UNC Football: Week Two Schedule Report (For Past & Future Opponents)

There were some wild results involving teams on UNC’s football schedule on Saturday.

There is only one college football team in the nation with three wins so far this season.  That team is the North Carolina Tar Heels.

UNC survived another road test against a Sun Belt foe, beating Georgia State 35-28 in Atlanta.  It wasn’t the most impressive victory, but the Heels have done enough to win each of their first three games, which they haven’t done often in recent years.

With a bye week coming up, we check out how some of UNC’s future foes fared on Saturday below.

Up Next

BYE WEEK

UNC has won each of their first three games, but hasn’t exactly dominated their competition.  With a big home game against Notre Dame coming up, a bye week and a chance to get healthy is coming at a nice time for the Heels.

Looking Ahead

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Following a close loss in their showdown with Ohio State, the Irish got to come home and regroup against a group of five team.

Except that’s not what happened, as the Marshall Thundering Herd had other ideas.  The Herd picked off Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner twice and pulled off a shocking upset in South Bend.

Suddenly, what was a top-five team two weeks ago has dropped all the way out of the rankings. UNC’s game against Notre Dame will not have the same hype that most expected it would.

Result: 26-21 Loss vs Marshall (0-2)

Virginia Tech Hokies

The Hokies bounced back from last week’s upset loss to Old Dominion against Boston College.

Head Coach Brent Pry’s first home game was a comfortable victory over the Eagles.  With two non-conference games coming up, Virginia Tech will enter Chapel Hill 1-0 in ACC play on October 1st.

Result: 27-10 Win vs Boston College (1-1,1-0  in ACC)

@ Miami Hurricanes

Miami trailed Southern Miss for most of the first half but took control in the second half to secure another victory.

The ‘Canes moved up to 13th in the AP Poll, and are currently the highest-ranked opponent on UNC’s schedule.

They will head to College Station for a showdown with Texas A&M next week.

Result: 30-7 Win vs Southern Miss (2-0, 0-0 in ACC)

@ Duke Blue Devils

The Blue Devils picked up an upset win on the road against Northwestern to move to 2-0 on the young season.  For a team with low expectations, Duke has gotten off to a solid start.

One interesting trend early on this season is the success that blue-blood basketball schools have had thus far on the gridiron.  UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana, Syracuse, and UCLA are all currently unbeaten.

Result: 31-23 Win at Northwestern (2-0, 0-0 in ACC)

Pittsburgh Panthers

Pitt played in another marquee non-conference game on Saturday but came up short this time.

In one of the best games of the day, the Panthers and Volunteers went back and forth, ultimately needing overtime to settle it.  The Vols had a little bit more in the tank, stopping Pitt after scoring a touchdown on their OT possession.

With the loss, the Panthers dropped to 23rd in the AP Poll.  They should be favored in all of their games prior to their visit to Chapel Hill.

Result: 34-27 OT Loss vs Tennessee (1-1, 0-0 in ACC)

@ Virginia Cavaliers

Virginia did not exactly bring their best offense to Champaign, scoring just three points in an ugly loss to Illinois.  QB Brennan Armstrong had just thirteen completions and two interceptions.

The Cavaliers will host Old Dominion, who has already knocked off Virginia Tech, next week.

Result: 24-3 Loss at Illinois (1-1, 0-0 in ACC)

@ Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Sam Hartman is back, and Wake’s offense looked every bit as explosive as last year in Nashville this Saturday.

The Demon Deacons put 45 points on Vandy, picking up a much-needed victory for the ACC over the SEC.

If Wake can get past Liberty next Saturday, their home game the following week against Clemson will get plenty of national attention.

Result: 45-25 Win at Vanderbilt (2-0, 0-0 in ACC)

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Yellow Jackets played Clemson on Labor Day and hung with the Tigers for the better part of three quarters.  Clemson turned up the heat in the fourth and made the score look more lopsided than the game actually was.

They then hosted FCS opponent Western Carolina on Saturday and picked up their first victory of the season.

The Jackets will host 20th-ranked Ole Miss next week.

Results: 41-10 Loss vs Clemson, 35-17 Win vs Western Carolina (1-1, 0-1 in ACC)

NC State Wolfpack

The Wolfpack also hosted an FCS opponent, as they routed Charleston Southern.

NC State moved up a couple of spots to 16th in this week’s AP Poll.  They will take on 2-0 Texas Tech in a matchup of undefeated teams next week.

Result: 55-3 Win vs Charleston Southern (2-0, 0-0 in ACC)

Looking Back

Florida A&M Rattlers

The Rattlers picked up their first win of the season against Albany State.  The Heels “Week Zero” opponent will also have a bye next week.

Result: 23-13 Win vs Albany State (1-2, 0-1 in SWAC)

Appalachian State Mountaineers

While Notre Dame’s upset loss to Marshall hurts the Tar Heels’ strength of schedule, App State’s monster upset at Texas A&M does the opposite.

The Mountaineers went to College Station and thoroughly outplayed the 6th-ranked Aggies.  The ‘Neers allowed just seven points (there was also a kickoff return TD) and nine first downs defensively.  It’s hard to know what to make of this after UNC put up 63 points on the same defense last week.  Regardless, last week’s victory looks a lot better following this result.

ESPN took note of App State’s big upset, and College Gameday will be in Boone when the ‘Neers open Sun Belt play against Troy next Saturday.

Result: 17-14 Win at Texas A&M (1-1, 0-0 in Sun Belt)

Check back next week for the Week Three Schedule Report!

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