UNC Climbs in College Football Polls
Despite a slow start to their game on Saturday, the Tar Heels exploded in the fourth quarter to run away from Syracuse 31-6.
With several ranked teams having not played, both the AP and Coaches polls have seen fit to give Carolina a significant boost for week three. UNC started the season at No. 18 in the AP and No. 19 in the Coaches. After the solid win this weekend, the Tar Heels have moved up to 12 and 11 in those rankings, respectively.
The jump is somewhat surprising, and it stokes the fire of the hype train that much more.
What has North Carolina so highly ranked at this point is the potential of a high-powered offense. This is also what had Carolina fans so worried on Saturday. After a crisp opening drive that lead to a touchdown, it took until the fourth quarter for the offense to find the end zone again.
Sam Howell, who has been considered a sleeper Heisman candidate, looked extremely rusty at times. He threw an interception in both the second and third quarters, with the second being particularly unsettling. The first pick was a tipped and some good defense from the Orange. The second was a lofted pass and that was easily snuffed out by the NCAA current career leader in INTs Andre Cisco. He did settle and led very confident drives for three straight scores in the fourth before taking a seat.
What this means, though, is that Tar Heel coaching staff has plenty to pick through to find improvements moving forward. Even with this, the game did nothing to hurt their rankings, quite the opposite. They were favored by 23.5 points and won by 25.
After a good ACC test to start the season, the UNC will next face their non-conference FCS opponent with Charlotte. A big win in their second game could give the Tar Heels a platform to showcase their talent and solidify their top-15 status.
