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So far, the ACC is leveling off both of Mack Brown’s preseason rants.
Remember when the head coach went off on his team’s 2023 schedule, the first four games followed by the last two? While almost halfway through their season, the Tar Heels appear in great shape on both sides of their slate.
Brown called the first four games – two at home, three in North Carolina and one on the road against the last place team in the ACC – the toughest in his 35 years of head coaching. Turns out, they were a springboard to the 5-0 start, 12th-ranked UNC’s best since Brown’s 1997 team.
South Carolina (2-3), App State (3-3), Minnesota (3-3) and Pitt (1-4, 0-2 in the ACC) are a combined 9-13 with no team owning a winning record to this point. Adding 4-2 Syracuse gives UNC five victories over unranked opponents.
Miami, No. 25 in the latest AP poll and the first ranked team the Tar Heels will play, should be harder to beat than Carolina’s +17-point average differential so far. The athletic Hurricanes (4-1) just missed staying undefeated in a last-second loss at home to Georgia Tech.
UNC is one of 11 unbeaten Power 5 teams, and the ACC has two others in No. 4 Florida State and No. 14 Louisville, which still must play each other but neither has UNC on its schedule. Duke, ranked No. 17, is 4-1 and 1-0 in the ACC.
That’s a good segue into Brown’s second beef, which was finishing at Clemson and at N.C. State following Senior Day against Duke. Carolina will be favored to beat Miami and Virginia at home and at Georgia Tech to go 8-0 before a gimme vs. Campbell of the Colonial Conference on November 4.
Over recent years, winding up at currently unranked Clemson and at State would have been harder than it might be this season, and so would Duke if star quarterback Riley Leonard recovers from the high ankle sprain he suffered against Notre Dame.
Clemson is 4-2 with losses at Duke and at home to FSU. The Tigers still have Cade Klubnik, the freshman quarterback who came off the bench to riddle Carolina in the ACC championship game, but whose play has since been closer to average with an efficiency rating that is 7th in the conference.
N.C. State (4-2, 1-1 in league play) has benched former Virginia star quarterback Brennan Armstrong for M.J. Morris, over whom he won the job in preseason. The Wolfpack has beaten Carolina two straight, although one was the miracle comeback in 2021 and the other in double overtime a year ago.
So with the front and back end of the schedule turning out more manageable than first thought, the Heels have a chance to go 12-0, win the ACC championship and be hard to leave out of the College Football Playoff, always Mack Brown’s ultimate goal.
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
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 written and worked for 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” column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
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What I like most about the season so far?
Shutting up all the so called Carolina fans running down the coaching staff.