Okay, what we expected to happen Saturday in college football.
The Tar Heels played a practice game against Western Carolina, leading 42-3 at halftime on the way to a 7-3 record and matching last season’s victory total. On Senior Day, Michael Carter and Dazz Newsome combined for 155 yards of rushing and receiving for four touchdowns in their last home game at UNC. Assuming the coaches planned it thusly, Carter got most carries (8) and Newsome most receptions (6).
Carter, with still two games to play, moved into sixth place in UNC career rushing race, passing Natrone Means and Ethan Horton (Famous Amos Lawrence is the all-time leader). While junior Javonte Williams only had 8 yards rushing (plus 48 on three receptions), he did score his 19th touchdown, tying Gio Bernard for second on the season list and leaving him only two TDs from Don McCauley’s 21 in 1970.
Newsome’s six receptions gave him a career total of 180, one behind Hakeem Nix for third place. Quinshad Davis (205) and Ryan Switzer (244) are the school leaders.
In one half of play, Sam Howell went 20 for 23 with two touchdowns, giving him 64 TD passes for his short career and tying Bryn Renner for second on the all-time list. Clearly, sophomore Howell will eclipse leader Darian Durant’s 68, perhaps this season.
A COVID-allowed 3500 people were in attendance, but the visible seats at Kenan Stadium did not look dissimilar to last year’s Senior Day game against Mercer, when a torrential rain storm kept most of the sell-out crowd away and the fans who did come hidden underneath the various overhangs.
Families of the 23 UNC seniors weren’t allowed on the field before the game, where each player got his picture taken with Mack Brown, but parents did record moving video messages that played on the big boards when their kids were introduced. Nice touch under season-long tough circumstances.
Brown emptied his bench to begin the second half and, assuming none of the regulars got hurt, the Heels had what the head coach termed a “perfect” ending to the home season and warm-up for Saturday’s important game at Miami. Important because an upset of the 10th-ranked Hurricanes would mean eight wins with a chance to get nine in a bowl game.
Right now, Yahoo Sports projects Carolina playing Texas in a battle between Brown’s current and former schools at the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando on December 29 on ESPN. If that happens, it means two trips to Florida for the Heels before New Year’s.
There has been speculation that, with a win at Miami, Carolina could wind up ranked higher than Miami and slip into the New Year’s 6 Orange Bowl, but that seems unlikely since the U is 8-1 after blitzing Duke Saturday night and has third place in the ACC wrapped up.
Carolina will jump a few spots, since No. 13 BYU lost at Coastal Carolina, No. 14 Oklahoma State lost to TCU and No. 16 Wisconsin lost to Indiana. Yahoo predicts an Orange Bowl between in-state rivals Miami and Florida, which makes as much sense as the Tar Heels and Longhorns hooking up in the Mack Brown Bowl. Could UNC beat Miami and at 8-3 jump ahead of the 9-2 Canes? Doubtful since the U’s only other loss would be to Clemson, while Carolina has losses to 5-4 Virginia and an awful 1-6 FSU team.
Notre Dame crushed Syracuse and Clemson ran away from Virginia Tech, which sets up a rematch in the ACC Championship game that everyone wants and carries all kinds of implications for the College Football Playoff. If Notre Dame beats Clemson again, the Tigers could be out of the CFP for the first time in six years and wind up in the Orange Bowl against Florida. If Clemson defeats the 10-0 Irish, there could be a rubber match in the CFP, giving the ACC two teams in the football final four for the first time.
One thing we didn’t expect to happen this weekend.
Brown’s daughter Kathryn got more ink than her dad (which is really hard to do) by winning $22,801 in Jeopardy on national TV Friday night. Mack and his girl exchanged some heavily-shared tweets, which is even more proof that the coach is a media magnet who has taken the Tar Heels from a 5-win loser in the last two seasons before his return to Chapel Hill to one of the most visible programs in college football.
In what could be a little Brown hyperbole, he praised senior linebacker Chazz Surratt as being “the best story in college football and maybe the history of” the sport. Going from a five-star quarterback in high school to a first-round NFL draft pick at linebacker might be the best story of this season, but of all time could be a slight stretch. Mack has always been a major promoter of his players, including the likes of Ricky Williams and Colt McCoy at Texas, and indeed Surratt’s story is special.
And a final shoutout to Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham, medical chief Mario Ciocca and Brown’s staff and players for getting through six home games and what looks like a full season in, undoubtedly, the strangest fall in the history of the sport. While college football is approaching 100 games either cancelled or postponed, ACC Commissioner John Swofford and his MAG (Medical Advisory Group) have easily had the most success in the battle against COVID.
Even though Swofford had to maneuver the schedule to create an equitable match-up for the conference championship game, the ACC had far fewer interruptions than any other league.
Photo via ACC Media.
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