CHAPEL HILL - Less than two weeks away from its season opener, North Carolina is officially in game preparation mode ahead of Syracuse’s visit to Kenan Stadium on Sept. 12.

The Tar Heels opened their fall camp on Aug. 6 and have been working toward the coming seas ever since. And, after their second and final full scrimmage of preseason last Saturday, UNC Coach Mack Brown said the team has switched its focus to the Orange.

“We’re all about Syracuse as of today,” Brown said during a Zoom press conference Monday. “We'll start working on them (Tuesday) on the field, but our coaches are working on their game plans as we speak now.”

Syracuse, which entered the 2019 season ranked in the top 25 of the AP preseason poll, struggled to a 5-7 overall finish, including just 2-6 in ACC play.

This led to a coaching change in the offseason, with head coach Dino Babers hiring away new defensive coordinator Tony White from Arizona State. White, who spent the last two seasons as the Sun Devils’ cornerbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator, was only promoted to the defensive coordinator position last December.

This makes UNC’s preparations that much more challenging as there is limited game film on White’s defensive schemes and style, although Brown and his staff have already identified a few key characteristics.

“He's got a multiple look stone defense, he blitzes a whole lot,” Brown said. “They had 10 sacks and four interceptions in their scrimmage, so it's something that we've got to continue to look at. I like the fact that coach (Jay) Bateman blitzes a lot against our offense every day because that will help us in preparation for the Syracuse game.”

While the Heels are now fully focused on the Orange, they’re still working on building depth, particularly with the younger players. Balancing that and preparing for Syracuse is something the coaches will have to actively manage between now and the game.

“We'll start working against Syracuse schemes, and obviously your young ones are different because you keep working some of your young ones that may not play in the first game, that may play in the fifth game,” Brown said. “But we're not working in camp anymore, we are working for Syracuse and how many plays they’re going to play.”

The switch from preseason camp to game preparation has also given the players a boost, especially after the three-day shutdown that occurred across the UNC athletics department due to an increase in COVID-19 cases across campus raised some players' concerns.

“They had canceled practice for a couple days and we were wondering like, are we really going to have a season?…” junior wide receiver Dyami Brown said. “Now, we’ve kicked it to a whole other gear. We’re locked in for them two weeks and focusing on Syracuse.”

Despite all the uncertainty 2020 continues to bring, it’s almost football season again in Chapel Hill, and the Tar Heels are solely focused on preparing for their first challenge against the Orange.