Daily Gamecock Sports Editor Kyle Heck had five questions about the upcoming matchup for Daily Tar Heel Sports Editor Brooke Pryor. Here are her answers.
1. Now the Tar Heels had a good season last year in Larry Fedora’s first campaign, but the postseason ban forced the team to stay home. With the ban now gone, what is the atmosphere like around Chapel Hill? How confident are the UNC faithful that they can win the ACC championship?
The bowl ban last year didn’t prevent UNC from playing hard. The team captured its first Coastal Division title in quite a few years, but because of the bowl ban was ineligible. Now that the team is eligible, the attitude is definitely changing. The team has something to play for, and the experience it gained last year under Fedora will definitely help out.
2. Gio Bernard was obviously an important player for the team last season. But with him gone to the NFL, is there any concern about the team’s ability to replace him?
This year the team will have a corps of running backs to go to, instead of one player. Romar Morris stepped up big time during the spring season and has continued to improve during the preseason. A.J. Blue is a fifth-year senior who is more of a bruising running back. He was the front runner to get the starting job, but has been sidelined by a nagging injury. He’ll likely be ready to go by Thursday, but look for Morris to start. The receiving corps is led by sophomore Quinshad Davis, who is one of the only South Carolina natives on UNC’s roster. He had a big season as a true freshman and has put on weight in the offseason.
3. Bryn Renner had a breakout season last year. How has he looked during camp, and how high are the expectations for him and the UNC offense after scoring 40 points per game last season?
Bryn Renner is infinitely more times confident than he was last season. He’s looked sharp during camp, and a season with Fedora’s playbook has helped give him that confidence. He knows the system and knows what Fedora expects. It’s no secret that Fedora wants to run a fast offense, and the team knows that he expects nothing less. With all that in mind, expectations are high that UNC will continue to put up big offensive numbers.
4. South Carolina and North Carolina don’t get the opportunity to play each other often, so what is the general mood about the Gamecocks in Chapel Hill? Can you sense any extra motivation to win the “Battle of the Carolinas”?
The Tar Heels are fired up to play South Carolina, because it isn’t often that they get to open their slate by facing a top-10 team. It only adds fuel to the fire that the top-10 team is South Carolina. The game notes provided before the first preseason press conference referred to UNC as “Carolina” as many times as possible, and I can only imagine the same sort of thing is happening in Columbia. Students are also very excited because a lot of them have friends at South Carolina, and who doesn’t love an opportunity to travel to SEC country?
5. From what you have gathered, how confident is the UNC coaching staff in their ability to stop Jadeveon Clowney? In addition, how confident is the coaching staff in their ability to come to Columbia and leave with a win?
If you’ve ever heard any sound bite from Larry Fedora, he’s always fired up, and he always thinks his team will win (but then again, what coach doesn’t tell the media his team will win?). Jadeveon Clowney is definitely the topic of conversation around Chapel Hill, and it sounds like they’ve got a plan drawn up. However, they’re not focusing all of their energy on Clowney, because there are other guys looking to destroy UNC on the field. It would be a mistake to ignore the other 10 guys on the field.
Prediction: 35-17 South Carolina – South Carolina will easily win the game, but UNC won’t go down without a fight. The Tar Heels will be able to put a few points on the board by capitalizing either on defensive miscues or a second-string defense.