UNC Football Ready For Life Without Hollins During First Half vs. Georgia

Heading into its highly-anticipated season opener this Saturday against No. 18 Georgia, the No. 22 UNC football team faces the problem of knowing it will be without one of its biggest weapons—senior wide receiver Mack Hollins—for the entire first half.

As a result, plenty of practice time has been devoted to filling his void against a Bulldog defense stacked with talent.

The situation was created in last year’s bowl loss to Baylor—a game where the Tar Heels were thoroughly outplayed from start to finish.

While blocking in the second half, Hollins made a helmet-to-helmet hit on a defender. Thanks to NCAA rules, he was then ejected and suspended for the first half of UNC’s next game—which, of course, is nearly nine months later.

The suspension comes just in time for junior quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s first career start.

Trubisky showed a great connection with Hollins in his limited playing time over the last couple of seasons, but also realizes the Tar Heels are loaded at the receiver position—with veterans like Ryan Switzer, Bug Howard and Austin Proehl ready to make plays themselves.

Hollins was the beneficiary of quite a few deep passes last season. His breakaway speed and long strides give him an attribute that’s tough to replace. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

“We’ve got a really strong receiving corps,” Trubisky said at Monday’s press conference. “We’ve got a lot of depth. Mack being out the first half, I don’t think we’ll lose anything in that aspect.

“Someone’s gonna step up,” he continued. “I’m not really worried about it.”

Where UNC will really miss Hollins, however, is on special teams.

For each of the last three years, the 6-foot-4 former walk-on has been a difference maker in that area—using his speed and intelligence to force opponents into difficult situations. He also earned recognition from head coach Larry Fedora as the special teams captain early on in his career, and has carried that role since his freshman season.

“Really the biggest deal for us is he’s been a starter on all four special teams, so you’re talking about four different units that you’re having to prepare for,” Fedora said. “That’s been more difficult than preparing offensively.

“The next receiver will step up. We’ve got a lot of guys that have been playing the position.”

As good as the Tar Heel receivers are, there’s nobody else who can take the top off a defense with a deep route quite like Hollins can.

Under new head coach Kirby Smart—who has won multiple national championships as Alabama’s defensive coordinator—Georgia will likely showcase a pro-style 3-4 defense centered on stopping UNC’s bruising tailback Elijah Hood.

Having Hollins on the field could help shift some of that attention to the outside.

If it’s still a back-and-forth game after halftime, a fresh Hollins could make all the difference for Trubisky and company.

“We’ve been watching some Alabama film because Kirby Smart’s coming from there,” Trubisky said. “It’s gonna be a good challenge for our offense.

“We’re really expecting everything,” he added. “But we’ve got a good plan for this week.”