Carolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage.

When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle.

Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a lot of emotion to get up for a traditional rival every week, let along four straight Saturdays. But in this case, it will probably work to the Tar Heels’ advantage again.

Carolina needed something to help bounce back from the first loss at Florida State, playing poor defense in the first half and leaving enough points on the field to come back and win in the second.

The best antidote for that? A ranked N.C. State team that really thought it could give the Heels a good game in Kenan Stadium, where the Wolfpack had won on its last three trips there. So what happened?

Again showing their grit and competitiveness, two qualities that Mack Brown loves, the Heels took apart the Pack in a 48-21 rout that could have been a lot worse. After what Brown called an excellent week of practice, they laid another egg defensively at Virginia.

Here are a few reasons Carolina will be ultra-ready to play at Duke Saturday at high noon. After being ranked No. 5 in the country a month ago, the Tar Heels were booted completely out of the polls after the Virginia game. Also, a defense that gave up way too much yardage on the ground to the ‘Hoos gets another chance for redemption against the turnover-prone Blue Devils.

Despite the two losses, Sam Howell and his squadron of skilled runners and receivers are playing at a very high level. And the extra motivation of beating Duke for a second straight year will manifest itself into a ground and air raid against an opponent that does have holes in its secondary.

So, just like looking up from the fall at FSU, Carolina can easily turn its attention to another arch rival as a way to treat its wounds.

 

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