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The next eight days can be the turning point for Carolina.
When the football season opened and Syracuse started 3-1, including a 34-21 win over Clemson in Death Valley, UNC’s Halloween night visit up there was a scary proposition.
After going 6-1 at home and finishing 10-3 overall, the Orange closed last season with a monumental upset of Miami, knocking the Hurricanes out of the college football playoff, then blowing out Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.
Energetic Fran Brown finished fourth in ACC Coach of the Year voting but gave notice that he was the right choice at the right time for Syracuse. And his second team certainly started that way after a close loss at Tennessee in the opener.
Then transfer quarterback Steve Angeli tore his Achilles tendon late in the Clemson upset, and the team’s prospects sunk to near the bottom of the ACC. He had completed 62 percent of his passes before the injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season that produced four straight losses.
That is why Friday night’s game is a pick’em against the Tar Heels who are 2-5 and winless in the ACC with an 0-3 record followed by 0-4 Florida State and 0-5 Boston College.
The Orange offense without Angeli has been anemic with running back Yasin Willis as the only real threat. Their back-up QB Rickie Collins is 16th rated in the ACC, just ahead of Gio Lopez in last place with slightly better statistics.
Nationally, Syracuse is 64th in total offense with 25 points and almost 400 yards per game. Carolina is next to last with only Wisconsin worse among major college teams, averaging 18 points and 280 yards per game.
But while the Tar Heels haven’t scored much in the three-point loss at Cal and overtime defeat to Virginia, they were not blown out and looked better across the offensive and defensive lines. And the gradual confidence they’ve been building should help in front of a wild and costumed crowd at the Dome in Syracuse.
This is where the Bill Belichick factor comes in on both sides. While The Hoodie’s reputation means he will have a well-prepared team on the field, all opponents have great motivation to beat the six-time Super Bowl champion.
If Carolina can break into the ACC win column, it will be a slight favorite over Stanford on Homecoming the following week. The Cardinal has the worst defense in the ACC while the Heels’ 10th best should give them an advantage over their visitors in a 4:30 game on CW Network.
These two opponents are just in time to give Carolina a fighting chance of winning at least two against Wake Forest, Duke and N.C. State, Big Four games always fiercely combative, regardless of the rivals’ records.
After such a rocky start for the Belichick regime, that would be a great finish with the possibility to play in and win a bowl game.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Dalton T. Wainscott
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
