AJ: The Next Big Step

“To be a great team you’ve got to win on the road, and that’s what we’ve got to do.”

Those words rolled off Mack Brown’s tongue at 10:14 Wednesday morning, and the North Carolina coach nailed it.

That is clearly the next major step in the process in he and his staff building the Tar Heels into what they they envision for the program. UNC’s program is ahead of schedule, even with the setback at Virginia Tech three weeks ago prominent on its resume.

But to avoid stalemating, Carolina must start winning road games, especially against teams it is supposed to beat. That is why No. 21 UNC’s game at 1-2 Georgia Tech on Saturday night is such a big deal. Not only do the Tar Heels have a slate of games approaching in which they should win but also shore up the rough spots for the more challenging part of the slate that comes later in the campaign.

To do that, that must win in Atlanta. Yet, this is exactly the kind of game that has bitten them in the derriere the last couple of years.

The Heels were 2-0 with wins over South Carolina and Miami when they opened poorly at Wake Forest before falling 24-18 in 2019. Last season, the Heels were 3-0 and ranked No. 5 in the nation when the were obliterated out of the gate at lowly Florida State.

The Seminoles led 24-0 before taking a 31-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. Carolina roared back but fell short losing 31-28. Two weeks later, and after a prosperous romp over rival NC State, Carolina allowed Virginia four consecutive touchdowns – a 28-0 run – in a span of 17:11 of clock time turning a 20-13 lead into a 41-20 deficit on a night the Tar Heels lost 44-41.

And of course, this year's opener in Blacksburg saw the Heels go from a top-10 team in the rankings and in the national conversation to an after thought.

Saturday’s game is a big deal.

“This week last year we didn’t play well on the road at Florida State,” Brown said. “It was our fourth game, so we’ve got to show progress in our program. And can we spend a lot of emotion in a big game last week and then come back and play well this week?”

Emotion was pouring from the Heels’ souls in pulling away from Virginia, 59-39, this past weekend. Their toughness was challenged by one of the Wahoos, and the team responded. They also ended a four-game losing skid to UVA and earned a confidence-building triumph.

But UNC is 5-6 in road games under Brown, not including a 2-1 mark in neutral site contests, with the six defeats by an average of 3.5 points. They’re close but getting over this hump is harder than it looks.

It’s about more than just having enough high-caliber dudes. It requires more. And that is a thick layer the program is seeking to build. This is the next step in Carolina’s process.

“It’s really hard,” Brown said. “You’ve got to win at home first, and I think now we’re 10-4, so we’re doing that. And that’s really, really important. Your fan base has to be that plus-one in the stands that helps you… And then you’ve got to win on the road, which for whatever reason is harder.

“Maybe it’s the travel, maybe it’s sleeping in a different town than you normally do, maybe it’s the crowd advantage for the home team, maybe it’s the visual with a different stadium.”

And maybe it’s an internal toughening that comes from having fallen in these situations before, learning from it, getting stronger and better, and then plunging forward through this next phase of their development.

This will be just the 29th game of Mack Part II, but third-tier results should be on tap. This isn’t an unreasonable demand, it’s straight from the program.

Everyone within the walls of the Kenan Football Center knows how significant navigating through this next phase in the process is if UNC is going to satisfy it stated mission of competing for something nationally significant.

Part of the next prong commences Saturday night.