Who exactly will be on the field for North Carolina today against Louisiana State may be the biggest mystery of the entire football season. This was supposed to be the year the Tar Heels had all the answers. Instead, they may face the most questions.
In a surprising twist, the team facing the least might just be their long-suffering rivals from down the highway, Duke.
The confusion over the state of the North Carolina football program is the most significant contributor to the state of confusion when it comes to football in North Carolina, but the Tar Heels are hardly alone when it comes to posing questions no one can answer.
No one knows what to expect from N.C. State, or Wake Forest, or East Carolina. There's one program left among the state's FBS teams, and Duke faces the fewest questions of all going into tonight's game against Elon.
Offensively, they bring back nine starters, if not the most important - quarterback, where the prolific Thad Lewis is gone - but Duke coach David Cutcliffe has the utmost confidence in sophomore Sean Renfree's ability to get the ball to experienced wide receivers Donovan Varner, Conner Vernon and Austin Kelly. If Desmond Scott can pop a few runs, the Blue Devils should be able to put some points on the board.
"Well, let's hope there is one," Cutcliffe said this week in response to a question about Duke's running game, which managed only 762 yards last season, almost a third of that coming in the rain against N.C. Central. But it should be noted that Mississippi's two all-time leading rushers - Deuce McAllister and Joe Gunn - both played under Cutcliffe.
Defensively, they have to break in five new starters while playing a completely different scheme. Cutcliffe is a little less certain about this side of the ball, but the bar isn't set very high for improvement, especially if his recruits continue to close the speed gap that has long existed between Duke and the rest of the ACC.
"I have great confidence that we're going to play hard, and great confidence that we'll chase the football and play as hard as we can possibly play," Cutcliffe said. "I think when you're going into your first game with so many unknowns, that's one of the areas I'm anxious to see how we respond."
There have been seasons where Duke was a known commodity, but typically it was known that the Blue Devils would finish last in the ACC. That probably won't happen this season, not with Virginia in the Coastal Division. Unfortunately for Duke, the rest of the Coastal is stacked, but solid improvement in the form of a 7-5 or 6-6 season - and that elusive bowl bid - is a distinct possibility.
Elsewhere, it's hard to pin down the prospects. Defense was supposed to be the key for N.C. State this season, but the surprising and stealthy move of Dean Haynes from cornerback to halfback raises questions about the Wolfpack's running game as well. Everyone knew the Wolfpack was short of depth at defensive back; how dire must the situation be at running back to steal a player from one problem position and make him an immediate starter at another?
There is no uncertainty about the rest of N.C. State's offense, with Russell Wilson at quarterback and talented wide receivers, but Tom O'Brien is at a point in his tenure when he needs to provide the right answers if N.C. State is going to avoid a fifth straight losing season.
If O'Brien is under the most pressure to produce in his time with the Wolfpack, Ruffin McNeill couldn't be under less pressure at East Carolina. Coming off back-to-back Conference USA titles under Skip Holtz, a rebuilding year isn't going to sting too badly - particularly if the crazy new schemes McNeill is bringing with him from Texas Tech are entertaining.
Wake Forest, which opened the season with a 53-13 rout of Presbyterian on Thursday, has the most known commodity of all in coach Jim Grobe, whose work at Wake is nothing short of miraculous. The Deacons' defense should be better, as should the ground game, but replacing four-year starter Riley Skinner at quarterback won't be easy.
And then there's North Carolina, a team that two months ago was poised to make a run at the ACC title and is now instead practicing more damage control than football. Whether the Tar Heels can move past this and perform is anyone's guess.
Across the area, across the state, the football season that fully opens today is one of very few certainties and very many mysteries. The program with the least questions just happens to be the one that has typically faced the most: Duke.
