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Release: 08/25/2016
By Turner Walston
Mack Hollins was one of the first Tar Heels at Navy Fields Wednesday afternoon for the first Carolina football practice since classes began a day prior. "Yeah!" the senior wideout said, bouncing between fields. "Ten days away, baby!"
Today, it's nine. Nine days until September 3 and the Tar Heels' Georgia Dome date with the Georgia Bulldogs in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game. Nine days. It's still hot outside. Traditional-calendar schools are just underway or about to be. Kids are still splashing around in the pool. And yet Carolina football is just nine days away.
The Tar Heels' game with Georgia is a non-conference matchup, is a season opener that won't necessarily determine the tone of the whole season. But it is important. The Tar Heels are 1-4 in their last five games against SEC opponents, with the lone win coming in the 2010 Music City Bowl. A win over Georgia won't help Carolina defend its ACC Coastal Division crown, but beating a traditional power from the nation's best conference would go a long way toward garnering national attention. The conversation around the Tar Heels' playoff ranking late in the 2015 season centered on strength of schedule, and how the team had two FCS opponents on the slate. But a win over South Carolina in Charlotte would have rendered that conversation all but moot.
Release: 08/25/2016
By Turner Walston
Mack Hollins was one of the first Tar Heels at Navy Fields Wednesday afternoon for the first Carolina football practice since classes began a day prior. "Yeah!" the senior wideout said, bouncing between fields. "Ten days away, baby!"
Today, it's nine. Nine days until September 3 and the Tar Heels' Georgia Dome date with the Georgia Bulldogs in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game. Nine days. It's still hot outside. Traditional-calendar schools are just underway or about to be. Kids are still splashing around in the pool. And yet Carolina football is just nine days away.
The Tar Heels' game with Georgia is a non-conference matchup, is a season opener that won't necessarily determine the tone of the whole season. But it is important. The Tar Heels are 1-4 in their last five games against SEC opponents, with the lone win coming in the 2010 Music City Bowl. A win over Georgia won't help Carolina defend its ACC Coastal Division crown, but beating a traditional power from the nation's best conference would go a long way toward garnering national attention. The conversation around the Tar Heels' playoff ranking late in the 2015 season centered on strength of schedule, and how the team had two FCS opponents on the slate. But a win over South Carolina in Charlotte would have rendered that conversation all but moot.
