Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels impressed in the Week 1 win over South Carolina, taking down the Gamecocks 31-17 in Charlotte. The win got UNC off on the right footing as they prepare for two straight non-conference games.
It also improved their ranking in both the AP Top 25 and the US LBM Coaches Poll that were both released on Tuesday. But that’s not all. The Tar Heels also climbed the ESPN college football power rankings.
North Carolina checked in at No. 14 after the first week and here is what they had to say about the Tar Heels:
The biggest story in the Tar Heels’ 31-17 victory over South Carolina was not quarterback Drake Maye. It was their defensive performance, and in particular their physicality and aggressiveness up front that raised eyebrows. A season ago, North Carolina struggled through poor defensive performances, and one of the biggest question marks about this team headed into the season was how much that defense would improve. We got an early answer in Week 1. After getting only 17 total sacks last season, North Carolina had a whopping nine on Saturday — in addition to 16 tackles for loss. That was its highest sack total in the past 25 seasons. Linebacker Kaimon Rucker was particularly impressive with two sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and eight total tackles and was named the Walter Camp National FBS Defensive Player of the Week. — Adelson
The key for North Carolina now is to build on this win and keep the momentum going. That will especially be the case when they get into the ACC schedule as well.
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