The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of North Carolina College Football
By Austen Lopp
The Ugly:
UNC
Unfortunately, for Carolina fans, this will probably not be your year. In fact, it will be quite ugly. Slapped hard with the injury bug and coming off of back to back nine-loss seasons. The firing of seven-year Tar Heel head coach Larry Fedora and subsequent hiring of Mack Brown felt like a breath of fresh air for Carolina. But the “culture shift” that Brown brings with him more than likely will not be enough to put the Heels on the right track, at least not this year.
According to Brian Keyes of the Daily Tar Heel, Coach Brown wants Carolina to pass the ball as well as anyone in the country and is already implementing an Oklahoma style “air raid” offense backed up by a strong running game. The run game isn’t the issue, with a strong three-man group at the back position the talent is there, the question arises at quarterback.
With just a month until the Heels take on South Carolina at Bank of America Stadium for the Belk College Football Kickoff, three names are still up in the air for starting quarterback. True-freshman Sam Howell and red-shirt freshmen Cade Fortin and Jace Ruder are still duking it out for the starting spot, with no clear favorite. The trio struggled early in the offseason with turnovers but has shown glimpses of hope.
According to offensive lineman Charlie Heck,
"They’re so good in their own way. All three of them have kind of a game-changing swag about them. At any moment, they could throw a bomb. They could break a run."
The Heels struggled big last season moving the ball downfield, coming in 106th in the nation in passing, finishing the season with 14 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. With a trio of young quarterbacks yet to play collegiately, the thought that whoever wins the spot will come in and consistently operate a pass-heavy offense in one of the most dominant conferences in the country is asinine. There will be growing pains.
Projected 2019 Record:
4-8
Duke
The Blue Devils have their work cut out for them this year, especially early. They will kick things off at pre-season number one Alabama. Then take on uber-competitive and not to be trifled with NC A&T, then play in Murfreesboro against Middle Tennessee, before kicking off ACC play at Virginia Tech (a team they haven’t beaten in three years).
Long story short, Duke could very well find itself sitting at 1-3 looking down a long road of ACC matchups where they struggled so much last year (3-5). The early season wins last year that set Duke on a great pace to make a bowl game no matter how ACC play went have been taken away from them and let’s just say, it could be ugly.
On top of the tough season, the Blue Devils also have some serious turn over in their roster. Senior Quentin Harris will more than likely take over Daniel Jones’ spot at quarterback, but that could possibly be an upgrade.
Bill Connelly at SBNation reminded me in his annual preview of the Blue Devils (an amazing series that you should read if you are an intuitive CFB fan),
"When Jones missed two games with a September 2018 shoulder injury, Harris threw for a combined 376 yards and six touchdowns, threw no picks, took no sacks, and rushed for 146 yards. Duke beat Baylor and NC Central with relative ease"
So, there’s your good news Duke fans, you MIGHT be okay at quarterback. The issue is that the Blue Devils are also replacing all of their wide receivers, as well as two killer linebackers, and have a big hole in the secondary. Duke has significant issues throughout the roster and with a hard schedule early and no time to reassess before ACC play comes around, I just doubt that Coach David Cutcliffe is going to be able to turn things around after what will more than likely be a bumpy start.