport makes some straightforward, albeit simple observations. In my opinion, UNC's defense will be more of a challenge than most people realize. The 4-star DB transfer, Surratt converted to LB and had double digit tackles against South Carolina, and Mack Brown has injected energy into UNC, which was reeling for a few years. NINE out of their eleven defensive starters are UPPER CLASSMEN. Not highly talented, but they have been a lot of games.
For us, I do think that Enos will tighten some things on offense. Surely, we can expect that 10-sack count to be at least cut in half with: (1) Jarren throwing it away more; (2) Enos scheming better with an unbalanced OL, quicker hitting passes to Thomas and Pope, and double TE sets; and (3) the fact that UNC's defense is probably 1/2 as good as UF's. Still, questions remains about Enos. This is a big game for him- maybe not make or break, but pretty close to it. To me, I think that if he does become a B+ level or higher OC for us, then it will be getting there in incremental steps over a 6-9 game period. I don't see an offensive explosion against UNC that a lot of people are predicting.
Finally, this will be an 8:00 PM game. Non blistering heat, Hurricane Dorian effectively a non-factor way out east and weakening all week, and game is sold out. The atmosphere will be intense, and UNC will be a bigger challenge than most people are prepared for in my opinion. Early prediction thread: I think that this game starts out lower scoring, but I think we'll mostly be in both control and in the lead for the First Half: probably something along the lines of 10-3 in the First Quarter and 16-6 at Halftime. I think that both teams trade TDs in the Third Quarter: 23-13. I think we add another TD in the Fourth Quarter and the defense limits them to an early Fourth Quarter FG, and then our Defense really wears them out, and then closes it out with a couple of key sacks and/or turnovers (fumble/int) on Howell the Freshman QB, really getting after him well mid to late Fourth Quarter to seal a 30-16 win. A 14 (13-17) point win.
I think that anyone who is predicting a 20-30 point blowout and an offensive show is both overbuying Enos and underselling UNC at THIS POINT, early in the season. Offense looks a little better, Special Teams looks a little better, Defense looks GREAT... But I don't expect to see a significantly cleaner looking Offense and Special Teams than what we saw against UF. I think it's going to take a good 6 games to really see the encouraging, talented youth of our offense, and first time HC and OC (at a major school) really settle in on the same page together.
Canes 30 - UNC 16.
https://miami.rivals.com/news/breaking-down-north-carolina-2
The team was an almost two touchdown underdog in its opening game last weekend against South Carolina ... but then the Tar Heels went out and did what few expected. The team played well and upset the Gamecocks, 24-20.
That’s going to be an electric atmosphere on Saturday night at home.
A closer look at the season opener saw UNC take a 20-9 lead late in the third quarter and hold on - the team was balanced on offense, running for 238 yards and passing for 245. Meanwhile the defense only allowed 270 yards with three sacks and a pair of interceptions.
Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that North Carolina was relevant - the team was 11-3 in 2015, and three years ago this was a bowl team (for the eighth time in a stretch of nine years).
Canesport makes some straightforward, albeit simple observations. In my opinion, UNC's defense will be more of a challenge than most people realize. The 4-star DB transfer, Surratt converted to LB and had double digit tackles against South Carolina, and Mack Brown has injected energy into UNC, which was reeling for a few years. NINE out of their eleven defensive starters are UPPER CLASSMEN. Not highly talented, but they have been a lot of games.
For us, I do think that Enos will tighten some things on offense. Surely, we can expect that 10-sack count to be at least cut in half with: (1) Jarren throwing it away more; (2) Enos scheming better with an unbalanced OL, quicker hitting passes to Thomas and Pope, and double TE sets; and (3) the fact that UNC's defense is probably 1/2 as good as UF's. Still, questions remains about Enos. This is a big game for him- maybe not make or break, but pretty close to it. To me, I think that if he does become a B+ level or higher OC for us, then it will be getting there in incremental steps over a 6-9 game period. I don't see an offensive explosion against UNC that a lot of people are predicting.
Finally, this will be an 8:00 PM game. Non blistering heat, Hurricane Dorian effectively a non-factor way out east and weakening all week, and game is sold out. The atmosphere will be intense, and UNC will be a bigger challenge than most people are prepared for in my opinion. Early prediction thread: I think that this game starts out lower scoring, but I think we'll mostly be in both control and in the lead for the First Half: probably something along the lines of 10-3 in the First Quarter and 16-6 at Halftime. I think that both teams trade TDs in the Third Quarter: 23-13. I think we add another TD in the Fourth Quarter and the defense limits them to an early Fourth Quarter FG, and then our Defense really wears them out, and then closes it out with a couple of key sacks and/or turnovers (fumble/int) on Howell the Freshman QB, really getting after him well mid to late Fourth Quarter to seal a 30-16 win. A 14 (13-17) point win.
I think that anyone who is predicting a 20-30 point blowout and an offensive show is both overbuying Enos and underselling UNC at THIS POINT, early in the season. Offense looks a little better, Special Teams looks a little better, Defense looks GREAT... But I don't expect to see a significantly cleaner looking Offense and Special Teams than what we saw against UF. I think it's going to take a good 6 games to really see the encouraging, talented youth of our offense, and first time HC and OC (at a major school) really settle in on the same page together.
Canes 30 - UNC 16.
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