Duke’s Mayo Bowl PREVIEW! | The UNC Football Show
What is up everybody and welcome back to tarheelillustrated.com I’m Jacob turner He’s Andrew Jones and AJ we are here for the final UNCC football show of the season and let me start out with this AJ I’ve only not worn a polo shirt on one other UNCC football show this year that
Was the biwe episode and I decided I’m going with the te today because it’s bowl season and I’m often out of wearing a polo just like all every player in the country is opting out of a bowl game or transferring into the portal right now I’m I’m opting out of wearing a poloo
For the final bowl game podcast just want to let everybody know that real quick you’re not so indirectly throwing some at me because I wear te’s a lot I wear whatever here in my office it’s more of a me thing it’s more of a me thing full disclosure I’ve got a
Chair here I caught my wife’s chair it’s it’s an old family chair that she’ll come into my office when she decides we’re going to have three minutes of husband wife time she’ll sit there and talk to me then I tell you got to go I
Got stuff to do Sho go on and sitting on that chair right now are one two three only three shirts plus my four shirts is a t-shirt plus my Oriol sweatshirt that I walk in get my steps in one of them is a button-down shirt that has been in
That position now for good three weeks I got one shirt right here hanging from my closet door now there there’s actually I have a Carolina blue polo shirt that my wife bought me several years ago and for obvious reasons I don’t really wear it very often I have no Carolina gear
Because I’m not I don’t roll that way but we’re very sensitive about wearing Carolina colors covering games on these videos but I think when we record the basketball one I’m gonna put the Carolina blue one on I like that just to change it up I wear Carolina blue every
Once in a while you know this I wear this a lot like I have a lot of variations of t-shirts like this I wear a lot um and and I don’t wear anything that’s with prints on it like if if I have an Orioles t-shirt I’m not going to
Wear an Orioles t-shirt doing this I right here yeah I have it there and I have my high school it’s my goodie bag from our reunion from my high school in Alexander Virginia Which does not exist anymore which I’m writing a book about by the way yeah stay tuned for that and
We haven’t really talked about that but you know the season takes a lot of the Season takes a lot of time and I can’t grind I really want to do it this time of year uh when I had a couple of pockets after signing day but I’m not
Going to be able to too too damn busy yeah no I hear you man and real quickly since we’re talking shirts right now I’m wearing swamp dog Outfitter shirt check him out my one of my best friends good friends do some work for him as well he actually owns the company been around
For a while doing some really good things just check him out no sponsor no sponsor I need to talk to him he’s interested but the pocket teas that he sells if I get the logo in there fantastic I give him a little free shout out right there well we do have room for
Sponsors too we’re talking to some people as well that reached out and and if you’re someone who has a setup at the dean doome I will be back with touch with you I’ve been ridiculously swamped I’m yes yeah I didn’t sleep the other night so I was awake from 6:30 Wednesday
Morning till I went to bed Thursday night yeah so Wednesday been very very busy that was just brutal I national Signing Day and then a 9:00 p.m basketball game is about the worst combo you can have in Chapel Hill and then I had camera issues my my um card reader
Wasn’t working and then I had my laptop cord died and then laptop died I had all kinds of crazy stuff going drove home in the middle of the night and instead of staying in the hotel working and all that kind of stuff so people don’t want
To hear this junk but but we are looking for other sponsors we’re looking for a lot of we got room on our site we got room on these videos you can specialize stuff and we’ve got some new changes coming to thi as well which we’re really really excited about where where um is
Is Hubert this is my second time I’ve said this today but as Hubert would say we’re tweaking altering and pivoting some stuff so we’re excited about that absolutely man people want to hear about football so let’s talk football yeah stay tuned for that guys as we’re here for again like I said
Carolina football show last one of the Season we’re going to be previewing Carolina’s Dukes Mayo bable match up with West Virginia a little bit later as well stay tuned for that we got a plethora of things to run through on our rundown as we always do so let’s start
With the bull Prep schedule it’s been a while since we’ve done one of these so we got to look back a little bit when did bro prep start I know Carolina players and coaches car coach has been on the recruiting tra Trail a lot know
Players went home for a few days as well met back in Charlotte recently so what’s the bull Prep schedule been like for the tar Hills over the last couple weeks they started I’m see trying to think of all these dates Wednesday the 13th okay was the first practice they practiced
