Can Heels win Coastal Division?
- Thread starter mjrocks23
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Let's take it one game at a time.
That would be Miami. The Canes have a lot of athletes, especially on D. But they looked erratic and undisciplined against Florida.
I'll be thrilled if they beat the in-state opponents- Duke, NCSU, App St and Wake. I don't think the division is a realistic goal after one game.
Maybe even one play at a time. I think it’s far fetched to talk of winning the division after one win. Just beat da U!
Yeah, its WAY TOO early to even think about it. We don't know how good SC really is yet, but it is very encouraging to see the Heels overcome adversity and pull it out in the 4th. We have some talented players, and now we have a coaching staff that has them believing.
Before the SC game we had hundreds of questions. Everything was new from Mack Browns new ideology, coaches, players, etc. It looked like early on the question of whether Batemans schemes would work at a higher level than Army might be legit. SC was moving the ball, mixing it up. They surprised, going heavy with throwing the ball in the opening quarter. The wide running lanes were a bad flashback to the D under the previous coach.
But Bateman grabbed control of the defense. He began to dial up the answers. Carolina has some players. Crawford and Stowbridge are studs on the front. Wolfolk has stepped up as the man on the back end. Everyone played team ball.
Its only one game but Im bought in on Bateman. The reason is one player. Chaz Surratt. Not his physical talents(which are high level) but his mental. Bateman said earlier about Chaz that being a former qb gives him a more big picture view of how his schemes are to work. Well, yesterday you saw(with little experience) a highly intelligent elite level athlete make Batemans schemes work. Both Chaz and Bateman made believers of me.
Sure Chaz needs to work on tackling and he will. But give me the guy who runs to the hole vs the one who can't read it. Chaz was around the ball yesterday more than any other Tar Heel. That guy will grow(its just his nature) and he alone proved Bateman is the real deal.
But Bateman grabbed control of the defense. He began to dial up the answers. Carolina has some players. Crawford and Stowbridge are studs on the front. Wolfolk has stepped up as the man on the back end. Everyone played team ball.
Its only one game but Im bought in on Bateman. The reason is one player. Chaz Surratt. Not his physical talents(which are high level) but his mental. Bateman said earlier about Chaz that being a former qb gives him a more big picture view of how his schemes are to work. Well, yesterday you saw(with little experience) a highly intelligent elite level athlete make Batemans schemes work. Both Chaz and Bateman made believers of me.
Sure Chaz needs to work on tackling and he will. But give me the guy who runs to the hole vs the one who can't read it. Chaz was around the ball yesterday more than any other Tar Heel. That guy will grow(its just his nature) and he alone proved Bateman is the real deal.
We have a lot of things to clean up, but the coastal is hot garbage so of course we have a shot.
We will know a lot more after the Miami game. The Canes and Hoos were the preseason favorites, so if we beat them I'd say we are in good position. We get UVA at home in November. Unfortunately for us, neither of those teams has to play Clemson.
I don't know about that. Beating USC isn't exactly an omen of great things to come. Mediocre program on its best day. And it's a long season, and UNC actually did a great job covering up some serious depth issues yesterday. Mack will recruit well and get it turned around in time. I'd say if UNC just goes to a bowl this year, then that makes the season a success
Remember that VT lost to BC.
I really liked what I saw Surratt do yesterday, and the more I have thought about it, the more I think his potential is sky high.
Why not go for it they Just beat the Best Team in the Nation, I mean didn't you read these Boards last week?
Paul Meyerberg of USA Today: "After back-to-back woeful seasons under Larry Fedora, the Tar Heels will quickly be added into the mix as ACC Coastal contenders."
If we can beat a team that has a defense that’s loaded with first round talent then clemson should be no problem.
Lol
Lol
I agree 100% with both of these points. The Heels had a great win yesterday, but it's still to early to talk about anything but the Miami game. I'm really looking forward to this game now, and I hope the fans provide a true home field advantage.
Go Heels!
I love the win yesterday and thought the kids played better than I could’ve hoped. Chaz was a definite bright spot and I thought Howell looked like a veteran. Our RB’s in particular were outstanding and the WR’s were clutch when they were needed. Biggest thing was the 4th quarter push and how the team was more prepared to close the game put. THAT was the key to winning, given the miscues that kept us out of the end zone when we needed to be. Defense as a whole played lights out and held a great WR Corp to almost nothing, including shutting down one of the best in the SEC. can’t say enough about those young men!
