UNC will try to ruin Miami’s perfect record Saturday night

North Carolina is coming off a very disappointing overtime home loss to Syracuse. It was a game that the Tar Heels led 20-10 early into the fourth quarter and a loss that eventually cost them College Gameday this weekend against Miami. Will the Tar Heels bounce back and get the upset, or will they sleepwalk their way to a blowout?

The Opponent

All-time Record

687–394–19, 21-24 in bowl games, 3-1 in CFP games, five national titles

Best Former player

The pick here was not easy as Miami has 11 former players who are now in the Hall of Fame, however, for me when looking at those 11 guys, the choice was clear. So with all due respect to players like Jim Kelly, Ed Reed, Warren Sapp, and Michael Irvin, for me I had to go with Ray Lewis. Lewis is a two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time defensive player of the year. He is also a 10-time All Pro and a 13-time Pro Bowler. Additionally, Lewis led the NFL in solo tackles and combined tackles three different times, while also holding five NFL tackling records including most career solo tackles and most career combined tackles. With a few exceptions, the former NFL Super Bowl MVP is considered by most to be the best inside linebacker of all time.

Head Coach

Mario Cristobal. Cristobal, a former Hurricanes offensive tackle, has coached three schools including Miami and has amassed an overall record of 103-79 (Cristobal also coached at Oregon and FIU). Cristobal has won three conference championships in his 16 seasons (none at Miami) and has a 22-14 overall record in ACC play.

Last season

Last season, Miami went 10-2 with a huge win over Notre Dame and finished in a five-way tie for second place. Thanks to an odd tie-breaker system, Miami missed out on the ACC Championship game, but still slid into the College Football Playoff after Texas Tech beat BYU in the Big 12 championship game and the committee finally places the Hurricanes ahead of the Irish team they beat earlier in the season (up until that week Miami was two spots behind Notre Dame, huge controversy if you don’t remember). Miami took advantage of this opportunity and went on a run beating Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Ole Miss to reach the CFP Championship game. It was there they gave Indiana all it could handle before the Hurricanes eventually lost 27-21 to the Hoosiers as quarterback Carson Beck threw a pick on Miami’s final offensive play of the game to seal it.

When the Tar Heels are on offense

When North Carolina is on offense they should hope the defense gives them short fields because they are going up against a monster in Miami. The Hurricanes lead the ACC in points allowed per game, total yards per game, and rushing yards per game. They are tied for third in the conference with 20 sacks and have allowed only 12 touchdowns all season (and five of those came in the win against FSU). The only area that Miami is not amazing is pass defense, where they are twelfth in the ACC with 239.1 yards per game. In their closest game of the season, the aforementioned FSU game, Seminole’s quarterback Ashton Daniels passed for four touchdowns and almost 300 yards. Billy Edwards will have to have the game of his career for UNC to have a chance at the upset.

When the Tar Heels are on defense

When North Carolina is on defense, they need to hope Miami’s offense is overconfident and make sloppy errors and turnovers. The Hurricanes have the ACC leaders in passing and receiving yards in the Heisman hopeful duo of Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney. Last season while playing for Duke, Mensah completed over 60% of his passes while accumulating 202 total yards and a touchdown at Kenan Stadium as the Blue Devils won 32-25. Toney meanwhile leads the nation in receptions and is third nationally in receiving yards and touchdowns.

Even before the Syracuse loss, I saw no way that the Tar Heels could win this game. After the Syracuse loss, I will be amazed if they can keep it close for a half. Miami is the far superior team and unless they decide to not show up (whether figuratively or literally), this game will probably be the worst loss of the season for UNC (score wise, the loss to the Orange will probably hold the title of worst loss of the season regardless).

What do you think about the Tar Heels’ next opponent? Let us know in the comments below.