Countdown to Kickoff: UNC-Virginia Tech

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina football’s road reached the start of ACC league play on Saturday, allowing for an early-season start to the season. Mack Brown To call the coach’s axioms faithful.

Of course, the veteran Brown emphasized this week that it’s a fresh start for the Tar Heels (3-1) in their ACC opener against visiting Virginia Tech at Kenan Stadium (3:30 p.m., ACC Network).

“You’ve got the conference season, that’s fun,” Brown said. “This is a new challenge. You always want to be in the mix by playing for a championship at the end of the year, and that starts this weekend without a doubt.

But UNC’s defense, despite being surprised and frustrated by one of the worst in college football, won’t press any reset buttons or try to take a wrecking ball to what’s in place through four non-conference games under a figuratively rebooted coordinator. Gene ChizikHowever, the result is not satisfactory.

That’s not the right solution for the Tar Heels’ struggles, Chizik said.

I can’t be that person because I’m not happy with the results, so let’s blow it up and start over. “I think this is unrealistic. I think it’s best to keep trying to stay on a consistent path, adjusting to get the product we want. I want the production to look like the first quarter (last week against Notre Dame). I mean, that’s the bottom line, and we know we’re in it. We believe in the players that we can do this. Has it happened yet? No, it didn’t. But we’ll work to make sure consistency is there eventually, and it won’t be.

But as far as starting over and trying to bully and trying to do all these different things, I’m sure everybody out there has good answers, that’s good, and you can do that when you get this job. But now I have this job. So I do it the way I see it. And football, like I said to the defense[this week]is a crazy game. When you sign up for this, you sign up for all the ugly episodes – the good, the bad and the ugly. And that’s where we are, and we need to fix it.

Chizik added, “I’m very confident that we’re going to get this done” and that “blowing everything and just starting over with staff or planning is not an option.”

Virginia Tech (2-2 overall, 1-0 ACC) figures to give UNC a chance to stabilize its shaky foundation in that area. Hokies, under a first-year coach Brent PrThey beat Boston College 27-10 in their ACC opener, but otherwise didn’t manage many fireworks. They rank among the bottom three offenses in the league in scoring (20.3 points per game), rushing (112 yards per game) and passing (218 yards per game).

Overall, Virginia Tech with a Marshall transfer Grant Wells Chapel Hill comes into the quarterback as one of the lowest scoring offenses in the FBS (No. 105 out of 131 teams).

Then again, Notre Dame entered under similar circumstances last week. And backup Drew Pine, a seemingly pedestrian Irish offense at quarterback, held the Tar Heels to 289 passing yards, 287 rushing yards, 35 first downs and 16½ more minutes of possession in a 45-32 rout. Victory.

The frustration of that loss was that North Carolina’s defense was only met by players on Sunday. Only five defenses in the FBS ranked less than UNC (No. 126 out of 131 teams in total defense), and the Tar Heels gave up an average of 270 rushing yards and 548.7 total yards to Appalachian State, Georgia State and Notre Dame everywhere. Last three games.

“I expect us to play a lot better Saturday against Virginia Tech,” Chizik said. “The good news is we’re 3-1 going into conference play and our guys haven’t lost confidence. Our guys are 100 percent in meetings and practice every day, and I’m proud of that. Because I’m sure if you listen to the rumors from outside, young people might get discouraged. But I don’t think our people are in this building at least.

UNC is loaded as a nine-point favorite against Virginia Tech, the latest to the quarterback Drake MayeA masterful game. Maye, a redshirt freshman, ranks third in touchdown receptions (16 on the season), third in total offense (353.3 yards per game) and sixth in passing efficiency (188.5), as North Carolina has outscored 46 points and 502. Yards per game.

The Hokies have won five of the last six games in this series and seven of the last nine, although the Tar Heels outscored Virginia Tech with 399 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns from Michael Carter and Javante Williams in 2020, the last time these programs met. at Canaan Stadium.

This provides another area of ​​focus. Brown and offensive coordinator Phil Longo They’re thinking of making a compact rotation for running backs with a more unlikely approach. UNC used Orion Hampton, Caleb Hood, DJ Jones And George Pettway In that mix, and coming off his second-worst pace in 42 games during Longo’s tenure in charge of the offense. Notre Dame stuffed the Tar Heels, who rushed for 66 yards on 28 carries. May’s 36 yards on the ground set the mark for a North Carolina rusher.

Longo said the Tar Heels want two backs to separate themselves from the pack and play more roles for Saturday. Or “a chance to dress up and go,” Longo said, echoing the words of UNC offensive lineman Natron, a former All-Pro who starred at North Carolina College.

“They don’t have to worry about what they did in terms of the whole season,” Longo said. “I want them to get into the game plan this week. Here’s what we’re going to do this week in the running game. Here’s what we do in this week’s passing game. That’s what we’re covering this week.’ And do it on a high level and let it go and separate yourselves from the two that we have. And then we’re going to rotate with those two guys on Saturday, a little bit more than the four-man rotation that we had.

Virginia Tech gave up 218 rushing yards in last week’s 33-10 loss to West Virginia. A true freshman, Hampton (two 100-yard games, five rushing touchdowns) received 30 more carries on the season than any other UNC running back. Jones, who produced 84 total yards in the Tar Heels’ win over Georgia State, had the most catches (eight on the season) among running backs.

Jones, Hood and Pettaway combined for just 2 yards on five carries last week against Notre Dame. With Longo and Maye as a whole, North Carolina’s backs missed some tackles and hitting holes in the running game against the Irish.

“I think shortening is going to help the rhythm of the offense,” Maye said of the latter rotation. “They feel for it. They’re probably more comfortable, those two main guys, than going in there and saying, ‘Oh, I’ve got to make a play or I can get out.’ So that’s the main thing, but all four do their jobs well and they can help us win football games. I think they all already have.