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The big win at Pitt was a cathartic rollback.
It was raining, not as much as two years ago when Sam Howell couldn’t grip the ball in the second half. The Panthers jumped out to a quick start, just as they had the last two times the Tar Heels played on the revamped river font.
And social media definitely reacted when it looked like Carolina set up Pitt’s second touchdown with a fumble by Drake Maye that was generously overturned by the replay crew.
But this just might be a Tar Heel team that Mack Brown has been campaigning for over the last four-plus years. He has stacked together good recruiting classes that gives him the kind of interior depth on both lines and the athletic talent that can finally shut down the “friendly skies of Carolina.”
They still must handle contending ACC teams at home, where their recent seasons have gone down the drain with disappointing performances at Kenan Stadium. But playing Syracuse and Miami (both undefeated heading into UNC’s bye week) before sold-out home crowds should translate into winning games you are supposed to win, a malady for Brown’s program.
The effort at Pitt was more exhilarating than perfect.
The Heels let the pathetic Panthers jump ahead and get the home crowd into it. But, with deference to Sam Howell and other All-ACC quarterbacks who have preceded him, Maye is a special kind of cat. All we can do is enjoy the ride before he becomes another starter in the NFL, which went decades before having a Tar Heel alum under center in the big boy league.
Mack’s plan might be a departure from his strategy of closing up the state in recruiting and going after outsiders who either had a connection to UNC or an affinity derived from a love of Carolina blue uniforms in all sports.
He has said he’s not taking five-star recruits who have their hands out for NIL money or even 4-stars who say they might bolt for the transfer portal after a good first season. Brown is leaning into more of a Wake Forest model, where astute scouting from his battalion of assistant coaches and analysts can recognize 3-star talent that will literally grow into bigger stars of the future.
If you can do that year after year and set up a feeder system, you can be good enough to play with any opponents whose biggest names (i.e., Alabama and Clemson) seem to be slipping just a bit.
As hard as Brown and his minions work at it, there should be a silver lining somewhere in the future. Is this the year? Only time and execution of recruiting development and game plans will tell.
Featured image via AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar.
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