Mack Brown is hoping the all the hype is worth it.
If you look at Carolina’s revised schedule, it is set up for a perilous path to a top-two finish in the ACC and a spot in the championship game in Charlotte – if the season lasts that long.
Brown was saying Monday that he knows his program is surrounded by hype coming off the fast finish in 2019 and all the notoriety that the Hall of Famer has brought back to Chapel Hill in football.
One publication said that the Tar Heels will open the season 3-0 with home games against Syracuse and UNC-Charlotte and a road game at Boston College. If Carolina is anywhere as good as advertised as a top 20 entry, that kind of start is a must considering what is next.
A home game versus Virginia Tech, a road trip to FSU, back home against N.C. State, at Virginia and Duke before returning home for Wake Forest. All those games are winnable and losable.
And, to make it more challenging, Brown’s second team in his second stint at UNC isn’t sneaking up on anyone with a veteran but thin offensive line and special teams that must improve on average.
The Heels almost have to win that middle six games before finishing the regular season with a home game against ACC co-favorite Notre Dame and a visit to The U in Miami. Truth is this schedule shapes up as tougher than the original, pre-pandemic slate.
Syracuse is picked to finish 13th in the ACC, and that is just fine with the Orange, who will be blitzing Sam Howell every defensive snap after high noon Saturday in empty Kenan. Mack is truly worried about an athletic 3-3-5 defense that the ‘Cuse is rolling out this fall.
Remember, no fans turn every game into an organized scrimmage with no home-field advantage nor worries about the crowd for the road team. As Brown says, first games are more often lost than won due to mistakes.
So Carolina has to build momentum within itself and figure out how to open with a clean game on a basically neutral battlefield.
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