It’ll be a familiar situation for the UNC football team this weekend as it prepares to host Wake Forest on Saturday, with the Tar Heels once again presented with the challenge of maintaining their focus following an emphatic victory.
Although UNC has shown flashes of absolute brilliance at times this season, the team has had major problems with inconsistency.
Prior to each of their two losses—major upsets on the road against Florida State and Virginia—the Tar Heels captured fans’ imaginations with dominant showings against ranked opponents in Virginia Tech and NC State. With players who have previously never received that kind of spotlight and pressure, it seemed as if UNC fell victim to its own hype in those losses.
Head coach Mack Brown—a former national champion who is no stranger to the spotlight himself—has said on multiple occasions that this group was not ready to be among the nation’s top ranked teams despite the occasional signs of greatness.
Coming off of perhaps their most impressive performance of the season last week in a rivalry game blowout over Duke, Brown’s Tar Heels now have a third opportunity to show they have what it takes to come out the next game with the same kind of focus.
“You don’t do all the little things quite as well right after you’re satisfied and we can’t be satisfied,” he added. “We’ve got to coach them harder this week than we did last week and act like they lost the game very honestly.”
For a program that won five games combined in the two years before Brown returned for a second tenure as head coach, the progress made both on and off the field has been tremendous.
Expectations are sky high for both the current talent and the highly-touted recruits committed for the future.
Success in rivalry games has played a large role in that process, as Brown has gone 4-0 against NC State and Duke while also picking up a win over a Virginia Tech program that has grown to be a thorn in the Tar Heels’ side.
UNC also lost at Wake Forest last season, potentially motivating a team that sorely needs it in a game where the mythical state championship is on the line.
“The best teams learn to play every week with intensity,” Brown said. “Now, two of these three games we’ve gotten to substitute a lot of people, so we should be more fresh after those games. But still, it’s the emotional build up for a State game and it’s the emotional build up for a Duke game, and it spends a lot out of your players.”
Another adjustment the Tar Heels have had to deal with this year is that other teams are more excited to get their shot at them, something losing programs don’t have to deal with too often.
Against a Wake Forest team that has turned the ball over just one time all season and won its last four games, UNC won’t be able to sit back and let the Demon Deacons beat themselves.
Wake Forest knows it has a chance to elevate its status on Saturday, and it will be up to the Tar Heels to match that level of intensity. Brown even told reporters earlier this week that this game isn’t about the opponent, it’s about themselves.
“We’re trying to tell them in life’s lessons, a lot of bankruptcies come right after you have your best year and people get a little relaxed,” Brown said. “Why do people not win championships year in and year out? Why did they win one one year and the next year, they’re not quite as good? Well, it’s partly because people all want to beat them and they circle them.”
Photo via Jim Dedmon (USA Today Sports)
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