Bill Belichick and UNC are staring at a real balancing act this week, and the problem comes from an East Tennessee State offense that doesn’t seem interested in giving away an easy answer.
The Buccaneers have been putting up points in a hurry, averaging 42.50 per game, and they haven’t leaned hard in one direction to do it. Through this season, East Tennessee State has run the exact same number of rushing and passing plays, a rare kind of symmetry that makes the offense tougher to pin down.
That balance starts with Mason Mims, the former Louisville quarterback who has handled the passing game efficiently so far. He enters the matchup with 615 passing yards and five touchdowns, and he’s spread the ball around to 10 different receivers. Eight of those targets already have multiple catches, which says plenty about how wide the Buccaneers keep the field.
Suderian Harrison has been the main name to watch through the air. He leads East Tennessee State with eight receptions for 170 yards and a touchdown. Even so, the passing production hasn’t been confined to one option, with three receivers sitting on the edge of 100 receiving yards already this season.
The ground game is just as crowded. TJ Peyton has logged the most work with 26 carries for 201 yards and three touchdowns, but he’s far from carrying the load alone. Five other running backs have at least nine carries, another sign that East Tennessee State is comfortable rolling out a deep group and trusting the whole operation.
That’s what makes this such an interesting test for UNC. Do the Tar Heels try to shut off one lane and force the Buccaneers into the other? Or do they focus on finding the weak spot in a scheme that has shown it can move the ball in more than one way?
Belichick, at least, has already shown he can adjust. He did it in the win over TCU, and UNC will need that same flexibility again if it wants to slow down a team that has made balance its calling card.
The opponent may not draw much attention on paper, but East Tennessee State is still a worthwhile FCS challenge as the Tar Heels look to build on their Week 0 win in Ireland.
In Other News...
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For North Carolina, the issue is bigger than one bad Saturday. The program is now under investigation while the on-field concerns pile up, which is not the kind of start anyone around Belichick expected when the season began. With pressure mounting elsewhere too, from Clemson to Rutgers to the other high-profile jobs being watched closely, the Tar Heels are suddenly part of a larger Week 1 conversation about who is already on the clock. [Read more 🡒]
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Bill Belichick Suddenly Faces A Bigger UNC Problem Than Football
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The concern does not stop there, either. Reports that defensive coordinator Steve Belichick is also under investigation have added another layer of uncertainty around Bill Belichicks new chapter at UNC, turning attention away from the scoreboard and toward the stability of the program itself. For a team that should be building on an early statement win, the bigger question has become how much distraction it can absorb before it starts to show on the field. [Read more 🡒]