Mr. CFB No. 9: North Carolina

When Mack Brown returned to North Carolina, where he built a national power in the 1990s, the critics said that he was too old. The game had passed him by.

Well, let’s take another look at that. After going 7-6 in his first season back in Chapel Hill (2019), the Tar Heels went 8-4 in the COVID season of 2020. There were two close losses to Florida State (31-28) and Virginia (44-41) and two losses to Top 10 teams in No. 4 Notre Dame (31-17), which made the playoffs, and No. 5 Texas A&M (41-27 in the Orange Bowl) which almost made the playoffs.

So North Carolina enters the 2021 season as the pick to win the ACC Coastal and to face Clemson in the ACC championship game.

While the Tar Heels lost a bunch of skilled people offense, they return quarterback Sam Howell who will be third-year starter. Howell had a monster sophomore season in 2020, leading an offense that averaged 537.2 yards and 41.7 points per game, which were both school records. In just two seasons he has thrown 68 touchdown passes in the up-tempo scheme that is run by Phil Longo.

North Carolina lost a lot of talent at running back but that will be offset by the arrival of Ty Chandler, a graduate transfer who ran for over 2,000 yards at Tennessee.

Here’s another reason to be bullish on the North Carolina offense. It returns 112 career starts on the offensive line.

North Carolina’s defense forced the fewest turnovers (11) of any team in the ACC last season. That will have to improve.

The Tar Heels open with a monster ACC Coastal matchup at Virginia Tech on Friday, Sept. 3. In fact, they play five conference games in the first six seeks of the season followed by a trip to Notre Dame.

Note: The photo above is that of North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell (No. 7) playing against Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021. The photo is credited to Jason Vinlove.