2009 record: 8-5, 4-4 ACC
Bowl teams (in '09): eight
Main event: LSU (Sept. 4 )
Miss in the ACC: BC, Wake, Maryland
Gimme: William & Mary (Oct. 30)
Bottom line: By far the toughest schedule for UNC in four seasons under Butch Davis, a major step up in competition with SEC power LSU in the opener and a road game at Rutgers, a likely preseason top 25 team.
The Tar Heels will likely start the 2010 season ranked in the top 15 and be expected to contend for the ACC title. The open date before hosting Georgia Tech is a break.
Missing Boston College, Wake Forest and Maryland from the other side of the conference is not, however. Trips to Miami, Florida State and personal damnation, Virginia, don't help the cause either.
If the Heels' defense is that good, they'll go 10-2 (split with LSU-Rutgers and one ACC loss), if not, another 8-4 finish is in play.
| Saturday, Sept. 4 | vs. LSU (@ Atlanta) |
| Saturday, Sept. 11 | open |
| Saturday, Sept. 18 | Georgia Tech |
| Saturday, Sept. 25 | @ Rutgers |
| Saturday, Oct. 2 | ECU |
| Saturday, Oct. 9 | Clemson |
| Saturday, Oct. 16 | @ Virginia |
| Saturday, Oct. 23 | @ Miami |
| Saturday, Oct. 30 | William & Mary |
| Saturday, Nov. 6 | @ Florida State |
| Saturday, Nov. 13 | Virginia Tech |
| Saturday, Nov. 20 | N.C. State |
| Saturday, Nov. 27 | @ Duke |
Comments
A few things
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 10:29 — mad_maxUNC ranked top 15 in the preseason? C'mon, you guys all know how much I hate Carolina, but any unbiased fan would be asking, "what exactly have they done to warrant a top 15 ranking?".
You would think that if Carolina is ever gonna win in Charlottesville again, it's gonna be this year...you would think. All streaks come to an end eventually. I can't imagine UNC losing that one again, but at the same time, that game has shocked me a couple times in the past several years.
10-2?!? That is a pretty ballsy prediction IMHO. It's not that I don't acknowledge that UNC has a pretty good defense, but did you take a good look at that schedule? LSU, GT, and Rutgers could all be very losable games. UNC should beat ECU, though I guess you never know in rivalry games. Then it's back to a tough stretch with Clemson, Miami, and the trip to Charlottesville. After a little break with William & Mary, their season ends with 4 games that you know are gonna be dog fights. So, 2 losses? I don't know about that. I could see 9-3 if you're assuming everything goes right for the Heels...things like injuries, a fixed offense, lucky bounces, and conisistently good gameplanning by the coaches. But hey, if UNC goes 10-2 with this schedule, I would easily put them in my top 15 at the end of the year.
nothing wrong ...
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 16:36 — gvillegatrwith your post at all. I also think it was objective.
UNC, like all teams, need to go out and prove it.
IMO, UNC should start the season out b/tn #20-29. Beat LSWho and Jawja Tech and then you get into the top 15 no problem.
I see your point
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 14:28 — Heels20Our defense has extremely lofty expectations entering this season, and that makes me nervous. It's not so much that I'm worried that we don't have the talent to get it done, because we do. However, we've had a history of getting way too conservative in the past after gaining "comfortable" leads. Christian Ponder took advantage of that 8-12 yard cushion we gave him on every play and led his offense to a 24-point second half and a 3-point victory. That's just one example of many. Don't forget that our offense has a lot to prove, and QB contraversies never make for pretty situations. I hope Yates is able to step up and finally mature so Renner can learn for one more year.
On the other hand, we very easily could have won 11 games last year and 12 the year before if we had been a little more aggressive on defense and a little less stupid on offense. In 2008, you had VT, UVA, UMD and WVU that were results of preventable turnovers on the offensive side, and too conservative play-calling on the defensive side. This past season, FSU and NCSU are two games that we had won, and let them slip away because we took our foot off the gas. The difference in the bowl game against Pitt was TJ's imitation of Jake Delhomme in turning the ball over on a dumb pass at the goal line.
But don't let the turnovers and play-calling serve as excuses for losses. They are part of the game and always have an impact on wins and losses. My point of all this is that the potential is there, so now all we have to do is get it done. Defense is loaded, offense can't get any worse. Instead of winning games off pure talent, let's destroy teams by being fundamentally sound, disciplined and intelligent. Over half our starters on D will play in the NFL, and we've got a lot of young talent on the offensive side.
However our guys respond could be the difference between 6-6 and 10-2 (MAYBE 11-1 if the football Gods are really on our side)
Don't forget....
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 13:34 — JPDOhioTheir annual loss to NC State.
Yes this is a tough
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 22:14 — unc098Yes this is a tough schedule, but I think this team is going to be exponentially better. The defense is going to be downright tough and the offensive should be immensely improved. I like us against LSU in the opener and I think we can play with them. Butch needs to convince this team that they CAN beat LSU. They certainly are capable of doing it. If this team can focus they can do well. The Sleeper this year will be FSU.Watch out! They will come back with a vengence. I am hoping that we can take GT early in the season. This team just needs to watch GT's bowl game for the answer to beating them. Well you know is playing for William and Mary.... and it will be interesting to see how that game goes. Jimmy Lacock is one of the best coaches in the country. This season is a measure of BD. I am looking forward to it.
home games
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 18:01 — gvillegatrthe home schedule looks like a good year to be a season ticket holder. a nice balance of good teams and then you have the rivals to end the season.
I'm thinking high...
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 17:13 — UNC1998Last year was when I felt the team might be better and the record not show it. Next year is when I think the team will be better and the record will show it. The offense will be better, I'm sure. Help and health on the O-line is a key. Running the ball has a better chance with a player like Bernard. Defense will be stout. I expect them to do a better job of keeping teams from scoring (esp. when you've got the lead down the stretch). QB play is yet to be determined. We know Yates can be good, when given strong receivers. We don't know about Renner, but we know he will probably compete for the starting job.
I hope so
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 18:52 — Heels20We have a tough non-conference. William and Mary sounds like a cupcake but they've proven over the past couple years that they can hang with 1-A schools. The other 3 teams we play went to bowls. We could very well be ranked higher than LSU when we play them, as I believe they only return 5 starters on each side of the ball. You can throw rankings out the window for that game because a lot of people will be surprised if we win, and not many will expect LSU to lose.
As far as conference goes, we don't play Maryland, BC or Wake, which is kind of a tough break because those are the only 3 teams from the Atlantic that I think would be automatic wins. November 6 will be a fun one to watch: FSU's offense against our defense. It could turn into another wild season, so I hope we come up on the winning end of the close games this time around.