The Carolina Quick Read: Week 3

Next up: at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., Friday (ESPN)

Wrapping up the weekend

What a night for the Tar Heels.

Kenan Stadium was packed early, got loud and rarely slowed down for Mack Brown's first game back in Chapel Hill.

The defense bent —surrendering 488 yards — but didn't break, giving Sam Howell and the offense a chance to engineer another game-winning drive, culminating in Dazz Newsome's touchdown catch with a minute remaining.

Even Brown admits he didn't foresee this coming and the Tar Heels are receiving votes in the AP Top 25.

At 2-0, it's reasonable to start thinking about Carolina playing in a bowl game.

Takeaways

There's not much else to say about Howell, as the true freshman has led two fourth-quarter comebacks in two college starts. His confidence and calm demeanor isn't something you can teach.
Dyami Brown has emerged as Howell's top target, with 13 passes directed his way over two games, catching eight for 149 yards and two touchdowns, including a 62-yard score on Saturday night.
The Tar Heels already have 15 plays of 20+ yards from scrimmage, ranking 12th nationally. Last season, Carolina had a total of 60 plays that covered 20+ yards in 11 games.
Tomon Fox led the usual suspects up front with three sacks and a hurry as Jason Strowbridge and Aaron Crawford caused their usual disruption. Behind them, Jeremiah Gemmel was all over the place in his second start, leading the Tar Heels with 14 tackles (eight solo) and a hurry.
Trey Morrison, who was questionable with an upper-body injury, had a huge night, breaking up a pass, one pass in the end zone and another deep into Carolina territory. Jay Bateman said in the preseason he'd have to find ways to get him on the field, and so far, Morrison has proven him right about his potential impact.
Missed tackles were better than Week 1 vs. South Carolina, but there were still quite a few. In particular, Miami quarterback Jarren Williams escaped sacks three different times that Carolina defenders appeared to have him wrapped up.
Kick coverage was better as Michael Rubino didn't give the Hurricanes a shot to return a kickoff, but punting was an issue as Ben Kiernan's four tries covered just 110 yards (27.5 average), with a long of 35 yards. Carolina currently ranks 126th of 130 teams in punting average.
Nick Polino suffered an apparent leg injury in the first quarter and did not return, and in his absence, the Tar Heels struggled to run the ball, rushing 12 times for -11 yards in the second and third quarters. In the fourth, Carolina figured it out and picked up 71 yards on 12 carries.
In addition to Polino, cornerback Patrice Rene did not return after banging his right knee on Myles Wolfolk's helmet and receiver Antoine Green went down with a lower body injury. There should be an update on their statuses before Brown's 11 a.m. press conference.
A Carolina team picking up just one penalty for five yards was unthinkable before Saturday night. A massive improvement after 10 penalties for 90 yards in the opener.

About the Deacons

Wake Forest is 2-0 after winning a shootout with Utah State in its season-opener, then handling its business with a 41-21 victory at Rice on Saturday night.
The Deacons offense has been unstoppable, averaging 546 yards while controlling the tempo, having run 167 plays. The Tar Heels certainly won't mind the speed.
Quarterback Jamie Newman has completed 74 percent of his attempts for 713 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions. Since Newman took over as the starters, Wake Forest is 5-1.
He's got two big-time targets in receivers Scotty Washington and Sage Surratt, younger brother of Chazz, who have both already topped the 200-yard mark this season.
The defense remains a work in progress, currently ranking 112th nationally, allowing an average of 458 yards. There will be points in Winston-Salem on Friday night.

ACC schedule

FRIDAY
Kansas At Boston College, 7:30 p.m. (ACC Network)

SATURDAY
N.C. State at West Virginia, 12 p.m. (FS1)
Pittsburgh at No. 13 Penn State, 12 p.m. (ABC)
The Citadel at Georgia Tech, 12:30 p.m. (ACC Network Extra)
Louisville at Western Kentucky, 4 p.m.
Bethune-Cookman at Miami, 4 p.m. (ACC Network)
Duke at Middle Tennessee, 7 p.m.
No. 1 Clemson at Syracuse, 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
Florida State at No. 25 Virginia, 7:30 p.m. (ACC Network)

Around the nation

FRIDAY
No. 20 Washington State vs. Houston, 9:15 p.m. (ESPN)

SATURDAY
Arkansas State at No. 3 Georgia, 12 p.m. (ESPN2)
No. 2 Alabama at South Carolina, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)
Stanford at No. 17 UCF, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 19 Iowa at Iowa State, 4 p.m (FS1)
No. 9 Florida at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Texas Tech at Arizona, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)