Through the following Wednesday I think they had six practices and the players were released Wednesday to go home and everyone was to reconvene in Charlotte they weren’t going to Chapel Hill and then going to Charlotte they all just went to Charlotte so no matter where they’re from they they would just Don Chapman
Went back to San Diego for 36 hours he would report back in Charlotte not Chapel Hill so that was the schedule they uh get everyone’s getting got together Friday in in Chapel Hill then practice Saturday Sunday and Monday walk through Tuesday so Saturday would be like Tuesday during game week because
They’re off on Mondays during game week so Friday would be Monday they get together they’re gonna have their dinner and all the fun Bowl stuff Saturday would be like Tuesday so Saturday practice Sunday practice Monday practice and then Tuesday would be like Friday be the walkthrough and then Wednesdays the
Game so they’re going to get 10 practices in I think they’re allowed 13 now they’re going to get 10 practices in that’s 10 days that Connor Harold would wake up in the morning knowing he was qb1 later that day in practice which is an interesting thing and it’s certainly
Not business as usual hadn’t been business as usual for him so that’s the schedule and then game of course 5:30 on the 27th interesting start time enough that people should be able to make the game and enough that people should have plenty of time to tailgate and and do
Whatever they do when they tailgate and maybe get louder and they’re either they’re in their Spirit or in their unhappiness who knows play out during the game yeah I’m interested to see what what the crowd looks like again we’ll talk about the bow game a little bit
Later on but that that’s the schedule for obviously a lot of pregame pageantry and things that the team will we will be doing in the days leading up get a lot of freebies and goodies and stuff like that so they’ll definitely you know be in Charlotte enjoying some time down
There for a few days before the bowl game as well but let’s talk about a few players that are coming back but not playing in the ball game because that’s really the story around this game right now is who’s not playing for the for because Carolina just has a wild list of
Players that will not be participating in this game so just to name a few John copenhaver Bryson Nesbit Zack rice Elijah huzzy kobby pesur will hardy that’s just a list of guys right there that will be coming back as of right now at least and are not playing not playing
The bowl game yeah because of injuries or yeah even even with nesbet when we talked to on Signing Day p suus who’s the assistant ad GM’s director player Personnel he was going over a couple of the tight ends that they sign in the class and he mentioned something about n
Coming back next year and he’s banged up right now he and copen banged up Kamari Morales went in the portal he’s already Boston College and Julian Randol who’s on scholarship true freshman was out for the was name listed out for the season before the season started they have no
Scholarship tight ends I know it’s available for the bowl game so deames may Jr everyone knows his dad he’s going to be be the starter uh Court Hy whose mother is on the Board of Trustees I think is the back he’s a true freshman he’s the backup interesting so um they
They have no experience there it’s going to be creative we’ll get into that a little bit later but it’s it’s not worthy not having someone like huzzy because they don’t have huzzy Caleb cost is a true freshman is going to get the start at Star and but they they really
Like him they talk they were talking to him up in August and he’s a name that I’ve heard come up quite a B so he’s going to play we’re gonna talk about the newbies as well but I think not if they were to at least have either nbut or copenhaver more so copenhaver
Because the Run blocking aspect they’d be able to run the full offense but we’re GNA see some tweaks because they don’t have any tight end yeah I mean that’s obviously a big part of Carolina’s offense too so it’s going to be Interest really interesting to cover
This game because of how many new faces there are and again how many key guys are missing for the tar Hills on on both sides of the ball because it’s it’s quite a list but you mentioned Caleb cost let’s talk about some new names to kind of watch in this bowl game because
Again I think if you’re gonna get anything out of this bowl game it’s it’s looking ahead a little bit to next year with some of the guys that’ll be playing obviously Conor Harold gonna start at quarterback really big opportunity for him to kind of make a claim going into
Next year maybe get out a little bit ahead of Max Johnson who’s coming in from Texas A&M if he can have a positive game you know maybe there’s you know maybe makes the offseason going into next year a little bit more interesting Caleb cost you mentioned has looked the
Part when I’ve seen him on special teams a little bit and in and in some of the the pregame warm-ups that I’ve seen him two sport athlete as well supposed to play baseball for the tar Hills so really talented athlete Amari Campbell seeing glimpses of him this year he has
