WCU at UNC football game-day guide: How to watch, betting line, game notes
North Carolina’s loss to Notre Dame last week eliminated its chances of reaching the ACC title game. But a spot in the Orange Bowl would be a nice consolation. The Tar Heels, ranked No. 17 in the College Football Playoff Poll, are still in play to possibly earn a berth in one of the most coveted bowls outside of the playoffs.
A few things have to happen for Carolina to receive that invitation. First, it has to beat Western Carolina on Saturday in Kenan Stadium and it has to win at Miami next Saturday. The Heels need Clemson to beat Notre Dame in the ACC Championship game, which would mean the CFP would likely take both teams. That is one of the crucial elements, because the ACC’s bowl agreement mandates the next highest-ranking member would get the Orange Bowl bid.
“The biggest thing is that I’ve told them, the opportunities are out there,” Brown said during his weekly video conference with reporters. “Last year, we were sitting here and had to win the last two games to get to a bowl. And they did that. So we’re in a much different position right now than we were last year and it shows the tremendous progress that we’ve made over a short period of time.”
There is one caveat to everything playing out in UNC’s favor. Miami is currently ranked No. 10 in the CFP poll. It is conceivable that even if the Hurricanes lose to Carolina, they could still be ranked above them in the poll.
Brown doesn’t want his team so worried about all those scenarios that the Tar Heels lose focus on closing out the season strong.
“Have we improved enough to put ourselves in the position to be considered for an Orange Bowl?” Brown said. “All those are question marks that aren’t answered yet. And right now we haven’t proven that we deserve that. So we’re making progress. We are getting more respect, but can we finish?”
How to watch UNC football vs. WCU
The game kicks off at noon Saturday and is televised on the ACC Network.
Betting odds: Tar Heels big favorites
North Carolina was favored by 49.5 points as of Friday evening. The over/under is 69.5.
Game notes: 1,000 yard rushers?
* It’s not out of the question that UNC running backs Javonte Williams (896 yards) and Michael Carter (864 yards) could each surpass the 1,000-yard rushing mark against WCU. Williams and Carter have both gained more than 100 yards in the same game twice -- against Virginia Tech and N.C. State.
* Senior linebacker Chazz Surratt says he was never close to opting out of the season like his brother, Sage, did at Wake Forest. Surratt said his brother was more established at wide receiver, but since he had only played one season after moving from quarterback to linebacker, he still had something to prove: “I wanted to come out and become a better linebacker and play with my team. I thought we were going to have a special year going into it.”
* Senior linebacker Tomon Fox needs just 1.5 sacks to move into a tie with Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor for fifth place in program history for career sacks. Fox currently has 19.5 career sacks.
* Senior receiver Dazz Newsome needs 192 receiving yards to join Ryan Switzer, Hakeem Nicks and Quinshad Davis as the only receivers in UNC history to rank in the schools top five in both career catches and receiving yards. Newsome is currently sixth in career yards at 2,206 and fifth in career receptions with 168.
* Carolina didn’t have any pass plays for more than 70 yards last season. It has had three this year, although the 75-yard touchdown to Khafre Brown officially goes down as a 65-yarder after a blocking penalty by his brother Dyami Brown.
* UNC coach Mack Brown is actually 0-1 against WCU. That 41-15 loss came when he was the head coach at Appalachian State in the 1983 regular-season finale.
* After Western Carolina (0-2) plays UNC, it won’t suit up again until Feb. 20 against Furman. All 13 Football Championship Subdivision conferences made the decision to wait until the spring to play amid coronavirus concerns.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 3:16 PM.