It's almost hard to believe, but college football is happening! And almost even harder to believe, the North Carolina Tar Heels are ranked in the Top 25!
Granted, they got some help from the Big 10 and the Pac 12 postponing their seasons, but still, that's pretty impressive for a young squad in its second season under coach Mack Brown.
The 18th ranked Tar Heels feature a high powered offense and an experienced defense, and they're looking to open the season win a win over Syracuse. The Orange will travel to Chapel Hill to take on the Heels in front of an empty Kenan Stadium on Saturday. Kick-off is set for noon right here on WBT.
Not much went right for the Orange last season, as they finished 5-7 and at the bottom of the barrel in the ACC in plenty of categories including total points allowed. So they brought in new coordinators on both sides of the ball, implemented a new defensive scheme, and are hoping for better things in 2020.
Job number one will be trying to slow down UNC's air raid offense that averaged over 33 points per game last season. Second-year quarterback Sam Howell leads the attack.
The reigning ACC Rookie of the Year threw 38 touchdowns last season and has his two favorite receivers back in Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome.
Luckily for the Orange, they have one of the best defensive backs in college football in All-American safety Andre Cisco. He led the ACC with five interceptions last season.
The Orange will also hope to rattle Howell with their new 3-3-5 scheme. If that happens, look for the Tar Heels to go to the run game. Michael Carter and Javonte Williams combined for nearly 2,000 yards on the ground last season and could have a field day against the Orange.
Syracuse has its own solid running back tandem of Jarveon Howard and Abdul Adams, both have plenty of experience and look to take some of the pressure off quarterback Tommy DeVito.
The junior was the most sacked quarterback in college football last season, being brought down 44 times! DeVito will be playing behind an improved offensive line this time around, but he lost his top receiver to the NFL.
Junior Taj Harris should take over, he's a deep threat who picked up over 1100 receiving yards in his first two seasons.
The last time these teams met was in 2018, when the Heels lost a double-overtime heart breaker to the Orange 40-37.
They'd no doubt like to avenge that loss, and more importantly, get this season started off on a positive note. I think UNC's potent offense will be too much for the Orange to handle and they get the win at home. Go Tar Heels!