Played out of everybody on this list he’s probably played the most and and that’s not saying much because he hasn’t played a lot but he has seen some snaps at linebacker and then Trey Miller a name at defensive back that a lot of people haven’t really heard of I know
There’s a lot of Carolina fans out there like Trey Miller who’s that because young guy in the DB room expect him to get some some playing time as well so a lot of new names to watch and like I said that for me is the most interesting
Thing about this bowl game yeah Campbell played 70 snaps on defense so if you Miller cost and Harold combined played 66 yeah Campbell’s leading the way now cost did play 110 plays on special teams so he’s been on the field he’s hit he knows the speed of the game now and he’s
A really good athlete as he said he was a fantastic baseball player yeah in fact when when Jean chisik and I know people are down on Gan right now but you should go back and watch the interview we did with him on Monday because we he was
Talking about these guys he he really went into a lot of detail of why he thinks Caleb cost is gonna be a fantastic player and he spoke a lot about the baseball instincts about tracking the ball yeah and hand eye coordination so he’s someone that when
I’ve been at practice you he would run with the twos and he looked like he belonged out there so now we’re going to get a chance to see him play 65 70 75 snaps in the game it’s going to help him immensely go next year if he’s someone
That they can trust and can help them next year at Star and DeAndre boyin comes back and is healthy that allows them to move huzzy back to the corner next year and and huzzy is a is an NFL Corner eventually and that imagine huzzy with Marcus Allen they’ve
Got some dudes over Corner as is and Trey Miller’s a corner who they wanted to get him on the field earlier this year and the plan was to do that but he got banged up and Jean said every time it seemed like he was back and and
Healthy and ready to throw out there in the field for a few reps just to see what he could do he would he would get he would uh get banged up again like the same thing would occur so but he is healthy now and they want to see him
He’s he’s someone that they Envision being in their in their plans in the future Maybe even the near future depending on what happens at the star position with huzzy so I I think people should be excited about seeing those guys one of the things that i’ still
Like about bowl games and and if bowl games continue a a good reason they continue is because we get to see Campbell play we get to see Miller and cost and Harold and these guys get to get legitimate reps on on on film that will help them toward next year remember
Power Eckles playing the bowl game two years ago and that was his launching Into The Following Season helped him a lot so the we could sit here and talk for a while about why the bowl games are G to die why they don’t matter but we could also
Sit here and talk about stuff like this and I think the good thing for Carolina is they have enough dudes that are out and enough new ones that are moving up that are kind of pushed up the pipeline they’re gonna be ready to play they’re gonna be this going to be an audition
Trey Miller his he’s going to take those reps seriously so with Campbell and so will Caleb cost and obviously for Conor Harrell you the last time he played significant reps was in high school when he was winning state championships in in Alabama at the highest level of Alabama by the way
Valid dict tooran National Honor Society smart kid so I think that makes it fun and exciting I think people should enjoy that and I’m looking forward to getting used to what their body types are out like on the field you know when you cover A Team Jacob and you’re in the
Press Box you you tend to sort of get an idea of who’s who just by looking you don’t have to see the number you can see the way they move mannerism stuff like that so we get to begin the process of learning I I’ll tell you what I’m most
Excited about Caleb cost simply because I’ve seen Campbell play and I already know I have a feel for his game I think he’s gonna be really really good but I think cost is somebody that might explode under the scene at some point in the next year and Carolina fans
All know who he is and all think of him in the same way they usew someone like uh Cayman Rucker I think that the potential is definitely there with Caleb cost 100% And speaking of kayman Rucker we’re recording this one on December 22nd afternoon of December 22nd you know
A little bit earlier today he did announce that he is returning to Carolina I know it tricked a lot of people because you had to watched the whole video to to realize he’s actually coming back but again I tweeted out but that’s positive news for North Carolina
Been one of Carolina’s if not their most consistent besides Cedric gray defensive players really since he arrived on campus at Chapel he’s been absolutely fantastic for the Hill so again we’re talking about a lot of guys that are leaving I got a lot of new guys that are
