CHAPEL HILL – The combined overall records of the nine football teams North Carolina has played to date is 36-45. The combined ACC record of the five league foes the Tar Heels have faced is 8-18.
So, it’s not exactly a stretch calling UNC’s last three games of the regular season by far it’s most challenging stretch of the campaign. It’s not really close.
Duke, which the Tar Heels host this weekend, is 6-3 overall, 3-2 in the ACC, and has been ranked in eight different weeks. Clemson is 5-4 and 2-4, but has easily been the league’s top program over the last decade and one of the best in the nation. Plus, the game is at Death Valley.
And NC State, which is 6-3 and 3-2, has been one of the more stable programs in the ACC in recent years, and will host the Heels in the hornet’s nest called Carter-Finley Stadium. So, the combined marks of the remaining opponents is 17-10 overall, and 8-8 in league play.
“We have three really good opponents and really tough games in the ACC ahead of us,” said UNC senior linebacker Cedric Gray, who will play his final home game at Kenan Stadium when the teams kick off at 8 PM on Saturday night.
On top of that, all three opponents pride themselves on their physicality. They are each among the top 34 overall defensive units in the nation, and offensively are content on running the ball right at opponents, but mix in enough stuff on the edge that could affect the Heels, who have not been strong in any area against the run of late.
As UNC Coach Mack Brown says, the Blue Devils, Tigers and Wolfpack have seen the films of what Virginia and Georgia Tech did to stun the Tar Heels. Both spread the field some, used tempo, and went right at Carolina’s defense. UNC couldn’t stop them, so it continued.
So, Brown knows his team cannot win any of these games without being better defensively at the point of attack.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Carolina’s coach said. “I’m really excited to watch our team play against three good teams, that are going to all run the ball, and see where we are. So, we’re going to get tested in those areas… Duke, Clemson, and NC State saw those same two videos.”
Then add the emotional component, which simply elevates the task of each game.
UNC and Duke play for the Victory Bell, and while this hasn’t always been a heated game, it has been of late, and will be Saturday, as both are quality teams playing for positioning within the league.
Carolina hasn’t been to Clemson since 2014, a sure black mark on ACC scheduling over the last decade, so there will be some heat as that game approaches. Add the pride factor the Tigers are playing with given their struggles this season, and that it will be in a hostile environment makes the task a bit greater for the Heels.
And closing a season at NC State is never easy, as UNC has learned.
“I do know that we’ve got the three most emotional games in a row here, two of them on the road, that I’ve ever coached in,” Brown said. “So, we didn’t get any favors with the schedule. But we’re going to have to be really tough mentally and physically to be able to handle this three-game stretch.”
Then there is the magnitude of these games vis-à-vis the other factors: Possible ACC title game inclusion implications for UNC depending on what else happens Saturday; bowl game slotting; national rankings; personal postseason awards.
There remains a ton to play for, a chance for Carolina to enhance the narrative of its season, and so much more.
“I think everybody understands in order for us to make it to the ACC championship, or where we go, we have to win out and get some help, as well,” Gray said. “But like I’ve said, at the end of the day, you’ve got to take it one game at a time.
“You can’t look too far ahead. You can’t say, ‘Oh, we’re in if we win,’ or whatever.”
Regardless, these next three games will be wars for the Heels, and they know it.
