Beating UM got Tar Heels to game, but Aggies present ‘huge challenge’
The North Carolina Tar Heels got their signature win of the 2020 season in their final game, at the same venue they will visit once again this weekend. UNC gashed the then-No. 9 Miami Hurricanes’ defense for 554 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the 62-26 win at Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 12, a win that secured the No. 13 Tar Heels’ trip back to Miami for Saturday’s Orange Bowl against No. 5 Texas A&M.
And while UNC won’t be fielding the same team that dismantled the Hurricanes — all three of their top offensive playmakers in running backs Javontae Williams (AP secondteam All-American) and Michael Carter (thirdteam All-American) as well as receiver Dyami Brown (third-team AllAmerican) have opted out — the Tar Heels are looking back at that Miami win as a prototype for how to handle big games.
“The guys know what we have to do to win football games now,” Tar Heels coach Mack Brown said Monday. “They understand that. The question the guy asked two years ago, ‘How do you win?’ They get it. They know what we have to do to win and they know that this is going to be a huge challenge. But they’ve also probably been a little offended that people are taking back that we’ve lost some players and they don’t think there’s good ones on the team. So they’ve got a little chip on their shoulder right now saying, ‘You know, we still got some scholarship players here, man. Come on now.’ So that’s a good thing for them.”
Brown also points to North Carolina’s 31-17 loss to Notre Dame, a game that was tied 17-17 at halftime before Notre Dame scored touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to pull away, as another point of film study heading into the Orange Bowl, primarily because of the similarities Brown sees between Notre Dame and Texas A&M.
“We’ve got to be physical at the line of scrimmage to have a chance in this game,” Brown said, “because A&M, like Notre Dame, is huge and they’re very physical. Both teams try to keep the ball. They totally dominate time of possession. And then they pound you and pound you with a big back and then use play-action. And [Texas A&M quarterback]
Kellen Mond is very much like [Notre Dame quarterback] Ian Book. He’s a game manager, he’s been around a long time, he’s not gonna make mistakes, he’s gonna get the ball to the right players. Like Notre Dame, A&M has a great tight end. So it’s just been funny to look and see how much those teams look like bookends when we’re studying. ... They’re both built like big pro football teams.”
THIS AND THAT
In addition to Carter,
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Williams and Brown, the Tar Heels will be without senior linebacker Chazz Surratt, who also chose to sit out the bowl game. Surratt leads North Carolina with 91 tackles, is tied for the team lead with six sacks and ranks second with 7.5 tackles for loss. Surratt has also broken up three passes, recorded six quarterback hurries, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.
Expected to take the bulk of Surratt’s workload Saturday? Sophomore linebacker Eugene Asante, a former four-star prospect who was the No. 17-ranked outside linebacker prospect in the Class of 2019. He has 29 career tackles in 24 games for UNC.
“Eugene can really run. He’s really athletic. I think a lot of the things Chazz does for us in coverage, a lot of things Chazz does for us as being the extra run defender, Eugene would do a great job with,” North Carolina defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said. “I’m looking forward to seeing him play. Chazz is a tremendous player. I wish I had them both. But Eugene will do a great job. Everybody on our defense, everybody in our defensive staff is extremely confident in Eugene. Not just in this game but in the next however many years we have him. We’re very confident in Eugene and he should be very confident in himself. He’s really worked hard to get himself to this position.”
Texas A&M’s offen
● sive line is laden with veterans; four of its five starters are seniors. But it was the sophomore on the line, guard Kenyon Green, who was named an All-American by the Associated Press on Monday. Green landed on AP’s second team and was the only Texas A&M player to make any of the outlet’s three teams.