Stepping up but with Kon Rucker playing in the bll game as well coming back that’s a big positive for the Tios yeah 5.5 rating low three star I remember and I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again uh I talked to him the night he
Committed he went on a visit on that Saturday and he committed on Sunday night Monday basically he’s like oh yeah I’ll go and people like that was back when they were getting all those four stars and a couple fivs they were getting all those Virginia kids and everyone’s like oh why do we
Need a guy like why we taking a Rucker why are we taking that guy look at look at what his star rating is look or look at his 5.5 or whatever it was he was the third the fourth lowest rated guy in his class Cedric gray by the way was the
Third lowest rated guy in his class so it the recruiting stuff matters the rankings matter because they’re very smart people at Rivals and the other networks that apply these rankings but they’re only for where those guys are at that point Point yeah has no bearing on what they become and that’s why fans
Shouldn’t fixate so much on those things because Cayman for based on recruiting ranking never should have gotten on the field that much at Carolina but he’s a stun he’s go play in the NFL exctly same they with Cedric so um you’re getting a 5.5 guy back for a
Fifth year that’s great because right now in college I guess 6.1 would be five star he’s a 6.2 oh yeah no doubt about it he’s he’s been he’s just been really good really fun to watch too for the tel and smart kid as well so good for the
Defense as a whole yeah leader on that side of the ball as well so yeah it he’s an example for a lot of these kids of again star rankings it doesn’t matter don’t care if you come in a one star two star three star if you work hard you
Continue to develop and you’re apply yourself correctly you can become one of the top players not only in for Carolina but in the ACC got a lot of love as well from some all ACC team so yeah good to see him coming back and and playing in
The ball game as well he’ll be a positive on that side of the ball but let’s talk real quickly before we dive into the West Virginia preview about some transfer pickups that Carolina’s gotten so far again we’re recording this on Friday December 22nd in the afternoon
So things can happen as soon as we hop off this but as of right now he’s a list of guys that Carolina’s gotten obviously Max Johnson the first one they landed quarterback out of A&M um uh o and Austin blasy from Georgia um committed about a week ago I believe it was last
Weekend um tight end Jake Johnson a little bit earlier this week another guy from Texas A&M has announced he’s will be coming to North Carolina and then another one that kind of maybe some people maybe went under the radar a little bit with jco DB Tyne Stewart will
Be coming to Carolina as well so I know it’s a little bit different with Jo in terms of transfer portal but again looking at these four guys that Carolina has landed so far I think early on in the portal because it’s still early I think Carolina fans should be feeling
Pretty good about how this list is stacking up and again just look at what Carolina did in the portal last year we talked so much about it how a lot of Carolina’s best players on either side of the ball this year where guys that they picked up in the portal so I think
You got to give this coaching staff a lot of trust and a lot of credit based on what they did last year in terms of Landing guys in the portal and again doing some business early which I think is a positive as well yeah the junior college transfers technically count in
As as the recruiting class of 24 so Stuart was one of the 27 on Wednesday I found out about him on on Monday or Tuesday reached out to him he kind of said he was committing but he said he was committing but then said he well I’m not gonna go all way
I’m not gonna tell you everything I’m not telling you for sure it’s North Carolina but we kind of knew and I I I I got some other confirmation on that interesting and what’s interesting is that he’s a guy that that played a lot this year in in one of the best Junior
College programs in the country in East East Mississippi and I I think that the appeal to him is that he’s very aggressive uh he’s he’s uh physical and he’s hungry they like bringing in hungry guys and the junior college thing he’s already he’s graduating from Junior College he’s a
Good student so sometimes the JC guys are hard to get into schools especially like North Carolina it’s not an issue second JC guy they’ve had in while Ray vask was a JC guy turned out real well he got his degree so the academics are not really a thing and he went JC not
Because of grades he went JC because he didn’t get any offers out of high school oh wow but let’s remember Elijah huz didn’t either really very few it’s true co hul had none and calls the NFL yeah doing making a pretty good living yeah yeah people
Love to judge but let’s let’s see what this guy can bring the the fact that they were well aware of him and had him scouted out for a while tells you how extensive the process is behind the scenes in the program in all programs but certainly in there so I I think that
