College football fans can finally rejoice – the season is upon us.
The 2023 campaign kicked off over the weekend with several “Week Zero” matchups, highlighted by Notre Dame’s 42-3 thumping of Navy in Dublin. 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams shined for USC, throwing for 278 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-28 Trojans win, while Vandy survived a scare against Hawaii in Nashville.
Florida and ranked Utah give us an appetizer on Thursday night, but the “main course” of college football is on Saturday, Sept. 2.
One of the most-anticipated matchups of Week One is the UNC-South Carolina game. There’s several reasons why – it’s primetime on ABC (7:30 p.m.), you have two of the country’s best quarterbacks in Drake Maye and Spencer Rattler facing off, plus teams with high expectations that ended 2022 on completely opposite notes.
This game is seen as one of UNC’s toughest in 2023. The Heels face off against an SEC team – if they win Saturday, that’s a massive step in contending for an ACC championship and, who knows, a spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Gamecocks finished 8-5 and clinched a spot in the Gator Bowl last year, losing a tightly-contested battle to Notre Dame. South Carolina’s season landed them in the Final AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 2013.
The Tar Heels, on the other hand, looked like the better team from jump. They bolted out to a 9-1 start, with their only loss being at home to Notre Dame. Maye looked like a true Heisman contender, hitting receivers with any throw or making defenders miss with his legs.
Things quickly changed with a home loss to Georgia Tech, which became the first of four straight losses. UNC made its first ACC Championship Game appearance since 2015, but struggled in a 39-10 loss.
With high expectations once again this year, let’s take a look at what the Tar Heels need to do offensively in order to start 1-0 for the second straight year: