Morning Heel: UNC Tar Heels Daily News Links

Welcome to another edition of the Morning Heel, a daily feature here at Keeping It Heel.  Along with The Hub we want to bring you not only our original content but a collection of all the best UNC news.

Tar Heels aim to get ground game going vs. Pack
No ACC team has stopped UNC running back Giovani Bernard yet this season But the Wolfpack held Bernard to 47 yards on 18 carries a year ago, which is a big reason the Tar Heels were shut out for the first time in Raleigh in a 13-0 game. “They were coming at us, and we didn’t have an answer,” Bernard said. “I think this year we definitely have something for them.” Durham Herald Sun

Andrew Wiggins: Basketball’s best amateur?
Inside a cramped, dilapidated community center hidden at the end of a dark parking lot, Andrew Wiggins starts bouncing a basketball. Children scramble, and uninterested adults chatter about the night’s presidential debate and how one-time phenom O.J. Mayo built his rep here. They don’t know that North Carolina Coach Roy Williams is a day away from boarding a private plane just to meet with Wiggins. He is being recruited by Kentucky and Florida State, his parents’ alma mater, North Carolina visited Tuesday, and Ohio State and Kansas are scheduled to visit this week as well. (USA Today)

ACC Week 9 Preview and Predictions
Can North Carolina end a five-game losing streak to NC State? There’s no shortage of firepower on North Carolina’s offense, but the only way North Carolina snaps the losing streak to NC State has to come in the form of better defense. They have to find a way to slow down Wolfpack quarterback Mike Glennon Athlon Sports

Tar Heels coach throws red in players’ faces
There’s already red around Kenan Stadium and North Carolina State’s football team and fans haven’t shown up. That’s because North Carolina coach Larry Fedora plastered the Tar Heels locker room with red on the weekend, a ploy he said Wednesday was to make sure his team turned its attention to North Carolina State after a devastating loss to Duke on Saturday night. Burlington Times News

UNC Hosts NC State Saturday At Kenan
Carolina puts its unbeaten home record on the line when the Tar Heels play host to NC State Saturday at Kenan Stadium. The game will kick off at 12:30 p.m. on the ACC Network. The Tar Heels are 4-0 at home with wins over Elon, East Carolina, Idaho and Virginia Tech. UNC is looking to end a five-game losing streak against NC State. The Tar Heels last victory over the Wolfpack was a 23-9 decision in 2006. (GoHeels.com)

UNC opponents run right along
After digesting UNC’s defensive effort in its loss to Duke on Saturday, defensive coordinator Vic Koenning didn’t seem as surprised by the numbers as one might suspect. The Blue Devils eclipsed their season average by 123 by rushing for 234 yards against the Tar Heels. One week earlier, Miami ran for 180 yards against a UNC defense that still ranks third in the ACC in rushing defense even after two subpar weeks. (Raleigh News & Observer)

UNC Basketball: Lowered Expectations Can be a Really Good Thing
Former North Carolina Tar Heels coaching legend Dean Smith won the ACC coach of the year award a grand total of two times. Read that again, two times, in his entire legendary career. Keeping It Heel

Hogan family continues to care for UNC mascot
Rocky is a typical young Dorset Horned sheep most days, dining on grass and kicking up his heels in the pasture at Magnolia View Farm in Orange County. But when there is a nip in the air and autumn leaves are falling, Rocky, with his horns painted a particular shade of light blue, is led into Kenan Memorial Stadium in front of a cheering crowd and becomes Rameses XX — the most famous ram in the state. (Associated Press)

Comparing/Contrasting Marcus Paige to Recent Former UNC Freshman PGs
It’s rare that a freshman, let alone a point guard, starts for Roy Williams in the first game of the season.
Barring any injuries or a horrific series of showings at practice, this will be the task that is handed to North Carolina’s latest floor general, Marcus Paige. Bleacher Report