Michael Carter
Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications
Extra Points: Anticipation
August 31, 2023 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace, Extra Points
"Anticipation is a gift. Perhaps there is none greater. Anticipation is born of hope. Indeed it is hope's finest expression." – Steven L. Peck
All right, 7:44 on Saturday. Get here already. (Checks watch: two minutes have passed!)
Enough of the prognostications and projections, the Q&As, the Top 25 polls, the interviews, the chalk talks, the dress rehearsals, the blogs and vlogs. Let's rip that shiny package under the tree to a zillion shreds and see what's inside.
The Tar Heels' season opener looms just days away, the South Carolina Gamecocks on the opposing sideline at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Could it be a dandy of a debut, harkening memories of dispatching top-ranked Texas 34-0 in 1948, steamrolling South Carolina 28-0 in 1979, flattening Clemson 45-0 in 1996? What dominoes fell those years, the Tar Heels went a combined 27-6-2 those three seasons under coaches Carl Snavely, Dick Crum and Mack Brown after impressive openers.
Perish the thought it's a dud like dropping consecutive openers to N.C. State from 1967-69 in Bill Dooley's first three years at Carolina, the Tar Heels not scoring in double digits any of those games, or that 37-0 whitewashing from Florida State in 2003 when the Seminoles were at their Bobby Bowden apex of domination of the ACC.
The Tar Heels are ready to go, chomping at the bit, cleared for launch, whatever cliché phrase you'd like to haul out.
"People ask, 'How we gonna be, Coach?'" Mack Brown says. "I don't know. We don't have a preseason game in college football. You never know about your team until you're in a fight in the fourth quarter early in the season and you see how they respond. We do have an older team, but we have positions where young guys are going to play a critical role. I like everything this team has done so far during spring, the summer and camp. I'm excited about seeing them play."
"What's exciting is watching the kids," adds defensive coordinator Gene Chizik. "They're tired of camp, they're tired of beating on each other. When you open with a game with this much buzz about it, it's fun for the kids."
The facts: Carolina returns 44 lettermen and potentially 20 starters (including specialists) from a team that finished 9-5 and won the last ACC Coastal Division championship for the league now that it has disbanded the Coastal/Atlantic Divisions. The Tar Heels are ranked 20th and 21st in the two preseason polls and projected third in the ACC media poll. They have new coaches at offensive coordinator/QB (Chip Lindsey), offensive line (Randy Clements), tight ends (Freddie Kitchens) and cornerbacks (Jason Jones). The Transfer Portal has injected newcomers expected to play significant roles along the offensive line (Willie Lampkin), receiver (Nate McCollum for sure and Tez Walker hopefully), outside linebacker (Amari Gainer) and cornerback (Alijah Huzzie) among them.
The guesswork: Can Drake Maye match his prolific passing numbers from 2022 and who'll emerge as the Heels' go-to threats with the departure of Josh Downs and Antoinne Green? Can the offensive line and backs protect Maye well enough to meet Brown's mandate of significantly cutting sacks and tackles-for-loss, and can the line and a talented roster of running backs crank up a more powerful downhill rushing attack? Can the defense generate more sacks and tackles-for-loss, pull more opposing aerials down and give up fewer big plays?
And how well can the Tar Heels execute Brown's offseason mantra of "good to great?" Cresting at No. 11 in November last year and collecting the ACC Coastal title was a good day's work. Now they want more.
"We lost some respect at the end of last year," Brown says of the Tar Heels' 0-4 close to the 2022 season. "This is a very important game for us to try to get that respect back."
The South Carolina opener in Charlotte is coming full circle from the christening of Mack 2.0 in 2019, when Sam Howell started as a true freshman and launched a career that extends today to a starting slot in Washington of the NFL. The Tar Heels prevailed 24-20 on a steamy afternoon in Charotte, and one of the first to hug Brown after the game was Eric Church, the country music star who's a lifelong Carolina fan and a friend of Brown's since meeting him in 2013 and both having summer homes in Avery County. Church will be in Charlotte on Saturday and will share the spotlight with South Carolina grad Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish fame in serving as honorary captains and donning their respective team's jerseys for the pregame coin toss.
At Church's early August concert in Chapel Hill to raise funds for Carolina's NIL collective, Heels4Life, Church and Brown relived that celebration.
"I'll find you again this time, too," Church said.
That would be, say, 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It can't get here fast enough.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (Carolina '79) begins his 34th season writing about Tar Heel football under the "Extra Points" banner. Look for his columns throughout the season. Write him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him @LeePaceTweet.
