two games in a row (well really 2.5) of legitimate UNC basketball, ceiling will be held down unless the perimeter shots somehow start falling, but it's good to see this team's at least looking to go through the typical second half of the season transformation
yeah this team ain’t competing for a title but i am just happy that we should make the tourney fairly easily and duke isn’t sniffing it
opening up at Virginia T next year, bye week before going to ND, not bad outside of the short week heading to Pitt for a Thursday nighter (feels like every game at Pitt is a Thursday nighter) Spoiler: Full Schedule AT VIRGINIA TECH - SEPT. 2/3 UNC will open the ACC slate with a road game at Lane Stadium in primetime on either Thursday, Sept. 2 or Friday, Sept. 3. Not much has gone right for Justin Fuente in Blacksburg in recent years. The sixth-year Hokies head coach had immediate success when he took over for Frank Beamer in 2016, leading Virginia Tech to the ACC Championship Game in his first year and following that season up with a 9-4 record in 2017. The Hokies are 19-18 in the past three years, however, which includes a disappointing 5-6 campaign last fall despite preseason projections suggesting ACC Championship contention. The Hokies will return seven starters on offense, although their losses on that side of the ball are massive: RB Khalil Herbert, QB Hendon Hooker and OT Christian Darrisaw. They will receive a defensive boost courtesy of the NCAA eligibility COVID-19 clause as three senior starters elected to return for 2021, giving defensive coordinator Justin Hamilton seven returning starters. GEORGIA STATE - SEPT. 11 UNC’s first non-conference game comes against Georgia State of the Sun Belt Conference, a program which navigated three cancellations last fall to complete the 2020 season with a 6-4 record. Most notable for the Panthers was a 49-29 win over East Carolina. Head coach Shawn Elliott will return 16 starters in 2021, although it remains to be seen how many seniors elect to stay in school for an extra year of eligibility. VIRGINIA - SEPT. 18 There are years' worth of payback available for UNC when Virginia comes to town for the South's Oldest Rivalry. Bronco Mendenhall's program has won four straight games against the Tar Heels and figures to be a tough opponent once again in 2021 after an up-and-down 5-5 record in 2020. The Cavaliers will return 15 starters, including quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who passed for 2,117 yards, 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and ran for 552 yards and five touchdowns in his first season as the starter. AT GEORGIA TECH - SEPT. 25 The Geoff Collins rebuild is still in its slow and arduous process in Atlanta. Georgia Tech has only won three games in each of the past two seasons and the expectation is for similar growing pains in 2021, although there is optimism that this team can challenge for a bowl game appearance. The good news for the Yellow Jackets is that they will welcome back 18 returning starters, including dynamic dual-threat quarterback Jeff Sims, who threw for 1,881 yards, 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while rushing for 492 yards and six touchdowns. DUKE - OCT. 2 Duke returned to its positioning of old in 2020, losing eight games by double digits and ranking at the bottom of the ACC standings in a woeful 2-9 campaign. There's not much hope for a bounce back in 2021. The Chase Brice experiment failed, elite defensive end Chris Rumph declared for the NFL Draft, and only 12 starters return for David Cutcliffe's 14th season in Durham. FLORIDA STATE - OCT. 9 There was no greater disaster in the ACC last season than Florida State. The challenges of Mike Norvell’s rebuild were on complete display for public viewing and its league counterparts took advantage as the Seminoles lost five conference games by double digits. FSU’s signature win, however, came against UNC, which strolled into Tallahassee at No. 5 in the national polls and left understanding the weight of such a ranking. The Seminole faithful are expecting a return to relevance in 2021 as Norvell returns a bulk of his starters and welcomes in eight additions from the NCAA’s transfer portal. Most noteworthy is the arrival of former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton, who was one of the nation’s top quarterbacks before suffering a devastating knee injury in 2018. MIAMI - OCT. 16 UNC’s top competition in the Coastal Division will be stocked with talent once again. Miami will boast one of the most experienced rosters in the country, headlined by a deep offensive line with more than 120 career starts and three notable Power 5 transfers. The Hurricanes will return 19 starters overall – 10 offense, 9 defense – from a team that finished third in the ACC in 2020 with an 8-3 (7-2 ACC) record. Most concerning for Manny Daiz is the health of veteran quarterback D’Eriq King, who announced his decision to return to Coral Gables four days before suffering a torn ACL in his right knee in Miami’s bowl loss to Oklahoma State. Typical ACL