Orange Bowl: UNC vs. Texas A&M game preview, info, prediction and more

The UNC Football team gets set to take on Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl on Saturday afternoon in Miami as they close out the season

The day is finally here for the UNC Football program. It’s been an eventful past few weeks for the Tar Heels including four key players opting out of the postseason but we have finally reached the Orange Bowl.

UNC is set to take on No. 5 Texas A&M in their first appearance in the Orange Bowl after completing a 8-3 regular season with a drubbing of Miami on the road. Now, UNC returns to Miami in hopes of winning the Orange Bowl and announcing to the nation that they have arrived.

This won’t be an easy test for UNC, however.

They face a really good Aggies team that believes they should have been No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings and deserved a spot in the Playoff. This will be a very motivated Aggies team that wants to make a statement on the national stage. It will also be a good test for UNC, and outside of Notre Dame, the best team they have faced all season long.

Obviously, the biggest storyline in this one is the opt outs for the Tar Heels. Linebacker Chazz Surratt, running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams and receiver Dyami Brown all opted out. That’s a good amount of talent on offense that the Tar Heels are losing, including their dynamic duo at running back. While it will be hard to get that production back, the Tar Heel aren’t going into this game hanging their heads.

Making the Orange Bowl is an achievement and you best believe UNC is going to come out to compete. This also gives Mack Brown and his staff a early chance to see what they got for next year’s team with the departure of those four players.

In what is the biggest bowl game for the UNC Football program in history, let’s hope the Tar Heels bring their A game and pull off the upset. It’s their time to announce they have arrived on the national stage and prove to be a legit ACC contender for next season.

Let’s get into our preview:

Key to Victory for UNC

Really good game on defense. It’s expected that UNC will still put up points in this one, just probably not at the 43 per game clip we saw in the regular season. But if the Tar Heels can play really good defense and get to the 30-point mark, they should have a shot.

TAMU quarterback Kellen Mond is pretty damn good at keeping plays alive and if you don’t get pressure on him and wrap him up, he can beat you. UNC is going to need to make a statement early and make life difficult on this Aggies offense.

Coming into the game, the Aggies are averaging 202.1 rushing yards per game led by running back Isaiah Spiller. That’s their strength and if UNC can’t stop them, they are going to be in trouble. On the passing side, Mond is throwing for 234.3 yards per game with 19 passing touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. Very rarely does he give you a chance at a takeaway, so if he does the Tar Heels need to capitalize.

Something to Watch

Can UNC’s offense find a way to score 30-plus? This should be the biggest key for them and it might be difficult with three of their four best offensive players out for the game. UNC still has some very talented receivers plus quarterback Sam Howell who enters this game with 3352 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Howell is averaging 307 passing yards per game and he should find a way to get close to that with Newsome, Khafre Brown, Josh Downs and Emery Simmons out there.

But what about the run game? We know about what both Carter and Williams have done this season as UNC has averaged 249.1 yards rushing per game. Now it will be up to a few backups to get the ground game going.

Let’s see if UNC can get this offense running and put up some points.

What you need to know

WHAT? No. 13 North Carolina Tar Heels 8-3 vs.  No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies 8-1
WHEN? Saturday, January 2nd at 8:00 p.m. EST
WHERE? Hard Rock Stadium – Miami Gardens, Florida
TV? ESPN
RADIO? Tar Heels Sports Network
WEATHER? Partly cloudy and 81 degrees
LINE? UNC +7.5
LAST MEETING? N/A
ALL-TIME SERIES? First meeting all time
PREDICTION? Texas A&M 38, UNC 33

For more on the UNC Football program and the Orange Bowl, please check back with Keeping It Heel.