UNC Football: Please Do Not Get Caught Looking Ahead

Coming off a bye week and a lot of talk surrounding the UNC football program, the Tar Heels can not be caught looking ahead.

This is a letter to the UNC football program and to the Tar Heel fanbase (and myself).

North Carolina is 4-0 heading into the first weekend of October and coming off its only bye week of the 2023 season. The 4-1 Syracuse Orange come into Kenan Stadium on Saturday.

This may not seem like a big game on the surface, but it certainly is a game that the Tar Heels can not lose. Next week is already being looked ahead to as a potential huge weekend in Chapel Hill. Live Action with UNC Basketball is on Friday Night. UNC Football hosts *potentially* undefeated Miami on Saturday (game time is 12:00 PM OR 7:30 PM). There have even been some questions about a potential College GameDay Appearance.

But the Tar Heels CANNOT look past the Orange this weekend. None of that matters if they don’t beat Syracuse on Saturday. As fans, it’s in our nature to look ahead to big games. This weekend is still a big game in Kenan Stadium; no one should be looking past this one.

Granted, Syracuse doesn’t seem like a threat on paper when you look at their competition; they have wins over Colgate, Western Michigan, Purdue, and Army. That doesn’t mean they aren’t coming into Kenan Stadium Saturday with hopes of an upset. In recent memory, every time the Tar Heels start building expectations or hype off the field, they have failed to live up to those with results.

In Week 7 of the 2020 season, the Tar Heels traveled to Florida State as the No. 5 ranked team in the country (largely thanks to COVID, but nonetheless) and proceeded to trail 31-7 at halftime. Granted, they attempted to come back but had already dug themselves too big of a hole.

In the 2021 preseason, they were ranked No. 10 with high expectations, with Sam Howell returning at quarterback coming off an Orange Bowl berth the season before. They proceeded to lose to Virginia Tech on opening night 17-10 on their way to a disappointing 6-7 season.

In 2022, UNC football got off to a lightning start with a 9-1 record and a Coastal Division championship. However, they then proceeded to stumble to the finish line, losing their last four games, including to Georgia Tech and NC State – both teams whom they were more talented than and had backup quarterbacks.

Tar Heel fans should know it at this point, but there is no reason UNC football fans, or the program, should be looking past the Syracuse Orange this weekend, no matter what next weekend could potentially have on tap.

Yes, Tez Walker is now eligible and expected to play against the Orange, providing a huge boost to the Tar Heel offense. It’s going to be emotional when he gets on the field for the first time, and I would expect UNC football is going to do everything it can to get him the ball early and often. But don’t let it become a distraction. They have done a good job through the first four games, not allowing his eligibility status to affect their play on the field. Don’t let it happen now that he is eligible.

The weather is expected to be a beautiful day for College football in Chapel Hill on Saturday. So grab the family, help pack Kenan Stadium, and help the Tar Heels beat the Orange so that we can have the opportunity for next weekend. But do not look past them.

Focus on one game at a time.

Beat Syracuse.

Go Heels!

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