UNC Football Facing Stiff Challenge Against Miami Hurricanes

With a sold-out crowd expected this Saturday night at Kenan Stadium for UNC’s home football opener against Miami, the Tar Heels are looking to keep the momentum rolling after a thrilling win against South Carolina to start the season.

In the aftermath of the win over the Gamecocks, head coach Mack Brown cried, danced and definitely savored everything about that game. Despite enjoying the victory, the Hall-of-Famer also had a note card filled with every mistake his Tar Heels made throughout the day.

Those things would all need to be corrected heading into a game this Saturday against a Miami team littered with pro prospects, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Miami’s talented defense is led by a pair of linebackers including Shaquille Quarterman, shown here with the team’s “turnover chain.” (Getty Images)

Linebackers Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney are the leaders of that group, which allowed less than 20 points per game last season and forced a whopping six turnovers in a 47-10 blowout win over the Tar Heels.

Miami’s former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz—who coached under Brown at Texas—has now been promoted to the head coach position and appears to be making a smooth transition.

On offense, the Hurricanes are starting redshirt freshman Jarren Williams at quarterback–but have plenty of talented pass-catching options surrounding him.

Despite losing their season opener against No. 8 Florida, Brown still sees Miami as one of the most talented teams in the conference.

“Their talent will be more like Clemson than anybody else in this league,” Brown said. “They’re very, very talented. They’ve had two weeks to prepare, so they’ll be fresh. They’ll be mad because they lost in a tight one to Florida, so we’ll have our hands full.

“The first thing you look at is their defense,” the coach continued. “They’re an old-timey Miami defense. Maybe the best set of linebackers in the country and if not, they’re in that group. Those two guys are all over the field.”

UNC quarterback Sam Howell should benefit this weekend from a switch to more aggressive play-calling. (Photo via UNC Athletics)

One change that should be very noticeable for the Tar Heels is increased aggressiveness on offense. After the coaching staff called a very conservative game early on against South Carolina to try and protect freshman quarterback Sam Howell, a move was made to take the handcuffs off the signal-caller later on—which ended with Howell leading the team to the comeback win.

Offensive coordinator Phil Longo said Monday that there are no plans to try and limit Howell moving forward, even against a defense as strong as Miami’s.

“I think we’re kind of over that now,” Longo said. “I think the first-game-of-your-career butterflies are gone. He’s our quarterback and he’s going to run the offense and we’re going to run it the way we do with any veteran.”

While there’s no doubt that this game will be a tough one for UNC, it should provide a valuable measuring stick to show how far the program has come in the 10 months since bringing Brown back in to the fold.

The South Carolina win was valuable, but a win over Miami this Saturday could establish the Tar Heels as a real force to be reckoned with in the ACC.

Cover photo via Associated Press