New season, same questions in Chapel Hill
North Carolina enters season six of Mack Brown’s second tenure with many of the same questions they always have. Can the defense play decent enough to help win games instead of just allowing the Heels to lose them. Mack is 38-27 in his second stint, 24-18 in conference play.
Offense
Carolina again enters a season having to replace a multi-year starter at QB. Drake Maye was the third overall pick to the New England Patriots. The competition to replace Maye started in spring ball and has continued into fall camp and may continue till the opening week at Minnesota. Conner Harrell is the returning option, he played in five games last season, including starting the bowl game. He completed 66% of his passes and had 2 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. The transfer portal option is former LSU and Texas A&M signal caller Max Johnson. He has 22 starts under his belt and has completed 60.5% of his passes with 47 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions.
No matter who starts at QB, the Heels will have a stacked backfield with them. Omarion Hampton returns after turning in an incredible season in 2023 have 253 carries for 1504 yards and 15 touchdowns on his way to being named a Doak Walker award finalist. USC and TCU transfer Darwin Barlow looks to be the backup, he has a career average of 5.5 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns.
Wide Receiver is also going to be a great help to whoever starts at QB. The Heels return 8 of their top 9 receivers from last season, including leading receiver JJ Jones. Nate McCollum and Kobe Paysour have been starters in the past and produced solid numbers between them. The Heels also return their top two tight ends in Bryson Nesbitt and John Copenhaver. They also added Max Johnson’s younger brother, Jake Johnson from Texas A&M who was their starting TE last season.
The offensive line returns two starters from last season. They added center Austin Blaske from Georgia. The offensive line did struggle last season giving up 37 sacks.
Defense
North Carolina brought in former Georgia Tech HC Geoff Collins to be the defensive coordinator. Collins was a disaster as a head coach but has had success as a defensive coordinator in multiple stops. He looks to try and turn a Tar Heel defense around that gave up over 400 yards game last season and really collapsed down the stretch.
The strength of the Carolina defense should be the defensive line, where they return 3 starters from last season. Kaimon Rucker was the leading sack producer last season with 8.5 and added 15 tackles for loss. Desmond Evans added 3.5 and there is depth with Beau Atkinson who tallied 3.5.
Linebacker had the biggest loss; leading tackler Cedric Gray was a 4th round pick to the Tennessee Titans. Power Echols returns to try and replace Gray’s production; he was the 2nd leading tackler last season.
The secondary returns three starters from last season, including both cornerbacks in Alijah Huzzie and Marcus Allen. Huzzie led the team in interceptions last season with 3.
Specialists
Noah Burnette returns after a successful season. He only missed one of his 20 field goal attempts last season and was 6-6 from 40+. Tom Maginness returns as the Punter, after struggling last season and only averaging 39.7 yards per punt.
Conclusion
UNC sets up much like the Yellow Jackets do. The offense is a known commodity who should be able to put up points. Defense is the biggest question make and has to improve if the Heels want to challenge at the top of the conference. The biggest difference is the Carolina schedule sets up nicely for them to make a run this season. The season opens at Minnesota, which should be a tough matchup. Week four against James Madison could be a trap game with a trip to Durham the next week. They miss Clemson, Louisville, Miami, and Virginia Tech as well as all three of the conference newcomers. A trip to FSU to start November and the end of the season against NC State will end the season on tough stretch.