By: Alec Nederveld
In Week One, we saw an early sign of what could be a chaotic year in the Carolinas. NC State looked sloppy on the road against UConn. Duke, yes that Duke, outright beat Clemson 28-7 in primetime where the Tigers looked awful.
So who benefits the most from this? North Carolina.
After beating South Carolina 31-17 in Charlotte, they have a chance to be the best team in the Carolinas and maybe more.
All things considered, UNC was the most impressive team in the Carolinas from week one. Sure Duke had a much bigger statement win, but they greatly benefitted from Clemson shooting themselves in the foot. What happens if Clemson didn’t fumble twice in the red zone? Or didn’t miss two field goals? Or if Cade Klubnik slid further downfield? Sure that’s a lot, but that’s likely the difference between a 28-7 loss and a 30-28 win.
NC State and Wake Forest have been very solid programs recently with great head coaches. Since 2016, they have a combined two losing seasons compared to three in that same time frame from UNC. However, their windows of success may be closing. Both teams lost star quarterbacks who put the teams in the top ten last season and it’s hard to replace the experience of Sam Hartman and Devin Leary. Not impossible, but those are two big losses.
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Wanna know who doesn’t have an issue at quarterback? Drake Maye isn’t just the best in the state or conference – he’s the best quarterback on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Last season he had 5,019 yards of total offense with forty-five touchdowns as a redshirt freshman. Despite that, there were thoughts Maye would regress due to losing OC Phil Longo and his top two receivers Josh Downs and Antoine Green.
In the South Carolina game, he wasn’t perfect as he tossed two interceptions, but he proved there won’t be a major regression. In total, Maye was 24-32 with 269 yards and two touchdowns. He only added twenty-five yards on the ground, but he didn’t have to. Maye was UNC’s leading rusher last season, but after British Brooks put 103 yards down and Omarion Hampton added two rushing touchdowns, UNC has more than the Drake Maye show on offense.
More important than the improved run game is the defense’s performance. UNC allowed twenty-one or more points in thirteen of fourteen games. Appalachian State, who didn’t even go bowling, scored sixty-one points. The sample size is small, but the defense looks much better. South Carolina’s offense was inconsistent last season, but they have talent and dominated at the end of last season. The Tar Heels shut them down. Spencer Rattler was sacked nine times and South Carolina finished with -2 rushing yards. It is the only time this millennium North Carolina held a team and South Carolina finished with negative rushing yards.
The composite four-star duo Beau Atkinson and Desmond Evans combined for 2.5 sacks. Cedrick Gray led UNC with nine tackles including 1.5 sacks. Transfers Alijah Huzzie and Amari Gainer also made big impacts on the defense. The unit is still a work in progress, as Rattler went 30-39 for 353 yards. However, UNC should be thrilled by this after last season’s performance.
Let’s not forget who North Carolina has as head coach. Mack Brown has 275 career wins and a national championship and has been around more football than every other coach. The win over South Carolina actually was a milestone for Coach Brown. He notched his 100th career win at UNC and became the first coach to win 100 games at two different schools.
https://twitter.com/UNCFootball/status/1698176985996857546
I touched on this earlier, but North Carolina has a talented team. They’ve finished in the top five in ACC recruiting every year since Brown took over and finished top fifteen on a three-year stretch between 2020 and 2022. The roster has former five stars on it. At North Carolina. In the ACC.
Everything I mentioned puts UNC firmly in the race to make the ACC Championship game for the second straight season. Their schedule isn’t easy by any means, but it is certainly workable. The Tarheels avoid playing Florida State and Louisville and host Duke and Miami. Road games at Clemson and NC State to end the year will be tough, but UNC could likely go 6-2 in ACC play and make it back to Charlotte.
One week doesn’t immediately make UNC the best team in the Carolinas. Duke and Clemson fans will argue with what I’ve said. Maybe the defense isn’t improved and South Carolina’s offensive line is just that bad. We’ll see. But as of right now, the tides are turning in the Carolinas. Will they make a full shift to North Carolina? Time will tell.
