An ACC team beats somebody out of conference, and they just don’t get much credit. It has to be because the opponent is suddenly terrible. FSU beat Alabama last year, and Alabama is just awful. The Tide get to the playoffs, and they are just better than game 1. It took Miami beating 3 straight top 10 teams before they started getting real credit on their way to a top 2 season.
UNC pulls off the upset of TCU, and the Horned Frogs are awful with a bad quarterback. Well, I’m not sure if UNC is better now, critics say. It must be TCU.
These are poor takes. Many things can be true at once. UNC winning Saturday 15-10 over TCU doesn’t mean the Heels are an ACC contender, but improved? You better believe it. We said this in our best / worse case scenario for UNC.
Will Go 6-6 (4-4) if:
They beat TCU in the opener. Last year, TCU was a measuring stick game in the first game of the season for UNC, and the Heels failed the test miserably. It was an indication of just how bad the Tar Heels would be. If UNC can steal that game with a decent TCU squad, it would be a great sign that the Heels could be a bowl-quality team
UNC looked like a team that could reach a bowl game. Billy Edwards is a huge upgrade at QB. In bad weather, he largely played smart, efficient football. Bobby Petrino as the new OC gave the Heels’ offense an identity and consistency in play calling. The defense was opportunistic and may have a star in UNC sophomore DT Xavier Lewis, who was huge.
We can admit TCU played poorly. They were sloppy, made mistakes, and Sonny Dyke’s had terrible 4th-down play calling in the red zone, but UNC needed some help. The Horned Frogs were still a fringe top 25 team coming in, and they didn’t play well. Nobody will argue that, but last year’s UNC team still loses by 10-14 points today.
You have to give Bill Belichick and staff credit. All the off-season talk of hot seat, off-the-field distractions, and more, and the Tar Heels played a gutsy game that resulted in their biggest win under Belichick.