recovery time is nine months, which would put his return in line with the start of the 2021 season. The dual-threat quarterback threw for 2,686 yards and 23 touchdowns and ran for 538 yards and four touchdowns last season. The Hurricanes will have 16 days to prepare for the Tar Heels. AT NOTRE DAME - OCT. 30 While Notre Dame could be in for a rebuilding year in 2021, Brian Kelly’s squad is still projected to be UNC’s toughest competition next fall. The Fighting Irish will return nine starters from a team that reached the ACC Championship Game in its temporary run as a full-time ACC member in 2020 before losing to eventual national champion Alabama in the College Football Playoff. The offense will be a complete rebuild as quarterback Ian Book and four offensive linemen have departed. Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan, who completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,278 yards with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions in Madison, is a frontrunner to take over quarterback duties. The defense returns six starters for new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, but replacing elite linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will be difficult. WAKE FOREST - NOV. 6 UNC and Wake Forest will meet as non-conference foes for the second time in three years. The Tar Heels needed a Herculean comeback to defeat the Demon Deacons in 2020 – their 21-point deficit was the largest the program had ever overcome in a home game – and a victory in 2021 could be equally as difficult. Dave Clawson’s program, which has played in five consecutive bowl games, will return as many as 20 starters, including quarterback Sam Hartman, who threw for 2,224 yards and 13 touchdowns in nine games last season. This game was initially scheduled for Sept. 25. AT PITTSBURGH - NOV. 11 (THURSDAY) There were high hopes in Pittsburgh entering the 2020 season that fell flat with a disappointing 6-5 record after a 3-0 start. However, there have been positive developments over the past month for Pat Narduzzi’s program. The Panthers signed a Top-25 recruiting class and learned that quarterback Kenny Pickett and linebacker Phil Campbell would take advantage of the NCAA’s eligibility COVID-19 clause and return in 2021. While the Panthers will have to replace standout defensive linemen in Patrick Jones and Rashad Weaver, they will return at least 15 starters from a team that finished No. 41 in 2020’s final S&P+ rankings. WOFFORD - NOV. 20 UNC's lone FCS opponent in 2021 has yet to start its 2020 football season. Such is life at the FCS level in the time of COVID-19. The Terriers begin their eight-game SoCon schedule against Mercer on Feb. 20. Wofford has won four straight league championships. AT N.C. STATE - NOV. 26 (FRIDAY) N.C. State’s surprising 2020 season came to a disappointing close with a 23-21 loss to Kentucky in the Gator Bowl. The Wolfpack finished the season with an 8-4 record with backup quarterback Bailey Hockman taking over for injured starter Devin Leary early in the season. Hockman has since transferred as Leary is expected to resume his status as Dave Doeren’s starter this fall. The Wolfpack will return 16 of its top-20 tacklers from 2020, headlined by linebacker Payton Wilson and defensive Daniel Joseph, while the offense will return seven starters.
RB coach update: UPDATE (Jan. 28) – Larry Porter remains the frontrunner for UNC’s vacant running backs coach position, according to multiple sources. As previously reported, Mack Brown put together a list of candidates and had conversations with multiple individuals this week. Former N.C. State/South Carolina assistant Des Kitchings was in the initial pool of candidates before taking a job yesterday with the Atlanta Falcons. Multiple sources also indicate that former UNC tailback Natrone Means is under consideration for an advisory role in the football office.
Coaches getting poached by Bama is pretty wild, but it's even more wild how well we were able to backfill. Still going to miss RG though; that guy helped position Carter and Williams as two of the top 4 or 5 RBs in the NFL draft this year.
Schulman during this Duke/Miami broadcast just said we've got the longest winning streak in the conference right now
I think our forwards are fantastic and one of the most talented groups Roy has had at UNC. brutal to waste it on such a piddling wing/guard situation.
it's hard to get upset with Day'Ron over that effort but there was zero doubt in my mind he'd fumble that oob
basketball needs an advantage rule like soccer. it would help out flow so much and also would mean this is a 2 point game rn
2-7 with a 1:3 a/to for our supposed 5 star pg mando and leaky are the main culprits for sure but holy shit does it all start with trash pg play and from a supposed blue chip guy like that, the blame starts there
i am a broken record but getting this level of play from a top 15 guy playing the most important position for us is ridiculous glad he looked decent against a couple bad teams so people forgot how fucking terrible he is