All right, 7:44 on Saturday. Get here already. (Checks watch: two minutes have passed!)
Enough of the prognostications and projections, the Q&As, the Top 25 polls, the interviews, the chalk talks, the dress rehearsals, the blogs and vlogs. Let's rip that shiny package under the tree to a zillion shreds and see what's inside.
The Tar Heels' season opener looms just days away, the South Carolina Gamecocks on the opposing sideline at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Could it be a dandy of a debut, harkening memories of dispatching top-ranked Texas 34-0 in 1948, steamrolling South Carolina 28-0 in 1979, flattening Clemson 45-0 in 1996? What dominoes fell those years, the Tar Heels went a combined 27-6-2 those three seasons under coaches Carl Snavely, Dick Crum and Mack Brown after impressive openers.
Perish the thought it's a dud like dropping consecutive openers to N.C. State from 1967-69 in Bill Dooley's first three years at Carolina, the Tar Heels not scoring in double digits any of those games, or that 37-0 whitewashing from Florida State in 2003 when the Seminoles were at their Bobby Bowden apex of domination of the ACC.
The Tar Heels are ready to go, chomping at the bit, cleared for launch, whatever cliché phrase you'd like to haul out.
"People ask, 'How we gonna be, Coach?'" Mack Brown says. "I don't know. We don't have a preseason game in college football. You never know about your team until you're in a fight in the fourth quarter early in the season and you see how they respond. We do have an older team, but we have positions where young guys are going to play a critical role. I like everything this team has done so far during spring, the summer and camp. I'm excited about seeing them play."
"What's exciting is watching the kids," adds defensive coordinator Gene Chizik. "They're tired of camp, they're tired of beating on each other. When you open with a game with this much buzz about it, it's fun for the kids."
The facts: Carolina returns 44 lettermen and potentially 20 starters (including specialists) from a team that finished 9-5 and won the last ACC Coastal Division championship for the league now that it has disbanded the Coastal/Atlantic Divisions. The Tar Heels are ranked 20th and 21st in the two preseason polls and projected third in the ACC media poll. They have new coaches at offensive coordinator/QB (Chip Lindsey), offensive line (Randy Clements), tight ends (Freddie Kitchens) and cornerbacks (Jason Jones). The Transfer Portal has injected newcomers expected to play significant roles along the offensive line (Willie Lampkin), receiver (Nate McCollum for sure and Tez Walker hopefully), outside linebacker (Amari Gainer) and cornerback (Alijah Huzzie) among them.
The guesswork: Can Drake Maye match his prolific passing numbers from 2022 and who'll emerge as the Heels' go-to threats with the departure of Josh Downs and Antoinne Green? Can the offensive line and backs protect Maye well enough to meet Brown's mandate of significantly cutting sacks and tackles-for-loss, and can the line and a talented roster of running backs crank up a more powerful downhill rushing attack? Can the defense generate more sacks and tackles-for-loss, pull more opposing aerials down and give up fewer big plays?
And how well can the Tar Heels execute Brown's offseason mantra of "good to great?" Cresting at No. 11 in November last year and collecting the ACC Coastal title was a good day's work. Now they want more.
"We lost some respect at the end of last year," Brown says of the Tar Heels' 0-4 close to the 2022 season. "This is a very important game for us to try to get that respect back."
The South Carolina opener in Charlotte is coming full circle from the christening of Mack 2.0 in 2019, when Sam Howell started as a true freshman and launched a career that extends today to a starting slot in Washington of the NFL. The Tar Heels prevailed 24-20 on a steamy afternoon in Charotte, and one of the first to hug Brown after the game was Eric Church, the country music star who's a lifelong Carolina fan and a friend of Brown's since meeting him in 2013 and both having summer homes in Avery County. Church will be in Charlotte on Saturday and will share the spotlight with South Carolina grad Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish fame in serving as honorary captains and donning their respective team's jerseys for the pregame coin toss.
At Church's early August concert in Chapel Hill to raise funds for Carolina's NIL collective, Heels4Life, Church and Brown relived that celebration.
"I'll find you again this time, too," Church said.
That would be, say, 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It can't get here fast enough.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (Carolina '79) begins his 34th season writing about Tar Heel football under the "Extra Points" banner. Look for his columns throughout the season. Write him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him @LeePaceTweet.
Players Mentioned
Wide Receiver
/ Football
JACK
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ Football
Offensive Line
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
Wide Receiver
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