That’s kind of cool they brought him in Jake Johnson caught 25 or 26 balls for Texas A&M this year he’s a big physical Guy They’ll have three tight ends they can use next year they’re Randolph should be healthy they’re bringing in couple of freshmen a lot of tight ends
In that room and that’s a popular room right now you got a former NFL head coach coach in the room and you’ve had success in that room John LLY did a nice job now Freddy kit is doing a good job they’re gonna turn out some NFL dudes so
I think that’s a really good room I also believe that with the kinds of players they have and they’re getting a Johnson and they’re a second more prototype of copenhaver as opposed to Nesbit speaks to my belief that I think they’re going to go a little bit more ball control a
Little bit more power run uh a little bit more intended balance and trying to keep the defense off the field uh a little bit more than has been the case in the past the basy the the offensive lineman from Georgia was a pretty highly regarded kid coming out High School
Played some didn’t play a ton but he’s got two rings can’t take the ring away injuries too he had some injuries at Georgia as well yeah he had some injuries and he’s got winning culture stuff um he might even be married Maybe there’s I think so I’m not sure don’t
Don’t don’t hold me to that but when I was trying to get some some Intel on him I was told that he’s extremely mature and that he’s a guy that knows what he wants and he’s he’s got a lot of potential and he could be someone that
Steps in starts uh the injuries were were an issue plus he’s playing at Georgia yeah it’s not it’s not he’s getting beaten out by Andy Jones from Ford hunt High School in 1980s whatever right um am I giving that away it’s not like it’s not like that so no so I think
That that’s a nice pickup and people wanted o linan and he’s also inexpensive o linan are cheap very expensive he’s in he’s inexpensive and then Max Johnson we talked about him before I think what you’re seeing here with the four they brought in they will bring in some more
The Johnson Jake Johnson and Max Johnson are brothers their dad’s Brad Johnson played 15 years in the NFL they got plenty of C it’s not that didn’t cost Carolina a lot of money Stuart didn’t cost them anything coming from JC and basy essentially didn’t really cost them anything either so Carolina hasn’t
Really spent in the portal yet which is good so there’s going to be more activity because there going to be some more kids at enter the portal after the bowl game and I think you’ll see Carolina make some moves there’ll be strategical moves and there’ll be moves
That are in concert with with the availab with the with the collective playing its role as well and they still have that to play with so I actually think they’re sitting in a pretty nice position because there’s a ton of kids out there in the portal that haven’t
Committed anywhere yet so they’re going to have an opportunity to sell to a couple of kids some some good stuff and have a little bit of cash behind it as well they’re not going to promise the cash but the kids will have the understanding that uh Collective money
Will be there so I don’t have a problem with what they’ve done the portal so far people are getting a lot of people are getting anxious about it say well they’ve lost 18 kids they only brought in four so what the process isn’t over yet
Let it play out yeah no no doubt about it it’ll beting to continue to follow as well because the offseason is so fascinating especially this time of year with the portal people entering and people leaving and of course Carolina will definitely be getting some some
More guys in the portal as well so as always keep it Al toar lay.com and you’ll be the first to know once those guys land if you want premium subscription as well just 833 a month we do post a lot of stuff in the boards particularly around the portal that
Always doesn’t doesn’t always excuse me make it on the front page so again links in the description another great to sign up just thought I’d throw that in there real quick because the portal is a a massive massive um plus if you are a premium subscriber you get a lot more
Information on the board so AJ Duke’s Mayo preview time last preview of the Season Carolina versus West Virginia December 27th 5:30 pm kickoff in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on ESPN interesting that the season starts in Charlotte with a win can it end in Charlotte with a win I think that’s the
Question mark for the tar Hills going into this one just a little information real quickly on West Virginia finished 8-4 6 and3 in the Big 12 fourth place in the Big 12 not a bad finish at all when you look at that conference um have a
Handful of guys in the portal right now maybe not as many key players as the Tor Hills have missing but there are a few guys that will not be playing in this balll game either that are in the portal or injured um so a few guys just to read
Off real quick leading rushers CJ Donaldson not playing believe that’s through injury uh Center Zack Frasier had surgery will the bowl game and a couple guys on defense as well just defensive line Mike lockart actually tied for second in sacks right now for West Virginia he’s not playing and then
