10/1/2023 football Edit

UNC Moves Up To No. 13 and No. 14 in Major Top 25 Polls

Deana King • TarHeelIllustrated

TarHeelIllustrated.com

King is Publisher of NCPreps.com, the NC high school site for Rivals.com/YahooSports. She is also a football and basketball Recruiting Analyst for Tar Heel Illustrated (UNC Rivals).

{{ link.display_text }} |

North Carolina which had a bye week moved up in both major polls Sunday as they head into a home match up against Syracuse on Saturday afternoon in Kenan Stadium.

UNC is 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the ACC. And as a result, the Heels rose to No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 and to No. 13 in the Coaches’ Top 25. Carolina moved up one spot in the AP, and two spots in the Coaches’ polls from last week.

Three of Carolina’s four wins are over Power 5 teams South Carolina, Minnesota, and the Panthers. Those victories are by an average of 16.3 points. The Heels also defeated Appalachian State in double overtime.

UNC is 4-0 for the first time since 1997, which was the last season of Carolina Coach Mack Brown’s first time in Chapel Hill.

Brown’s team is ranked No. 24 in total offense averaging 464 yards per contest, and No. 34 in scoring offense averaging 35.8 points. UNC ranks No. 61 in total defense giving up 363 yards per outing and is No. 45 in scoring defense at 22 points.

The Tar Heels begin a three-game stretch at Kenan Stadium, facing the Orange, who dropped their first game against Clemson this weekend, and following with Miami and Virginia. Then, Carolina visits Georgia Tech before returning to take on Campbell and Duke. UNC closes the regular season at Clemson and NC State.