Do The Tar Heels Feel Like 3-0?

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ATLANTA – Given North Carolina’s course to a 3-0 record, don’t expect to hear or see any Tar Heels pounding their chests all that much.

Unbeaten through three games is nice, they say, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot considering the big picture, also with how they have overall performed to this point. Consider:

*They have allowed three non-Power 5 teams 37.7 points per game;

*The gave up six touchdowns and 40 points in the fourth quarter at Appalachian State;

*They allowed Georgia State 25 consecutive points during the middle of that game;

*They have allowed three sacks in each of the last two games;

*They are getting dogged by the regional and national media for being 3-0 in spite of many things to pick at.

None of this is lost on the Tar Heels, but they still are 3-0 and don’t have any plans on giving back any of the wins.

“Yeah, because we are,” UNC Coach Mack Brown replied when asked Saturday if he felt like 3-0. “People are going to be critical is you’re 3-0 or 0-3m it doesn’t matter. Like I said last week, people are going to be critical to be critical and I don’t care. These are good kids and they’re trying really hard. We’ve got a lot of things we need to fix.”

Brown’s team had just beaten Georgia State 35-28, shutting out the Panthers in the fourth quarter. The Carolina coach is a bit sensitive to criticism of his group, and understandably so. The discourse surrounding UNC has had a heavily negative tint, though the positives are in abundance, too.

“A lot of people would like to have 35 points when they think their offense didn’t play great,” Brown said. “And defensively, we’re starting to show the progress I thought we’d have at the first of the year.”

The offense scored 56 points in the opener and 63 at App State a week before the Mountaineers allowed just one offensive touchdown in winning at No. 6 Texas A&M.

UNC is the only 3-0 team in the nation right now, in part because it played Week Zero, though the other teams that played that weekend have either lost or already had an open date, so they have played only two games. Carolina also has the distinction of owning a pair of road wins over quality opponents, too. But the players recognize this is just the beginning.

“It means a lot, but there’s a lot of room for improvement,” senior tight end Kamari Morales said. “I’m not going to fall into the trap of, ‘Oh, we’re undefeated. Obviously, I’m grateful that we’re undefeated, but we could be 0-3 right now.

“But there’s still so much work to be done, and this team can be so much better than we’ve displayed. Three-and-0 is cool, but it’s all about going 1-0 every single week.”

That was the message emanating from the players in the bowels of Center Parc Stadium right after beating Georgia State. It was coming from guys on both sides of the ball.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” defensive lineman Kaimon Rucker said. “We can’t be complacent. Three-and-0 sounds good, we’re going to celebrate it (Saturday)… Bu the thing is, we’ve got to keep on chopping. It’s not the end of it, we’ve still got a lot of games to go, and I feel like we can definitely deliver as the year goes on.”

The nit-pickers will pick, and there is enough low-hanging fruit there to grab, but the reality is a team sitting at 3-0 and understanding all it must fixing is a healthy spot in which to stand. Just ask quarterback Drake Maye.

“Three-and-0, that’s the best part about it,” he said.

And Maye is right.