With that said, the realist in me says we also have to temper this just a bit. We are still very thin at a lot of positions and one or two injuries could spell disaster. SC could’ve overlooked us a bit, but who really knows? Miami is coming in Saturday with a loss and a better team than SC, IMHO, and I doubt they will overlook us. If we manage to win Saturday, then I will be ecstatic and maybe even a little more optimistic of our chances at a division title, but I want to see more first.
I love Mack Brown and this team and hope they win every game this season. I would love nothing more than for them to all shock the college football world, but I guess years of high hopes dashed on the rocks have left me just a little gun shy.
I sure do hope they can make me dream again!
With that said, the realist in me says we also have to temper this just a bit. We are still very thin at a lot of positions and one or two injuries could spell disaster. SC could’ve overlooked us a bit, but who really knows? Miami is coming in Saturday with a loss and a better team than SC, IMHO, and I doubt they will overlook us. If we manage to win Saturday, then I will be ecstatic and maybe even a little more optimistic of our chances at a division title, but I want to see more first.
I love Mack Brown and this team and hope they win every game this season. I would love nothing more than for them to all shock the college football world, but I guess years of high hopes dashed on the rocks have left me just a little gun shy.
I sure do hope they can make me dream again!
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didn't think he would make a smooth conversion from qb where he sucked to linebacker. he may have a lot of mistakes ahead of him but he showed some promise.
my apologies chazz, keep at it.
Mack knows how to manage young players but the staff has to be elated at that performance. Regardless of how you viewed the game, the young inexperienced Tar Heel players turned in an unbelievable effort. We are going to play it close to the vest until Longo gets a few games under the belt. Sure we can lose to Miami(they are more athletic than SC but I don't see them physically stronger). Gotta believe the game plan is to ride the OL for an even stronger run performance vs Miami.
Chaz performance says it all about Batemans defense. That guy was at the ball from the first snap till the last. If Chaz hits the sidelines even with Ross returning then Ross is the second coming of LT.
Not mentioned much, but the O line put in a great physical performance vs SCs much vaunted elite level SEC front. Everyone played great but one guy stood out and has a tremendous future. Thats Marcus McKethan. He was not even listed as a starter(blue team) 2 weeks ago. Polino had stated several weeks ago that Marcus was developing but that if he got his hands on you, its trouble. On Saturday, Marcus started and got his hands on lots of gamecocks. Marcus looked like its gonna be hard for anyone to take that position. Carolinas line is going back to old school.
Chaz performance says it all about Batemans defense. That guy was at the ball from the first snap till the last. If Chaz hits the sidelines even with Ross returning then Ross is the second coming of LT.
Not mentioned much, but the O line put in a great physical performance vs SCs much vaunted elite level SEC front. Everyone played great but one guy stood out and has a tremendous future. Thats Marcus McKethan. He was not even listed as a starter(blue team) 2 weeks ago. Polino had stated several weeks ago that Marcus was developing but that if he got his hands on you, its trouble. On Saturday, Marcus started and got his hands on lots of gamecocks. Marcus looked like its gonna be hard for anyone to take that position. Carolinas line is going back to old school.
Great game management and keeping the players focused. Looked a little like the last couple years early in the game. The staff made great adjustments but I have to give the coordinators credit. Bateman did a great job. That blown coverage gave up that last touchdown. Finally taking the cuffs off of Howell when easing him in was hurting.
I was much moire optimistic from knowing how many of Bear Bryant's starting DBs, SEs, TEs, and LBs had played QB in HS. But the game was much less specialized back then. HS QBs, even top ones, tended to play on D. So when they moved positions in college, they were better prepared to succeed quickly than players today.
Our 3 headed RB corps is top notch. None is a superstar, but as a group they can get the job done.
Less predictable, less conservative play calling in the red zone will both free Howell to make TD passes and, because Ds then mist stop the passing TDs, free the RBs to run for TDs.
