University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
January 26, 2016 | Football
By Adam Lucas
1. The opener, as we've known for months, is going to be a showdown. It received even more added intrigue after the 2015 season, when Mark Richt moved on from Athens, meaning new Georgia coach Kirby Smart will be making a highly anticipated debut. Facing an SEC opponent on the marquee first weekend of college football at the Georgia Dome on national television could be a great way for the Tar Heels to capture some early momentum. Rams Club members should have received their ticket order form earlier this week and have an April 1 deadline to order their tickets.
2. Yes, there are two FCS teams on the schedule again at Kenan Stadium. Bubba Cunningham has mentioned the Tar Heels are trying to avoid this in the future, but the scheduling storm created by realignment, the addition of Notre Dame to the ACC, and other factors left several teams—including the Tar Heels—scrambling to fill holes in multiple schedules. And with the Georgia game already on the books, Carolina needed a home game to get to six games at Kenan Stadium. There was too much talk last year about two FCS teams keeping the Tar Heels out of the playoff picture. The reality is that if UNC had defeated South Carolina in the opener, they would have been firmly in the playoff discussion until the ACC championship game. The same will be true this year. If Carolina beats Georgia and Illinois, they'll be in position to make a national push if they run through the league. Lose either of those games, and it will be more difficult.
3. That open date on October 29 will be well deserved. Carolina embarks on a key four-game stretch in the first four games of October, with a visit to Florida State, a home date with Virginia Tech, a trip to Miami and a trip to Virginia. That also gives the Tar Heels three straight games against the three Coastal Division opponents with new coaches, which could make preparation a little tricky.
4. If Carolina survives that gauntlet, they'll get a tough stretch in November, too. A home date with Georgia Tech is followed five days later by a road game at Duke in what has become a fierce rivalry in addition to a game that usually has Coastal Division implications. Those are two teams with very different styles, and the Yellow Jackets are a physical team after which Carolina would ideally have a few extra days to recover. Instead, they'll have to turn right around and play a rivalry game. The good news? Larry Fedora's teams are 3-0 on short rest during his tenure in Chapel Hill, including a 26-19 win at Pitt last season.
Last year's Atlantic Division (non-rivalry) opponent was Wake Forest at Kenan Stadium; this year it's Florida State in Tallahassee. A year after some complained that Carolina's schedule was too soft, the Tar Heels have a difficult slate—both in the quality of the conference opponents and the way the games fall—in 2016.
5. Moving the NC State game to Friday makes sense. The last Saturday of the regular season is filled with national games that get lots of attention. If the UNC-State game has any relevance outside the Triangle—which we won't know for another ten months—its best chance to get noticed is by taking a slot on Friday with less competition.
