Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports We’re off and running and the standings are tight. When you have a slate devoid of any sort of marquee matchups, you end up with a lot of sameness in the predictions. Those of us that tried to take a few leaps of faith were unfortunately not rewarded as just about every game went exactly as it should have. There was one game we all got wrong... I mean, after that absolute classic of a game against Notre Dame, who amongst all of us thought that Jacksonville State would pull off that miracle? In case you missed it, here’s Wes Durham’s call of that play — and tell me it doesn’t sound like Woody is making this call That said, what you REALLY wanted to hear was the hometown radio call of this one, and it’s pretty good. Give it up to Mike Parris, the voice of the Gamecocks, for giving them a sound that’ll live in program lore for a long time And of course, you can’t hear the thrill of victory without the agony of defeat. Props to the FSU radio guys, I suspect they were all very representative of the fanbase as a whole: As called on Florida State radio: pic.twitter.com/DPEsUnlgoi— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 12, 2021 Yes, that’s the sound of a headset being slammed to the ground. That’s college football in a nutshell, and man, it’s been missed. We’ll see if FSU can ultimately recover from this, you’ll see most of us don’t believe in them anymore. As far as the standings go, you can see from the predictions above that right now the spread of records is 12-2 to 10-4...and sadly your humble author is the only one to be 10-4. The only regret I have is believing that Illinois would get up against Virginia, because I was completely fooled by them beating a horrid Nebraska. Each of my other wrong picks is completely defensible, and at least I wasn’t fooled into think NC State had any shot of going down to Starkville and winning. Akil, Brandon, Joe, Max, and Tanya all share the lead out of the gate, and there will be some separation between those five, as you’ll see. Potential for strife here as Brandon and Micheal have decided to be traitors while everyone else said that the Tar Heels will end their skid against the Cavs. Jake has decided to be done with his “go with Evan” strategy and actually was the lone voice to take Louisville, few of us believe in FSU after last weekend, and even fewer of us believe in Virginia Tech despite the fact they didn’t fall on their face after beating Carolina week 1. We’ll see how the records change after Saturday, but if the majority of us are wrong about the UNC/UVa game, we don’t want to be right.

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports Explosive plays are becoming the key to the Carolina offense. Welcome to the Tar Heel Hangover. This is our opportunity to review last week’s game, second-guess all of the key moments, and set the game plan for the week ahead. The Elevator Speech: What happened last week. In many ways, this was the warm-up that Carolina likely needed before traveling to Blacksburg. A chance to work out some of the kinks, the Heels put up 59 points against the over-matched Panthers and controlled the entire game. Hopefully, this production will be a confidence builder moving forward. There are still concerns on both sides of the ball, however. Georgia State was able to get fairly consistent pressure on the Carolina backfield and the Heels’ defense gave up almost 200 yards rushing. Line play on both sides of the ball will continue to be an area of focus for development. Water Cooler Discussion: Big plays on offense. Fans knew that the departures of Michael Carter and Javonte Williams would have an impact on the Carolina offense. The most immediate effect has been the lack of a consistent running game. A lesser recognized result has been the inability of Carolina to sustain long drives. Without the ability to comfortably consume four or five yards per play on the ground, the Heels are becoming increasingly reliant on big plays to score. The sole touchdown against Virginia Tech was a tunnel screen from Sam Howell to Josh Downs who broke for 37 yards. The first half touchdowns against Georgia State followed a similar pattern: 22 yard Sam Howell run, 57 yard pass to Antoine Green, 30 yard pass to Emery Simmons. For the entire game, Carolina only had one scoring drive of 10 plays or more against the Panthers. This is largely due to the lack of a consistent running game, which is needed for grinding drives. Contrast this with Georgia State, who had a 17 play, 75 yard drive for a touchdown in the second quarter. Constantly and exclusively relying on the big play to score is simply not a recipe for continued success in major college football. Relatedly, the lack of sustained drives is killing the time of possession. Despite a huge Carolina victory, it was Georgia State that won the time of possession battle. Virginia Tech dominated in time of possession. The Heels had only two scoring drives that consumed more than four minutes of game time, with the longest logging in at 4:39. Georgia State had a drive that lasted 7:30. This imbalance will wear down the defense over time and make for frustrating fourth quarters. A Quick Look Ahead Carolina gets another prime time game as the Virginia Cavaliers come to town for a 7:30 kick-off. Brennan Armstrong is a pass-first quarterback who has enough mobility to be dangerous on the move. The Cavaliers have also only given up one sack on the year, although this will be their first game against major competition. Winning this game will require better play at the line of scrimmage on both sides for the Heels. I am looking for more blitzes and schemes on the defensive side to put pressure on Armstrong. The Carolina secondary is very good and it is time to let them play. On offense, some semblance of a running game must appear and it can not all be on Sam Howell’s shoulders. If traditional runs do not generate yards, then I would expect more hybrid running plays like quick swing passes. Final Thought The Georgia State win showed promise but generated plenty of questions. As a nine point favorite against a conference foe, Saturday could be a step toward giving fans answers. Big plays are exciting, but it is the long drives that show dominance. Go Heels!

It’s that time again! We’re well into September, so that means it’s time to recap the books I read in August! This month was a bit of a mixed bag. I read one of my favorite books of the year,…