UNC Football: Tar Heels named “dark-horse” for College Football Playoff

Heading into the 2020 season, the UNC football program is seen as “dark-horse” contender for this year’s College Football Playoff.

We are set to begin year two of Mack Brown’s second stint with the Tar Heels, and expectations are sky-high. Heading into the 2020 season, a lot of people expect big things from the Tar Heels football program. Not only are the Tar Heels seen as a contender in the ACC, but there’s some speculation that they could make a case for a College Football Playoff bid.

David Kenyon of Bleacher Report released an article on his dark-horse contenders for the 2020 college football season, and Mack Brown’s squad is included on the list. Here’s what Kenyon had to say regarding the Tar Heels:

"“Though the Tar Heels need to flip their fortune in one-score games—a disappointing 3-6 last season—a more favorable schedule makes them appealing.Miami welcomes Mack Brown’s squad in December but travels to Louisville, Clemson and Virginia Tech during the regular season. North Carolina hosts both Virginia Tech and Notre Dame while avoiding Clemson and Louisville. And that’s merely a complement to UNC’s best feature.Though the Chazz Surratt-led defense is important, the simple truth is the Tar Heels can score with anyone. Sam Howell threw for 3,641 yards and 38 touchdowns as a true freshman, and his surrounding talent is extremely impressive.Running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams both topped 1,100 yards from scrimmage last season. Dazz Newsome and Dyami Brown both caught 50-plus passes for at least 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Beau Corrales added 575 receiving yards. This scoring attack should be explosive.To be sure, potentially ending the season with a three-week stretch against Notre Dame, Miami and Clemson in the ACC Championship Game is an absolute gauntlet. But because of the offense, UNC can win any matchup.”"

Although the Tar Heels’ defense will be vitally important to their overall success, the offense may be what puts them over the top. After a stellar freshman campaign, Sam Howell returns for his sophomore season. It is expected that Howell will be even better in his second season in Chapel Hill.

While Howell deserves a lot of credit for his play, you can’t ignore the impressive weapons the Tar Heels possess. They return two dynamic running backs (Michael Carter and Javonte Williams) who both had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage a year ago, and have three very good receivers (Dazz Newsome, Dyami Brown and Beau Corrales) for Howell to rely on.

As mentioned in the Bleacher Report article, the Tar Heels schedule early on is more favorable than last season. However, if the Tar Heels want to make a push for a College Football Playoff bid, they may have to go through Notre Dame, Miami and Clemson to end the season, which would not be an easy task.

We’ve got a while to go before we get to that point, but it’s easy for UNC fans to get excited about this year’s team. Time will tell if they can live up to the expectations, and develop into one of college football’s best teams.

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