Unless you've been under a rock or viewing the college football landscape through biased eyes, there's a team located in Chapel Hill that's starting make some serious noise in the ACC race. Heading into this season many, including this guy, had their doubts about UNC being a serious contender in the ACC Coastal. After showing the doubters what this team's made of after a disappointing opening game to Sakerlina, Carolina's ripped off a series 7 in a row including a 4-0 record in the ACC. While bowl eligibility in October is definitely something to pat yourself on the back for, there's still a great sense among the program and fan base of that being enough. It's a feeling that I'm glad the aforementioned groups aren't satisfied with. Carolina is and must be better than Bowl Eligibility. Carolina must win the ACC Coastal.
The road to the Coastal, while not a gimme, is attainable. Carolina's last 4 games come against familiar foes, each with it's own reason to knock Carolina off their run.
Tomorrow: A Furious Duke Team because of last week
November 14th: A Jump Start Miami Team with a new coach
November 21st: in Blacksburg for Beamer's Finale
November 28th : in West Raleigh against a team that whopped our ass in 2014
Let me make it clear, tomorrow is essentially an ACC Coastal Elimination Game. Without a win over the rival 8 miles to our north, Carolina faces an uphill battle to get to Charlotte, while Duke just has to worry about getting past Pitt the following week before closing out against UVA and Wake.
As for tomorrow let's look at the biggest match ups
- The Officials vs The World
- There's a key component working against Carolina. For starters, all eyes will be on the ACC Officiating Crew that completely botched the Miami and Duke game (not just the final call). If there's any indication for how things work in the ACC, expect to see this crew on
- a. Their Best Behavior, and
- b. a make up call in favor of the Blue Devils.
- Carolina will have to play sound. There's no need for any gimme penalties in the form of late hits, retaliation or dirty play
- Duke's Offensive Line vs Carolina's Front Seven
- Duke's starting offensive line has not missed any starts this year. Carolina's defensive line has been a mixed bag week to week. Carolina's yet to see Nazair Jones take snaps since getting chopped over a month ago against Georgia Tech. The Defensive Line has been hampered for the better part of the season with most of the two deep missing at least a game. Carolina will need reinforcements against what I consider a solid offensive line. The front seven must force Duke into second and third and longs. Duke doesn't have an explosive offense like Carolina's and is ranked 101st in yards per play against the FBS (source: Inside Carolina). Carolina should like their odds of defending against the big play, as they rank 6th in plays given up longer 20 yards in the FBS.
- Marquise Williams vs Jeremy Cash
- If you've paid any attention to Duke in the last couple of years, the name, Jeremy Cash, should ring a bell. The former four star recruit and Ohio State transfer (no, contrary to what many think, this wasn't a diamond in the rough by dook) has been all over the field in his senior campaign. Duke likes to use him in a similar role the Steelers used Troy Polomalu during his prime: a moving rover. Expect Cash to be lined up all over the field and to come on the blitz from every angle. Between the Carolina offensive line and Quise Williams, Carolina must know where Cash is lined up and exploit the voided zone. Carolina did an excellent job last year with their dose of read zone and quick hitting passes last year in Durham. Expect Larry F and Seth L to have something up their sleeves to force Cash into a traditional safety role.
- Carolina Crowd vs The Roadie Dook
- Homecoming. Bragging Rights. The Victory Bell. First Place in the Coastal. What else do you need to get you fired up for a rivalry game? Duke's won 12 of their last 13 games on the road with the lone downer coming at the hand win the lone loss coming at the hands of the Miami Hurricanes in early 2014; Other than than Dook's been perfect on the road for almost 3 seasons. The Kenan Stadium crowd must be the 12th Man tomorrow. Show up. Be Loud. Lift Up This Carolina Squad.
My Prediction: Coming into the season I saw Carolina coming into this game 6-2 after forecasting a loss on the road to Pittsburgh; so yea, I was wrong. Instead Carolina's 7-1 heading into the biggest game at Kenan Stadium in what, 18 years? While none of us want to go back and focus on Carolina's flop on judgement day in 1997, I do want to focus on the "mentality changing games" this program's faced since Larry Fedora took the help.
- Virginia Tech (2012) Win - One of Two Wins Carolina has over VT since the Hokies joined the ACC
- NC State(2012) Win - A first over NC State in 6 years
- at UVA (2012) Win - Rebounding on a short week after getting WAXED by Georgia Tech
- at Sakerlina (2013) Loss - Initial Loss of a dreadful 1-5 start
- at Georgia Tech (2013) Loss - Carolina continues the winless streak in Atlanta after blowing second half lead
- Miami (2013) Loss - Carolina blows another big second half lead on Zero Dark Thursday
- at ECU (2014) Loss - After getting blown out the year before, Carolina gets skull drug again by the Pirates.
- at Duke (2014) Win - Break two game losing streak to Duke during best performance of the year
- NC State (2014) Loss - Final nail in defensive staff's coffin. Embarrassing Loss after dominant performance against Duke
- Sakerlina (2015) Loss - Carolina loses a game they had no business losing to not a great Sakerlina team
- Georgia Tech (2015) Win - First Win in Atlanta since 1997
- Pitt (2015) Win - Control Destiny in Coastal
Larry's overall record in these games stands at 6-6. Dead even.
What I think tomorrows game comes down to is "will."
Will Carolina withstand the fury of anger Duke's has stemming from last week?
Will Carolina take care of the ball and win the turnover battle?
Will Carolina finish off an opponent like they've only done twice to FBS competition this year?
I think the answers to each of those questions is a definitive "Yes."
Tomorrow is Carolina's coming out party. Behind a steady dose of #34 and precision from #12 Carolina controls the pace of play and the defense forces Sirk to make the first real mistakes we;ve seen in a few weeks. Carolina's offensive fire power is too much for Duke's O to handle.
Carolina 38 Duke 28
Fire up your tailgate with this mix. You'll be ready to run through a brick wall.
This time tomorrow, the November to Remember stands at 1-0.
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