Charlotte - Unlike a few teams in the conference, North Carolina has not garnered a great deal of hype going into the season. While there is not much hype, there are many questions surrounding this Tar Heels team. Specifically on the offensive side of the ball. Offense has long been the trademark of any Larry Fedora coached team but this season, it seems like the defense will be asked to carry the team early on.
“You guys know we’ve lost quite a bit of production on the offensive side of the ball, so our defense this year is going to-especially early on in the year, with having the most experience is going to have to carry us while these young guys on offense grow up a little bit,” said Fedora.
North Carolina has been a sleeper team in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the past, but the numbers prove that they haven’t been sleeping at all. In the last two seasons, North Carolina has won 19 of their past 27 games, making it the most wins in back-to-back seasons since the Tar Heels won 21 games back in ‘96 and ‘97. Though they’ve lost a lot of firepower on offense and building on those 19 wins may be tough, Coach Fedora still expects his squad to compete stating, “no matter what the expectations are on the outside, we still expect to compete for a Coastal Division championship.”
With the loss of playmakers like quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and UNC all-time leading receiver Ryan Switzer, North Carolina returns only 12.7% of its offensive production from last season. Replacing a record-setting quarterback is tough for any team, but this looks to be a difficult task for them as the pool of quarterbacks to pick from has limited experience. The only quarterback that has taken a snap in a North Carolina uniform is sophomore Nathan Elliott, who only completed eight passes all year. LSU graduate transfer Brandon Harris enters the competition as the leader as has 15 starts under his belt, starting all 12 games as a sophomore for the Tigers.
Going into fall camp, no clear-cut starter has been named, but whoever is named the starter, he must show great leadership skills and limit turnovers. Coach Fedora said, “The guy that wins that job is going to be a guy that that can lead our football team. One, he’s got to be able to make good decisions and take care of the football.”
With most of the offensive skill players from last season gone, North Carolina is littered with unexperienced players at those positions. While the offense works out the kinks, the defensive unit will be looked at to shoulder the load.
The Tar Heels return all three starting linebackers to their physical defense. Last season, junior linebackers Cole Holcomb and Andre Smith finished 1st and 2nd on the team in tackles with 115 and 113 apiece. Coach Fedora knows what the strengths and weaknesses of this team are and this unit is most definitely a strength.
“Andre has really developed into that true mike linebacker that you’re looking for, a guy that can have everybody in the right position, a guy that demands respect, a guy that has respect from his teammates,” said Fedora. “And so actually that group in the linebacker position along with Cayson Collins really can be the strength of our defense.” Though the production is there, there is still some room for improvement as North Carolina gave up 227 yards rushing per game last season.
Winning is the name of the game and that is what North Carolina does, especially within the ACC as they have won 13 of their last 16 conference games. North Carolina is only the second team in NCAA history to beat both Florida State and Miami on the road in the same year. So, what do you do to improve on that record? Well, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it according to Fedora “Nothing changes in what we do, and that it’s why it’s so important to have a sound philosophy.”
In a conference with teams like Florida State, Louisville and Clemson it’s easy to overlook North Carolina. They can be sneaky good to the general public, but to the rest of the teams in the ACC and the Coastal division, the Tar Heels aren’t sneaking up on anyone. For anyone who is still worried about who will take over the reins at quarterback for North Carolina and how they will fare, one thing to remember is that Trubisky never started a game before last year.
“You guys know we’ve lost quite a bit of production on the offensive side of the ball, so our defense this year is going to-especially early on in the year, with having the most experience is going to have to carry us while these young guys on offense grow up a little bit,” said Fedora.
North Carolina has been a sleeper team in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the past, but the numbers prove that they haven’t been sleeping at all. In the last two seasons, North Carolina has won 19 of their past 27 games, making it the most wins in back-to-back seasons since the Tar Heels won 21 games back in ‘96 and ‘97. Though they’ve lost a lot of firepower on offense and building on those 19 wins may be tough, Coach Fedora still expects his squad to compete stating, “no matter what the expectations are on the outside, we still expect to compete for a Coastal Division championship.”
With the loss of playmakers like quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and UNC all-time leading receiver Ryan Switzer, North Carolina returns only 12.7% of its offensive production from last season. Replacing a record-setting quarterback is tough for any team, but this looks to be a difficult task for them as the pool of quarterbacks to pick from has limited experience. The only quarterback that has taken a snap in a North Carolina uniform is sophomore Nathan Elliott, who only completed eight passes all year. LSU graduate transfer Brandon Harris enters the competition as the leader as has 15 starts under his belt, starting all 12 games as a sophomore for the Tigers.
Going into fall camp, no clear-cut starter has been named, but whoever is named the starter, he must show great leadership skills and limit turnovers. Coach Fedora said, “The guy that wins that job is going to be a guy that that can lead our football team. One, he’s got to be able to make good decisions and take care of the football.”
With most of the offensive skill players from last season gone, North Carolina is littered with unexperienced players at those positions. While the offense works out the kinks, the defensive unit will be looked at to shoulder the load.
The Tar Heels return all three starting linebackers to their physical defense. Last season, junior linebackers Cole Holcomb and Andre Smith finished 1st and 2nd on the team in tackles with 115 and 113 apiece. Coach Fedora knows what the strengths and weaknesses of this team are and this unit is most definitely a strength.
“Andre has really developed into that true mike linebacker that you’re looking for, a guy that can have everybody in the right position, a guy that demands respect, a guy that has respect from his teammates,” said Fedora. “And so actually that group in the linebacker position along with Cayson Collins really can be the strength of our defense.” Though the production is there, there is still some room for improvement as North Carolina gave up 227 yards rushing per game last season.
Winning is the name of the game and that is what North Carolina does, especially within the ACC as they have won 13 of their last 16 conference games. North Carolina is only the second team in NCAA history to beat both Florida State and Miami on the road in the same year. So, what do you do to improve on that record? Well, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it according to Fedora “Nothing changes in what we do, and that it’s why it’s so important to have a sound philosophy.”
In a conference with teams like Florida State, Louisville and Clemson it’s easy to overlook North Carolina. They can be sneaky good to the general public, but to the rest of the teams in the ACC and the Coastal division, the Tar Heels aren’t sneaking up on anyone. For anyone who is still worried about who will take over the reins at quarterback for North Carolina and how they will fare, one thing to remember is that Trubisky never started a game before last year.