Safety Hershey McLaren heck of a name right there I do like that when finished with 44 tackles on the season he will not be playing in the bow game as well so those are just a few guys for West Virginia that key guys that they will be missing again not as extensive as
Carolina’s list when you just look at the sheer amount of starters that will not be playing for the toles and even like we’ve talked about in here a lot of a lot of backup guys as well particularly at that tight end position so it’s an interesting matchup I think
West Virginia’s probably going into it a little bit more towards full strength again I don’t know the ins and outs of West Virginia I try to find as much information as I could on guys that aren’t playing but from the research I did it doesn’t seem like they’re missing
As many key guys and maybe going into the bowl game feeling a little bit better about themselves than Carolina finished the regular season to say the least but I think this is the number one thing AJ this is what we hit on I think this is the message to fans going into
The bowl game you touched on it there’s so many new faces now there’s so many guys that are going to be relied on and playing big minutes and big snaps in this bowl game that have not played a lot this season you can look at it and
Say well okay there’s a lot of lack of experience going into the bowl game but like you mentioned you can also look at it and I lean more towards this of like well this is a Proving Ground and a proving opportunity for a lot of these
Guys so you’d expect them to take this game a little bit more seriously one of the fascinating things I find about bowl games is more often than not it tends to be a blowout one side of the other because one team’s prepared and and locked in and then other team’s checked
Out and not focused I don’t lean towards that as much with Carolina now then maybe I would if it was just a starter a bunch of starters playing in the same kind of team and I’m basing that a lot on how Carolina finished the season and especially what I saw in Raleigh because
It was an embarrassing performance to say the least but now when you’ve got these backup guys you got guys that have a chance to prove themselves and maybe push themselves ahead in the rotation heading into the off season and into spring practice and into ultimately next
Season I think it makes this bowl game a little bit more interesting to watch and honestly I think it gives the Carolina in a weird way maybe a better opportunity to win this game I didn’t pick him to win it in my prediction still not confident in that but I think
It makes it a little bit more interesting of a bowl game to watch do you agree with that and what’s your thoughts going into this matchup for North Carolina I I think this Spirit should be pretty good they should be ready to play but I think West
Virginia’s going be ready to play as well yeah West Virginia finished above expectations Carolina finished below expectations and both teams close the seasons differently West Virginia wants that ninth win I think that what I’ve gotten and I’ve talked to a couple people that cover West Virginia and we
Did a five questions with Keenan Cummings uh who covers West Virginia and we ran that Friday morning on our site um they they they’re much more intact they have their quarterback Garrick green yeah that’s huge plus right there they’re missing a couple starters Caroline’s missing starters too Caroline’s missing a lot of reserves
That really weren’t going to play much anyway I actually think defensively outside of the Mary Campbell spot and Caleb cost you’ve got starters you’ve got veterans you got Marcus Allen and Chapman at quter you’ve got Don Chapman and stick Lane starting at safety with Gio Biggers in there defensive front are
All veteran guys that have been around no one’s being cayman’s going to be there Mari gain’s still there so it’s not like they have to rely on Tyler Thompson or J Bron Harvey to get a lot of snaps there Caroline’s pretty intact on defense it’s offense with the quarterback situation they lost some
Receivers and the tight end being depleted that’s where they have an issue running back’s what the running back room is Willie lamin moves over to Center but he was Sun Bel conference offensive linan of the year in 2022 as a center at Coastal Carolina so Carolina’s
Not as depleted in the first 2 as it may seem like because there’s a lot of more numbers of guys that have left but a lot of the guys that left weren’t going to play anyway pedway will going play Elijah green one going to play this is
No disrespect to them it’s just the way things are a lot of these guys weren’t going to get on the field and play so I think it’s a little bit more even in that sense so the question is what team is more inspired what team is more ready
To play I think West Virginia absolutely will be ready to play they’re taking this very seriously I don’t know how much North car’s going be ready to play because last time they played a bowl game in that building they were awful I think this team’s going to be more ready
