UNC Football vs. ECU: Game preview, info, prediction and more

The UNC Football team returns to action on Saturday afternoon for another road game as they will take on ECU.

Well, Week 1 didn’t go exactly as planned for the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. They came out sloppy offensively and despite making it interesting late, really didn’t have a good overall showing.

UNC’s defense played very well throughout the game but they were on the field nearly double the amount of time as Cal’s defense. That is always a recipe for a disaster.

But let’s look ahead to Week 2 and UNC’s matchup against ECU in a game the Tar Heels should win.

The Tar Heels head down the road to Greenville, North Carolina for a date with ECU, a team that was upset by North Carolina A&T last Saturday. This is the first meeting between the Tar Heels and Pirates since the 2014 game in Greenville where ECU blew out UNC 70-41 but more on that later.

Let’s focus on this week’s matchup.

Both programs are trending down after losing their Week 1 game. The Pirates are coming off a 3-9 year and the future of head coach Scottie Montgomery who is now 6-19 since taking over in 2016. A win over UNC would certainly help fans forget about the Week 1 loss to the Aggies and would go a long way in getting the Pirates back on track.

It’s not only an important game for ECU, however.

This is a huge game for the Tar Heels as they are in a critical year of trying to turn this football program around. The way UNC lost to Cal was very disappointing on Saturday and left many fans not excited for what could come this season.

A win for UNC gives them some confidence going into a huge game against a Top 25 team in UCF for the Tar Heels’ home opener next weekend. The Knights looked impressive in their Week 1 win and are a very dangerous team coming off an undefeated year. If UNC wants to reach a bowl game, they need to take care of the

Fedora doesn’t remember…

We told you we’d talk about the previous meeting, so here we are. While most of you remember it, head coach Larry Fedora doesn’t.

While appearing on The David Glenn Radio Show, Fedora was asked about the loss to ECU back in 2014, the last time the two teams met. He told Glenn that he doesn’t remember that game, an awkward exchange for the two:

Fedora was then asked about that same thing at practice later in the week and he doubled down on his comments as seen in this video by the News & Observer reporter Jonathan Alexander.

It’s hard not to remember that blowout win for the Pirates in which UNC’s defense was just non-existent. But if Fedora doesn’t remember, then hey he doesn’t remember.

UNC key to victory

Quarterback play. Against the Golden Bears, starter Nathan Elliott got off to a poor start. In fact, the entire Tar Heels’ offense got off to a poor start.

UNC couldn’t move the football down the field and Elliott struggled.

While he did have a better second half, Elliott’s performance wasn’t what you’d hope for from the starter. The hope is that he can continue where he left off in the final drive of the second half for UNC going into this game.

A solid run game would also help Elliott. Against Cal, the Tar Heels duo of Jordon Brown and Antonio Williams struggled early and often. It didn’t help that the offensive line seemed to break down more than stand up. The offensive line will be another key to protecting Elliott and paving the way for Brown and Williams to run.

If UNC can establish a rhythm early, it could be a good day for them overall.

Something to keep an eye on…

The longer UNC allows ECU to stay in the game, the better chance they have to win the game. For a team that is a double-digit underdog, they can get some confidence if they get up early on the Tar Heels.

With the Pirates being at home, UNC needs to jump on them early and take the lead. Doing that will help UNC build some confidence and take some excitement away from the home crowd.

In their last meeting, the Pirates got the big play early with Shane Carden hitting Trevon Brown for a 55-yard touchdown on the opening drive. UNC did respond with 13 unanswered points but the Pirates added another touchdown with 4:03 left in the first quarter. The Pirates did their damage with three-straight touchdowns to end the first half and take a 35-20 lead.

If UNC lets ECU stay in this game and falls behind, it could be a long day for the Tar Heels and could lead to a loss. That would spell doom for Fedora and his squad as they would likely be staring at a 0-3 start on the season.

What you need to know

WHAT? UNC 0-1 (0-0 ACC) AT ECU 0-1 (O-0 American)
WHEN? Saturday, September 8 at 3:30 p.m. ET
WHERE? Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.
TV? ESPNU. Mike Corey (play-by-play), Rene Ingoglia (analyst)
RADIO? Tar Heel Sports Network. Jones Angell (play-by-play), Brian Simmons (analyst) and Lee Pace (sideline). Sirius 135, XM 193
WEATHER? Cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms and a high of 82 degrees.
LINE? UNC – 16.5. Over/Under 60
ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads the all-time series 12-4-1 but ECU won the last meeting in 2014.
PREDICTION? UNC 38, ECU 22