North Carolina’s darkhorse playoff chances? Forget it. Sam Howell’s Heisman hopes? History. Big 6 Bowl Game? On life support. ACC Coastal chances? Those took a major hit.
Did UNC’s season go up in flames in 60 minutes after an ugly 17-10 loss at Virginia Tech. Well to give UNC fans a little hope, the 2015 11-3 Tar Heels lost to a 3 win South Carolina team to open the season, and then won 11 games in a row.
Now for reality…
North Carolina has major issues, and a schedule that still has Notre Dame, Miami, NC State among others.
I said during my Best/Worst Case for UNC this season that an opening loss to Virginia Tech could be a real bad sign for the Tar Heels. Now here we are at 0-1.
Will Go 7-5 (4-4) if:
The Heels lose their opening game to Virginia Tech. I’d be concerned if the Heels lose this game, because a top 15 team doesn’t blow this one. This is a tricky opener, but one a good team wins.
The defense struggled early, but settled down.
Here’s the biggest concern for the Tar Heels. The offensive line was man-handled Friday night. Sam Howell was pressured and harassed all night. The Heels couldn’t run the ball consistently, and virtually nobody not named Josh Downs could make a play catching the ball. The skill position losses were evident, but the offensive play was so bad suddenly a pre-season top 10 team is already in real trouble.
Offensive line issues aren’t typically something that gets solved during the course of a season – just ask teams like Syracuse or Florida State. It is what it is.
Mack Brown has a week to prepare for Georgia State, where there will be an opportunity to correct some of the issues with the play calling which wasn’t very good either.
How does he fix the mess of an offensive line? That’s the question every UNC fan is wondering.
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