To play than they were then but you could be as ready to play as possible and when you roll a backup like Connor harell out there quarterback that will ultimately determine whether Carol has a chance to win or not Harold has to play really well for them to win if he
Doesn’t play well then they they have no chance of winning that’s the bot line there are a million other variations to the game as well but you know Harold hasn’t played much so he’s going to be out there he’s going to have West Virginia Defense staring right at him
When he goes out for the first snap and the second snap and the third snap how does he handle those things that’s ultimately going to be the key here so I’m looking forward to it I’m looking forward to seeing him play I’m looking forward to nness I love nness and like I
Said earlier there’s some guys we get to watch play a lot that we haven’t really seen before and as far as uh Harold beginning the competition process with Johnson absolutely I wouldn’t just pencil Max in as a starter right now I think he will be the starter yeah I
Think I think the pencil is not far from the paper but Connor may have something to say about that Wednesday night so we’ll see how it plays out yeah we will man we definitely will that’s what you want you want competition it spots I mean that’s that’s what brings out the
Best in people you don’t want ma Johnson coming in like well I’m starting because there’s nobody here Harold has a good game that makes the offseason much more interesting it makes Max Johnson have to come in with a little maybe a little bit more pep in Step a little more attention
To detail a little bit more a Competitive Edge to say okay I got to earn this spot I know I’m supposed to be a starter and I’m came here to be a starter but the way Harold played man I I got to bring my aame every day or
Maybe I won’t be starting or playing much here at North Carolina so yeah I think that that the fact that Carolina has so many new guys playing could breed a lot of competition in the offseason with some of these starters return and are healthy again maybe they’re looking
Over their shoulder a little bit like man he played pretty well against West Virginia I got I got to bring mying every day that’s what you want inside a program you don’t just want guys guaranteed starters with no competition behind them you need competition at spaces that brings out the best in
Players and it separates you know others from from the rest so I think that’s an interesting thing to to keep an eye on going into this matchup but AJ real quick prediction time I said 342 24 West Virginia I always say it I I look a lot into what’s happened the way Carolina
Ended the year the I was on the field at state for that performance if you think I’m picking Carolina to win after watching that performance watching how they finish the year and seeing who’s not playing in this bowl game yeah I’d be hard pressed to do that so
Do I think Carolina has a shot at winning this game absolutely and that’s what happens in bowl games they toss-ups you really never know what’s going to happen they’re they’re so hard to predict but I’m gonna say 34 24 I think it’s a competitive game I think it’s a
Good game to watch but I think West Virginia is just coming in like you said little bit more full strength a little bit more pep in their step one to finish with that ninth win I think that can maybe propel them over the line a little bit so that’s my prediction for this
Game what what’s your thoughts on it I hope you don’t bet on both b games because I would never I would never associate with how a team played in its last game with how it might play I’ve heard ball games are the hardest to bet on and I 100% believe that they really
Hard to bet on you just never know you really don’t it’s like it’s kind of like the NCA tournament with the upset stuff it’s the person in the office wins the tournament poll because they voted for teams they they picked teams that they thought had cool names and then you know
They win the pool poow games are the sense that we could judge Caroline on how the light they looked last time we saw them but I think it’s a different Club it’s like a new one game season so I Carolina has to stop the run you I
Said a few minutes ago Conor has to play well he absolutely does they also have to stop the run West Virginia is the number three rushing offense in the country Carolina has stop the run Carolina is near the bottom of the nation giving up I think they’re 118th
And giving up first downs they they’ve got to get the defense off the field the defense can help Itself by getting some more stops and getting on the field forcing the opponent to to punt the ball or even kick field goals at times those things have to happen for Carolina to
Win but stopping the run is going to be enormous because West Virginia has a few guys that can run the ball including the quarterback grick green can move he’s he’s he’s a decent passer not a great passer but he’s played better late in the season he can move man they got a
Lot of dudes that can run the ball and they like to run it they can be physical they can go spread things out with the Run game they could do a lot of different things and Carolina’s going to have to be physical they’re gonna have
