Something different is in the air around Chapel Hill, North Carolina these days and it’s not orange, round and bouncy but brown and oval. Actually, we still have a few more weeks to survive until they turn the lights on for the 2008 College Football season but at least in Chapel Hill they are talking about it. At this time a year ago football season was being looked on as we see an appetizer before the main course. And you are smart enough to know what that is.
Fans of the University of North Carolina football team, also known as “Tar Heels,” have higher than usual pre-season expectations as do online oddsmakers at sportsbook Bodog (Bodoglife.com) whom have installed the Tar Heels at 3/1 odds to win the ACC coastal division. Only Miami at 5/2 odds and Virginia Tech at 11/10 odds have a better shot according to the experts. Oddsmakers also have North Carolina installed at 8/1 odds to win the ACC outright but at 100/1 odds are an extreme long shot to win a BCS National Championship.
In the first season (2007) under Head Coach Butch Davis, North Carolina finished the year with a 4-8 record overall and a 3-5 mark in league play, good for 4th in the Coastal Division. The Tar Heels lost 6 games by 7 or fewer points. QB T.J. Yates threw for 2,655 yards, the 4th highest total for a freshman in ACC history. Freshman safety Deunta Williams was named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year. WR Hakeem Nicks, a 2nd-team All-ACC selection, set a school record with 74 pass receptions. PK Connor Barth, a Groza Award semifinalist, connected on 19 of 22 FGs and finished his career with 54 FGs. Freshman Greg Little started at TB in the final 2 games of the year and ran for 243 yards. LB Durell Mapp was 2nd in the ACC in tackles (11.0) and was named a 2nd-team All-ACC choice along with DT Kentwan Balmer…KR Brandon Tate became the ACC career leader in kickoff return yardage with 2,383 yards.
The Tar Heels will be without the services of 5 starters from a year ago including 2nd All-ACC picks Kentwan Balmer (DT), Durell Mapp (LB) and Hilee Taylor (DE) on defense, PK Connor Barth and center Scott Lenahan on offense.Taylor finished 2nd in the ACC in QB sacks with 10.5 on the year, while Mapp was 2nd in tackles in the Conference with 132 hits.
Davis will welcome back an ACC-leading 19 starters including 10 on offense, 8 on defense and punter Terrance Brown (41.7). Yates, who completed 59.7 percent of his passes for 14 TDs, leads an offensive unit that returns 4 of 5 starters on the offensive line in tackles Garrett Reynolds and Kyle Jolly and guards Calvin Darity and Aaron Stahl and WR’s Hakeem Nicks and Brandon Tate (19.2 avg.), TE Zack Pianalto (24
catches) and 4 TBs who played last fall in Greg Little (300), Johnny White (399), Anthony Elzy (321) and Ryan Houston (145).
Defensively, the Tar Heels return 4 starters from a young, but talented secondary including Deunta Williams, a 1st-team Freshman All-America (FWAA), Trimane Goddard at safety, and Charles Brown and Kendric Burney at the corners… Up front, 1st-team Freshman All-America DT Marvin Austin joins returning starters E.J. Wilson (DE) and Aleric Mullins (DT). A pair of sophomore starters also returns at LB in Honorable Mention Freshman All-America Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter.
The Tar Heels get a break in the schedule by catching the strength of their league foe at home in Chapel Hill including Virginia Tech on Sept. 20. It might be difficult to escape Miami with a win however the rest of the slate is very favorable.
2008 North Carolina Football Schedule
8/30 McNeese State (Cowboys, Southland)
9/11 @ Rutgers (Scarlet Knights, Big East) Piscataway, N.J.
9/20 Virginia Tech (Hokies)
9/27 @Miami (Hurricanes)
10/04 Connecticut (Huskies, Big East)
10/11 Notre Dame (Irish, Independent)
10/25 Boston College (Eagles)
11/08 Georgia Tech (Yellow Jackets)
11/15 @Maryland (Terps)
11/22 NC State (Wolfpack)
11/29 @ Duke (Blue Devils)
