How good is North Carolina?

[SuperHornet]

Liberty just announced that they will open the 2014 season in Chapel Hill....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoeMnrUM8Ns[/youtube]

[dal4018]

Liberty just announced that they will open the 2014 season in Chapel Hill....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoeMnrUM8Ns[/youtube]

The Heels like to run make them pass.

[CAA Flagship]

Liberty plays ODU next week. ODU plays UNC in November. You can get a read from those results.

[dal4018]

Liberty plays ODU next week. ODU plays UNC in November. You can get a read from those results.

Carolina is not even ranked in the major categories except run offense.The Flames if they play their cards right could pull a upset.

[andy7171]

Pretty sure the Tar Heels are better than Kent State and Richmond.

[dal4018]

Pretty sure the Tar Heels are better than Kent State and Richmond.

I still hold out for a upset for the Flames.

[SuperHornet]

Liberty plays ODU next week. ODU plays UNC in November. You can get a read from those results.

Carolina is not even ranked in the major categories except run offense.The Flames if they play their cards right could pull a upset.

That's certainly possible, given that it's the first game of the season (at least for Liberty, anyway). If a FBS is ever ripe for an FCS upset, it's MUCH more likely to happen in the first couple of games of the season. There's no pressure to rest starters at the end of the season in preparation for the playoffs as there is in the NFL, so FBS teams playing for bowls are more likely to be aware of what's going on late in the season, if only to protect their potential bowl bid. That means MORE of a likelihood to run it up on the "little guy" in the rare occurrence of a late-season matchup. (Those are rare, of course, because recent games probably weigh more heavily in deciding who gets bids, and dropdown games late are likely to lose cred for their mere presence. People tend to forget about early dropdown games, particularly in the midst of a great season.)

By NO means, however, is it a done deal. Liberty has FBS wins (albeit against the MAC and similar teams), but they have also let winnable FBS games get away lately. This would be a good signature win on which to hang a season, but even if the Flames DO pull it off, they'll have to be careful to avoid Hornet Syndrome, the major symptom of which is beating a B(C)$ team early, then p!$$ing the season down the leg with poor play and horrible coaching the rest of the way.

[ASUG8]

Isn't it a little early in THIS season to start sizing up the competition for NEXT season? Injuries, graduations, recruiting classes, etc. all need to be factored in.

[Ibanez]

Carolina is not even ranked in the major categories except run offense.The Flames if they play their cards right could pull a upset.

That's certainly possible, given that it's the first game of the season (at least for Liberty, anyway). If a FBS is ever ripe for an FCS upset, it's MUCH more likely to happen in the first couple of games of the season. There's no pressure to rest starters at the end of the season in preparation for the playoffs as there is in the NFL, so FBS teams playing for bowls are more likely to be aware of what's going on late in the season, if only to protect their potential bowl bid. That means MORE of a likelihood to run it up on the "little guy" in the rare occurrence of a late-season matchup. (Those are rare, of course, because recent games probably weigh more heavily in deciding who gets bids, and dropdown games late are likely to lose cred for their mere presence. People tend to forget about early dropdown games, particularly in the midst of a great season.)

By NO means, however, is it a done deal. Liberty has FBS wins (albeit against the MAC and similar teams), but they have also let winnable FBS games get away lately. This would be a good signature win on which to hang a season, but even if the Flames DO pull it off, they'll have to be careful to avoid Hornet Syndrome, the major symptom of which is beating a B(C)$ team early, then p!$$ing the season down the leg with poor play and horrible coaching the rest of the way.

The Tar Heels are a pretty damn good.

[Gil Dobie]

Minnesota pulled a Montana State and bought out the game with North Carolina

[Aho Old Guy]

The Tar Heels are a pretty damn good.

There is always hope ... but, this.

Senior QB will graduate this year (with a bunch of passing records) but they sure are high on a couple back-ups (who are more spread-oriented QBs)

They're kinda young this year (I think) and run one of those '80-plays-a-game' offenses.