The football season is here.

North Carolina travels to Blacksburg, VA, this Friday to face Virginia Tech kicking off the 2021 season, one in which the Tar Heels enter decorated as one of the more hyped teams in the nation.

UNC is No. 10 in the Associated Press poll and No. 9 in the Coaches’ poll. The Tar Heels are coming off an 8-4 season that ended with a loss to Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl and a final No. 13 ranking in the College Football Playoff poll. Carolina returns 21 of its 22 starters versus the Aggies.

Sam Howell enters the season as one of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy but is also consodered a potential top selection in the NFL draft next April. Last month, the media voted him the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.

This is the first time UNC has started a season ranked in the top 10 since 1997, which was the final campaign of Brown’s first stint in Chapel Hill. Carolina opened at No. 7 in the AP and No. 8 in the coaches’ poll that season, finishing 11-1 and ranked Nos. 6 and 4, respectively.

But this is a very young UNC team, as 53 of its 88 players on scholarship are listed as freshmen or sophomores.

“We have some great older players that are leaders…,” Brown said last month. “Then we've got a bunch of young guys. The young guys have to grow up. We've been circled by everybody in this league.”

The hype is something the players admittedly cannot avoid, but they have remained focused on the bigger picture, though they are quite confident.

“For me personally, I don’t try to pay as much attention to the rankings because I want to focus on football,” junior wide receiver Emery Simmons said. “I want to focus on our team, and just work and develop ourselves and as a team get better. I know that we’ve got the talent to be in the top 10.”

The be that kind of team, the Tar Heels must first navigate the challenging and often intimidating terrain of Lane Stadium.

The Hokies have been a problem for Carolina since they joined the ACC 17 years ago. Although UNC won last year’s battle, 56-45, in Chapel Hill, Virginia Tech has won four of the last five and 12 of the 16 ACC battles between the teams.

UNC has won twice in Blacksburg: On a late field goal in 2012, and in overtime in 2015. That was the only year Carolina has outright won the ACC Coastal Division and played in the conference championship game.

The Heels surely respect the Hokies and what they must deal with Friday night. They lost there two years ago in six overtimes, but this game might have an even greater buzz heading in. It is the opener for both schools, but Blacksburg is a tough environment for any visitor, beginning with the Hokies’ classic stadium entry. The Heels know this, and have spent some time over the last few weeks preparing, as the Metallica song “Enter Sandman” has blared on the sound system at practice with some frequency.

“It really gets us prepared, because we know Virginia Tech’s stadium is amazing, the atmosphere, the fans,” said sophomore Tony Grimes, a native of Virginia who visited Tech on several game days as a recruit.

“So, we know they’re going to come out with energy, so we’re trying to get that feeling at practice, hearing that, getting it turnt up, getting ready to play the game.”

In the end, what matters most is how Carolina deals with a talented Virginia Tech coming off an atypical season that included a 5-6 overall record and 5-5 in the ACC.

Kickoff Friday evening at 6 pm and the game will air on ESPN.