Carolina is 8-1 this season. It’s not necessarily the most convincing 8-1 record in the world, but still preferable to the disappointing 2021 campaign. The Tar Heels are looking to complete a perfect 6-0 record in true road games this weekend at Wake Forest, with the team’s five previous road wins all coming by seven points or fewer.
A three-point win at Virginia last weekend didn’t do much to inspire confidence in fans and national poll voters, but head coach Mack Brown said it’s all part of the process of improving.
“You just take steps and strides,” Brown said. “And sometimes you have to step back to go forward. The things that we didn’t do last year, we were able to work on and coach and preach and show them, ‘If we’d done this in this game, we win the game.’ And that’s the difference in winning and losing. It’s a game of inches. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make a difference, and we’re doing those things better this year.”
What likely won’t be small Saturday is the final score: UNC and Wake Forest’s last two meetings have ended with both teams scoring in the 50s. Each of those games also saw Carolina come back from double-digit deficits in the second half, with former Tar Heels quarterback Sam Howell out-dueling Wake’s Sam Hartman.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Brown said he is very cognizant of Hartman’s abilities.
“We’ve seen Sam score in the 50s two years in a row,” said Brown. “Those receivers are as good as anybody you’ll play. Because of the uniqueness of their offense, their running game is always gonna be good. But Sam’s just so accurate.”
As the man in charge of an offense which has outgunned the high-flying Deacons the past two years, one wouldn’t blame offensive coordinator Phil Longo for feeling confident. But Longo said he is planning for a brand-new Wake Forest defense under first-year coordinator Brad Lambert.
“I very rarely look back at the notes from last year,” Longo said, “because even if it’s the same defensive coordinator, if it’s a good coach they’re playing to their strengths, which change every year. This week we’re planning for a completely different Wake Forest defense than we have in the last two years. It presents different problems. They still have the same strengths from a personnel standpoint.
“So we’re just studying what Wake does this year and how they do it, just like we do any other week. And we’ve got to make some good decisions about how we’re gonna attack them.”
Meanwhile, UNC defensive coach Gene Chizik may have a recipe for how to attack the Wake offense from the Deacons’ last two opponents. In losses at Louisville and NC State, Wake turned the ball over 11 times, including six interceptions from Hartman. Chizik said causing havoc in the backfield is what’s allowed defenses to feast on the Deacons
“It’s interesting how different teams decide to attack this offensive scheme,” Chizik said. “It’s very unique. I’ve never seen it before. But it’s very productive and makes a lot of sense. And different guys have different ideas, but the last two weeks, I think the main event has been the pressures have caused the turnovers.”
Emphasizing quarterback pressure may be difficult for a UNC defense which has only registered three sacks in its last three games. That number will have to improve, and Brown said his message to the team this weekend is simple.
“Let’s go play. Let’s get better as a team,” Brown said, “because there were so many things we didn’t do right Saturday [at Virginia]. And we’re finally at a point where we don’t have to play perfect to win, but that performance Saturday is not gonna beat Wake Forest.”
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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