Well they have to be I say it every week excellent and pre- snap physical on the snap read and react properly physical and bring a guy of the earth bring him down to the soil and that’s what they need to be so I think ultimately this
Game’s going to be won or Lost based on how Carolina handles West Virginia’s Run game if the Tar Heels keep them at 120 yards 130 yards or less heels going to win this game if it’s for over 170 180 and West Virginia averages more than
That then I think the tar Hills have a tough time winning this game yeah last thing real quickly I just thought of this too I just want to ask you this real quick and we’re headed out how important is it for the stat MC Brown in particular one and three at Bow game
Since he returned to North Carolina last time they played this bowl game they got curve stomped by South Carolina looked like they didn’t want to be there how important you know tough competitive game in the Orange Bowl but lost competitive game last year against Oregon but lost in that you know kind of
Last second Drive fashion that we’ve been it has been an unfortunate theme for this defense how important is it him for win this bowl game or is it with you looking at personnel and who’s not playing and everything that’s going on does it not really matter what’s your
Take on that by the way this is the first time Carolina begins and ends the season playing in Charlotte in their football history I think the fans are what the fans are so if they win well West Virginia was depleted and they’re really not that good big 12’s not that
Great and if they lose well there’s more reason for Grandpa Mack to get fired that kind of stuff that’s the way fans are going to look at it I I think it’s really important this team goes into an offseason with a win they have not gone into an offseason off coming off a
Victory since his first year when they routed temple in the Military Bowl they need to get a win get a ninth win I’m going to write a column here in the next couple days where the winning in the ninth is really important two years in a
Row at nine wins it’s not 10 it’s not what quite what their goal was but getting nine wins two years in a row given the fact it hadn’t happened since Mack was last at Carolina a quarter century ago I think it matters I think this is a great opportunity both teams
Go for nine wins that’s important in both programs and I think that that should fuel the tar Hills I know the staff will be fueled by it that should fuel they have a chance to pick up a ninth win and people are complaining right now and they had five wins Total
Wins two seasons before mck took over getting the ninth win of the second straight year if you look at the five-year snapshot first year change of course pick up a big bowl win second year Orange Bowl third year step back fourth year 9 wins fifth year nine wins fourth
Year get to play in the AC Championship fifth year nine wins it’s not a terrible tenure it’s not a terrible tenure at all and it’s a tenure that has made some progress I think this year they didn’t reach their goals it’s probably two out of three you could say they didn’t reach
Their goals but if you don’t reach your goals and still get nine wins that means the program’s in a decent spot if people are pissed and you win nine games means the program’s made a lot of progress because they’ve the expectations are high because what they’ve done has helped
Elevate expectations no one got mad at if Larry would have won seven or eight and 17 or 18 no one would have been mad about that because their expectations weren’t what they are now and expectations are there because of what they’ve done so I hope that didn’t sound too
Convoluted but but I think my my point is made yeah no I agree I completely agree with what you’re saying really nice to win that ninth game I think it’s important um for a number of of different reasons and again we’ll see what happens on Wednesday evening or
Late afternoon I guess it’s dark at 5:00 now so we’ll say evening up game yeah in Bank of America Stadium um but yeah let’s go ahead and get the heck out of here I’ve been Jacob turner He’s been Andrew Jones for everyone that’s watched the UNCC football show throughout the
Season we started this a long time ago it feels like you know before the the the the first game of the season in Charlotte funny enough against South Carolina we appreciate the support we appreciate y’all watching at as always make sure you like the video make sure
You share it with your friends make sure you subscribe if you haven’t subscribed by now and you’ve watched all these UNC football shows what are you doing just subscribe so take the middleman out a little bit and hit that notification bell too so you do every single time you
Get a I have it on mind you get a phone notification every single time we upload click on the video Bang it’s playing makes it a lot a lot easier and a lot easier to stay in the loop at tarhill illustrate. comom I’ve been Jacob turner He’s been Andrew Jones again we
Appreciate y’all support and we’ll see y’all next time thanks thanks
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