North Carolina will remain on the road for week three of the season as the Tar Heels travel to Atlanta to face Georgia State.

The two programs played last season, with UNC winning big 59-17. However, this time Carolina will visit the Panthers in a city that hasn’t been too kind to the Heels in recent history, to take on the Panthers in Center Parc Stadium. Carolina Coach Mack Brown understands that winning away from home is never a small task.

"Georgia State had their best team ever,” Brown recently said, referring to GSU’s season last fall. “They beat Tennessee a couple of years ago. They ended up really strong, and they got everybody back."

As we continue our season previews, here is a look at UNC’s third game of the season.

**************************************************************************************

Remember, for just $8.33 a month, YOU CAN BE A TAR HEELS INSIDER, TOO!!!

***************************************************************************************

@ Georgia State, Sept. 10, Center Parc Stadium, Atlanta.

Head Coach:

Head Coach Shawn Elliot enters his sixth season at the helm. Elliott had his best season in the 2021 campaign, with an 8-5 record, including 6-2 in the Sun Belt.

Elliot's team returns 85 percent of the roster from last season, allowing the staff to scale back many of the experienced players in the spring, resulting in improved depth for an already deep team.

"One of my takeaways from the spring is the really good younger players we have," Elliott. "We rested a lot of our older guys. We have nine super seniors. We were able to rest those guys and let the younger guys get reps. We found tremendous depth along the offensive and defensive line."

Noteworthy:

Georgia State finished last season winning seven of its last eight games after making a change at quarterback in early October. The QB whom UNC faced transferred after he was replaced in the lineup.

Returning Starters:

Georgia State returns 15 starters from last season's team. Including 84 percent of the offense and 87 percent of defensive players.

Stars:

The Panthers are run-heavy, returning four starters along the offensive line. All-conference running back duo Tucker Gregg and Jamyest Williams combined to run for 1,812 yards and 18 touchdowns. Williams, some might remember, was a 4-star prospect in the class of 2017 who went to South Carolina and played in the secondary before transferring to GSU.

Key Stats:

Georgia State set a school record with 36 sacks last season. With Carolina's issues protecting the quarterback in 2021, the Panthers will serve as a good litmus test on UNC's improvement in that area.

My thoughts:

The team North Carolina plays in September will be much improved than the Georgia State team the Heels faced off against in 2021. One can argue this game can provide the most answers among the trio of games opening the season. In Mack Brown's second stint with the Tar Heels, his teams have stopped quarterback runs poorly, so that will be challenged here.

Georgia State signal caller Darren Grainger averaged close to five yards per carry last season. He made an already dangerous run offense even more potent when he took over the reins in mid-October. In last year’s matchup, Grainger came into the game for then-starter Cornelious Brown and averaged 11.2 yards per carry.

Suppose Carolina's new defensive staff can deliver on their message to simplify and let the best athletes play. In that case, UNC should have no issues holding the panthers under their rushing averages.