Week 1 – a fresh start for college football teams across the country.
People get to see new stars and familiar faces for their favorite teams. Heisman Trophy campaigns get underway. Upsets are bound to happen, while title favorites begin their quests – will anyone be able to stop Georgia this year?
The University of North Carolina football team is one of many who gets to press “reset” – and it is very thankful to do so.
The Tar Heels were a fringe College Football Playoff team last year, starting 9-1 with wins over schools like App State, Pitt and Wake Forest, whom they clinched the ACC Coastal Division against.
No one could have possibly seen what was coming next. UNC lost four consecutive games to end the season, including the first of four against a struggling Georgia Tech squad that, eventually, missed out on bowl action. Drake Maye threw for a career-high 448 yards against Wake Forest, then failed to eclipse 300 in the Heels’ final four contests.
With Maye, a deadly tight end trio, the entire running back room returning and a dangerous linebacking corps, as part of a hopefully-improved defense, the Heels need to beat South Carolina Saturday if they want any shot at the College Football playoff.
Before the Saturday matchup, we look at five things to watch in this ACC-SEC clash.