North Carolina’s season kicks off in less than thirty minutes! The Tar Heels open their season in Charlotte against the South Carolina Gamecocks and expectations are sky-high. As North Carolina looks to open their season with a bang, here are three things you need to know about this fantastic matchup.
Tez Walker Is Officially Out
North Carolina made a huge splash in the offseason landing Kent State’s star Wide Receiver Devontez Walker. While Walker was transferring schools for the second time in three years, he did not play any games for North Carolina Central due to COVID, so he was expected to be cleared to play immediately. Unfortunately, the North Carolina native has not been cleared to play by the NCAA and the Tar Heels will enter their season opener shorthanded.
Drake Maye Begins Heisman Campaign
All eyes will be on sophomore Drake Maye under the bright lights of Charlotte. After a freshman season that saw Maye pass for 4,321 yards and run for almost 700 more, Maye is one of the oddsmaker’s favorites to take home the Heisman Trophy.
As mentioned above, Maye will be without one of his top targets, but the Tar Heels should still have plenty of weapons at his disposal. Sophomore Kobe Paysour has the potential to be one of the country’s biggest surprises. And last but not least, graduate senior British Brooks will be playing his final season in Chapel Hill.
Maye is the primary story, but don’t sleep on the rest of this electric offensive unit.
Don’t Underestimate the Gamecocks
Some may look at the rankings (North Carolina is #21 while South Carolina is unranked) and assume the Tar Heels are heavy favorites. But make no mistake, this is a hungry South Carolina Gamecock team. Head Coach Shane Beamer has proven himself to be an extremely capable game planner.
Looking at their roster, the Gamecocks return a large percentage of last year’s team that ended the season with wins against Tennessee and Clemson, two top-ten teams. Leading the charge is quarterback Spencer Rattler. Rattler, a former Heisman Trophy frontrunner with Oklahoma, is one of the few people who knows the kind of pressure Drake Maye is dealing with. Rattler struggled to live up to expectations at Oklahoma, but he is looking to make this season a culmination of the rejuvenation of his career.
The Gamecocks may not be ranked, but they will not go down without a fight. Despite the game being played in Charlotte, the oddsmakers have made the Tar Heels just 2.5-point favorites. Expect the atmosphere to be electric, let’s hope the game follows suit.
