UNC Football Turns Full Focus Toward Preparing for Season Opener

With less than two weeks until the season opener against Syracuse at Kenan Stadium, fall training camp is officially over.

Head coach Mack Brown and the 18th-ranked UNC football team have now put their full focus on getting ready for their first game and everything else that comes with it.

The Tar Heels had their second—and final—full scrimmage this past Saturday, putting the abbreviated camp portion of the offseason behind them.

All indications at this point seem to show that the season will begin on time, which means UNC now has to get ready for a Syracuse team that wasn’t on the schedule until the pandemic forced the ACC to switch to a 10-game conference slate last month.

Brown told reporters at his press conference on Monday that he tried to simulate a game environment during Saturday’s scrimmage by pumping in crowd noise, playing loud music and even having a public address announcer.

Of course, all of this came without fans, which is another strange twist the players will have to adapt to once the ball is officially kicked off against Syracuse. In addition, Brown spoke about some of the other adjustments the coaches will have to deal with on game day as part of the COVID-19 reality.

“We’re also having to try to figure out the guys that aren’t going to play as much, where do they stand?” Brown said. “How do they social distance? And the other thing that was more difficult the other day was with that sideline scattered out so much, trying to make sure that you can do a good job with your substitution plan and special teams because guys are scattered out a lot more than they normally would, you’ve got mask on, it’s harder to hear.”

When it comes to adjustments needed on the field, Brown said he would like to see some improvements on special teams and with the pass rush.

He praised the secondary for the work they’ve done in the defensive backfield to this point and also gave a shout out to senior tight end Garrett Walston—who is expected to emerge on offense this season.

UNC heads into the year with massive expectations largely due to all of the returning talent on offense—a group led by sophomore quarterback Sam Howell—but Brown feels the Tar Heels have actually developed more depth on defense heading into a season where depth is more important than ever.

“Defensively, we’re closer to two-deep on defense than we are offense,” Brown said. “You can put two defenses out there right now and they don’t look that much different, so that’s really going to help us.

“And we can really run,” he added. “We’re a much faster defense than we were this time last year. So, there aren’t many guys that are playing that can’t run at a high level.”

It won’t be a normal season opener by any sense of the imagination, but the excitement level among the players as it approaches appears to be no different.

Getting to next Saturday’s game without any issues will represent the culmination of perhaps the most bizarre offseason in the history of the sport.

“I’ve told our players, ‘You want to play, so let’s welcome everything that comes with it,” Brown said. “And the only thing we’re certain about is the uncertainty. So just get ready for it, understand it, and don’t gripe about it. Move forward with it and let’s go.”

Photo via Matthew Fedder (UNC Athletics)

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UNC Football Turns Full Focus Toward Preparing for Season Opener

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