The Moment UNC Will Discover How Far It Can Go

To sum it up, here is my favorite quote of Jim Mora, the former head coach of the New Orleans Saintsf

• "We couldn’t do diddly poo offensively, we couldn’t make a first down, we couldn’t run the ball, we didn’t try to run the ball, we couldn’t complete a pass – we sucked. "

Yeah, it was like that. They couldn't do anything against TCU and it infamously took the Tar Heels over two hours in real time to complete a pass.

On top of that, there was more talk about Belichick's beef with the New England Patriots than the status of the team.

The question now is how North Carolina will finish the season. That remains uncertain and will take time to determine.

When Will We Know How Good This Team Really Is?

If there was a benchmark game to determine what the season will look like for North Carolina, it’s the UCF game next week on Sept. 27.

The Knights have a dynamic offense that is Top 25 nationally, led by quarterback Tayven Jackson and have one of the best rushing attacks in college football. It's solid defensively as well as it allows just 261.0 yards per game. 

UCF’s home stadium, Acrisure Bounce House — yes, that is in fact its name — is one of the most difficult venues in college football. The Knights are 85-30 at home since the stadium opened in 2007. During their time in Conference USA and the American Athletic Conference, they hosted and won four conference championship games.​​

This might be the most important game of the year because UNC’s schedule is much more manageable if it enters ACC play with a 3-1 record rather than a 2-2 one. UNC’s schedule doesn’t have some of the big hitters like Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami and SMU. However, Clemson followed by tough games with a 3,000-mile trip to Cal, an improved Virginia team and of course the three Tobacco Road schools.

What We Need to Improve

If there are several things that UNC needs to improve on, it’s these things:

• Physicality on the Line of Scrimmage: The offensive line showed improvement, grading out with a 70.9 run-block score and a 93.0 pass-block score, according to Pro Football Focus. In Week 1, the Tar Heels managed just a 53.3 run-block grade and a 72.4 pass-block grade. Which version of the line will appear the rest of the season remains to be seen.

• Letting Gio be Gio: North Carolina did a better job of showcasing quarterback Gio Lopez’s dual-threat abilities by giving him more freedom in space, allowing him to create. The Tar Heels designed rollouts and options for Lopez to either throw or run. It was a refreshing shift that played to his strengths rather than forcing him into situations where he looked uncomfortable.

• Fixing the Pass Rush: As of Sept. 10, North Carolina has recorded just one sack and owns a 53.0 pass-rush grade from Pro Football Focus, the second-lowest in the nation. At its current pace, UNC would finish the regular season with only six sacks. To become bowl eligible, the Tar Heels must generate pressure up front, especially with four upcoming opponents ranking among the top 30 nationally in passing yards per game. UCF’s Jackson also poses a dual threat with his ability to run.