I think J Williams is the best of the bunch...Kid just will not go down....Thing I loved we brought in A Williams yesterday and he gashed them for 54 yards on 4 runs...
if we beat miami next week we can win the division. however, scar was arrogant and overconfident, mentally unprepared for a team they vastly underestimated. miami, which has at least as much talent as scar, won't make that mistake.
With 3 of them, I think we can count on at least 1 of them each game being ready to roll. It is a very good group.
No, they won't.
And IMO, they have better talent than SC has. They consistently bring in top 10 recruiting classes. Their issue has been lack of good coaching. It's too early to know if that has been effectively addressed with Diaz or not.
But they lost their first game, something that will have them pissed off in and of itself. Add to that the fact that UNC is a division rival, and along with UVA, could possibly represent Miami's toughest competition for the division title.
I think it's also fair to say that UNC has the toughest ACC schedule among those three teams. So while we could possibly win the Coastal, the odds are significantly against it. It's too early to determine much due to all three teams having played only one game, but I think it's fair to say that Miami won't be overlooking us, nor underestimating us.
I know it's cliche, but we can't afford to overlook anybody on our schedule. We have a ton of things to improve on(better tackling, decreasing the number of penalties we commit, better communication, better play calling, better execution, etc...), Mack's list of things to work on was very long.
HST, I certainly saw enough improvement to make me think that we're headed in the right direction, we've got better leadership, we have a renewed sense of enthusiasm, and our confidence is building.
Strong Analysis. As Mack has said many times, it's about fixing the little things first - eliminating turnovers, penalties and other mental mistakes during games. If they do that, then they can start beating the teams they are supposed (Duke, Wake, App State, etc.) and possibly even a few toss up games like South Carolina. They do that, and the division title gets a little closer. It's a long process and the Heels are at the beginning stages of it.
OK, so I am not going to predict anything based on a single game, real early to be thinking of playing for the ACCT, we have a very hard schedule still. But that was a heck of a game, especially the fact that we dominated the 4th qtr, a place we have tended to wilt for the last few seasons. I could legit argue that the game ball should go to our S/C staff because the cocks were gassed and 2 90+ drives for TDs in that 4th qtr proved how effectively the S/C regime worked this past off season. That alone should bode well for us as this season gets in full bloom.
Sporting News quick take on the game: "North Carolina's Mack Brown returned to Chapel Hill, and the Tar Heels rushed 52 times for 238 yards in a 24-20 victory against South Carolina. That's the best way to protect a freshman quarterback like Sam Howell (15-of-24 passing, 245 yards, two touchdowns).
Sporting News profiled Brown this summer, and this is the kind of victory that will attract even more recruits to North Carolina. The Tar Heels still play Miami, Wake Forest and Appalachian State before ending the month at Clemson on Sept. 28.
We've been waiting for someone in the ACC to pose a challenge to the Tigers. Maybe in a few years it might just be the Heels."
Sporting News profiled Brown this summer, and this is the kind of victory that will attract even more recruits to North Carolina. The Tar Heels still play Miami, Wake Forest and Appalachian State before ending the month at Clemson on Sept. 28.
We've been waiting for someone in the ACC to pose a challenge to the Tigers. Maybe in a few years it might just be the Heels."
Recruiting was already improving due to Mack and a talented coaching coaching staff. It will continue to climb if the Heels start winning, especially games against in-state teams. If Howell is the real deal, that should attract some great skill players.
Can we win the Coastal? Sure. So can any of the other 6 teams in the division. It's just that thin a margin for error. UNC's margin is made thinner by the need to stay darned near completely healthy and having Clemson as the crossover opponent from the Atlantic this year. That gives the other 6 teams a leg up on us.
We have Dook, uva, Miami at home. VaTech, Pitt, GT on the road. Clemson crossover is an L. We can beat Moo. To win the Coastal, we have to be road warriors and hold serve at home. 6-2 could win it, but the other 6 will have to beat each other up. If UNC and uva don't get Miami this year, I don't see the others doing it.
We have Dook, uva, Miami at home. VaTech, Pitt, GT on the road. Clemson crossover is an L. We can beat Moo. To win the Coastal, we have to be road warriors and hold serve at home. 6-2 could win it, but the other 6 will have to beat each other up. If UNC and uva don't get Miami this year, I don't see the others doing it.
