For the first time this year, the UNC football team will try to bounce back from a loss. The 3-1 Tar Heels will begin ACC play this weekend when Virginia Tech comes to town. The Hokies are 2-2 and coming off a tough loss of their own to West Virginia.
In a stark departure from last year, when three of Carolina’s first four games were within the ACC, this season saw the Tar Heels open with four straight non-conference games. Though fans are still disappointed with last weekend’s loss to Notre Dame, UNC head coach Mack Brown put his team’s 3-1 start in perspective, and compared this Saturday’s ACC opener with the Hokies to last year’s season opener against them.
“We’re probably where someone would have thought, or ahead, going into conference play,” Brown said. “And it’s unique that we played Virginia Tech in the opener last year and got whipped – we were a top-ranked team and that put us in a tough spot with a lot of negativity to start the season with. And really, we’re starting the season with them again this year.”
To Brown’s point, despite UNC’s loss to the Irish, the Tar Heels’ standing in the ACC Coastal Division was not affected. Like three other teams in the division, Carolina is 0-0.
To move to 1-0, the Tar Heels will have to defeat a program which has had its number since joining the conference. Virginia Tech has won 14 of 18 meetings with Carolina since 2004 and two of three since Brown returned to Chapel Hill. In fact, Saturday will see UNC try to win consecutive home games against the Hokies for the first time since 1938.
Last year’s season-opening loss in Blacksburg is doubtlessly still on the minds of Carolina fans everywhere. But Virginia Tech has since fired head coach Justin Fuente, hired head coach Brent Pry and changed much of its roster. UNC offensive coordinator Phil Longo said the Hokies might as well be an entirely new program.
“You play in this conference and when the staffs stay the same, you kind of prepare and graduate and build on what you did against a team from last year,” Longo said. “And with Virginia Tech, everything’s completely new. The [defensive coordinator] is new, the approach is new and some of the players are new this year. So addressing Virginia Tech this year is simply by watching this year’s film and preparing from that standpoint, because it’s really nothing like it was last year.”
The Hokies’ pillars are still the same, though. The defense ranks in the nation’s top 10 and the team takes pride in its strong special teams play. The offense has struggled, but is going against a UNC defense which ranks close to dead last in college football. Much like Notre Dame, Virginia Tech could use the Tar Heels for a “get right” game.
Defensive coach Gene Chizik would prefer history not to repeat itself. And though his unit’s statistics are unsightly, Chizik said he is still confident in the group’s dedication and remains adamant that better days are ahead.
“Every day is a work in progress with the coaches. Every day is a work in progress with the players,” Chizik said. “But one thing that is great and 100 percent true is everybody is all in. We’re all in this together. We, as a group, understand that nobody’s been happy with any of these performances. But that’s what football is. You’ve got to man up and go out there every day and try to improve and get better. And as long as everybody’s in on that, we’ll always have a chance to improve. And we will improve.”
With the remnants of Hurricane Ian likely to drop significant amounts of rain over North Carolina this weekend, it’s hard not to think about UNC’s 2016 meeting with the Hokies in Kenan Stadium. Under a downpour caused by Hurricane Matthew, Virginia Tech dominated Carolina 34-3 on its way to a Coastal Division crown. Fans have understandably expressed concern about this weekend’s weather, but Brown said the game will go on as scheduled.
“We’re not concerned about it,” the head coach said on Wednesday. “We’re concerned about the people in the path of the storm obviously, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to affect our game at all, except maybe it will be more windy than our normal days. We have not had any conversation [about postponing the game], because right now, I don’t feel like they feel like the storm is headed this way.”
The weather won’t be pleasant, but both teams have to play in it, and the game is a critical one for the Tar Heels’ aspirations this season. If UNC wants to at least temporarily silence its critics – and potentially cool down Brown’s seat – it needs to win on Saturday, rain or shine.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Andy Mead
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines