Looking at what North Carolina's football team has coming back this season, one would get the impression that the Tar Heels should treat the rest of the ACC like Danny Green treated Greg Paulus in the above picture.
I mean, this team's star power on defense is utterly ridiculous. By now you probably know that more than half of their starting 11 is regarded among the elite in college football.
I remember talking with NFL Draft expert Mike Detillier last December, getting an early read on Clemson's NFL prospects. He mentioned that North Carolina had a staggering five guys ranked in the top 50 of his early 2011 draft board.
Phil Steele appears sold on the defensive talent in Chapel Hill, ranking DE Robert Quinn as his No. 1 defensive end in the nation, Marvin Austin as his No. 1 defensive tackle, Quan Sturdivant as his No. 1 inside linebacker, and Bruce Carter as his No. 1 outside backer.
Four No. 1 players at their positions, folks. And that doesn't even account for the No. 2 free safety (Deunta Williams) and Nos. 4 an 13 cornerbacks (Kendric Burney and Charles Brown).
Imagine the hyperventilation from ESPN if an SEC defense boasted that many players with such acclaim. Can you say two-hour special -- per day -- during August camp?
All that said, I'm finding it hard to forecast the Tar Heels atop the Coastal Division this season. And apparently I'm not the only one. Dr. Saturday, who's previewing the ACC this week, is having the same misgivings.
The reason, obviously: UNC's offense is too much dead weight for any defense, even the best in the country, to drag to a conference championship. And that's the case even with 10 starters back and a senior quarterback with 31 career starts under his belt.
It's really weird, because if this were the late 1990s and Mack Brown were coaching this bunch, it would be easy to dismiss it as an overhyped bunch that would surely end up falling short.
But this is Butch Davis, so it feels kind of weird thinking this team's on-grass performance will not match its on-paper potential.
(Regarding on-grass performance, no pun intended for those familiar with Sturdivant's alleged recreational activities.)
Too often last year, North Carolina's offense looked like it was slogging through mud -- and even against defenses that were average at best.
How do the Tar Heels muster just 154 total yards (17 rushing) against Georgia Tech?
How do they total 174 (39 rushing) a week later against Virginia?
How do they fail to crack 300 yards against a FCS opponent (Georgia Southern)?
It should also be pointed out that the Tar Heels' werewolf-infested defense had some galling lapses as well, most notably in surrendering an 18-point lead in a home loss to Florida State.
And now, as you'll see in our upcoming preview of North Carolina, there's a strong feeling that freshman Bryn Renner will unseat T.J. Yates.
So pardon us if we're getting cold feet in pronouncing the Heels' greatness.
Hinton makes a very good point in saying that great defense alone would've been good enough to win this conference in recent years. Now, not so much.
Wake Forest took the conference championship in 2006 with the nation's 96th-ranked total offense, and Virginia Tech won it two years in a row with attacks that ranked 100th and 103rd, respectively, in 2007-08. (Wake Forest wasn't even all that good on defense in 2006.)
That was possible because a majority of the conference was just as bad. That's not true anymore, especially in the Coastal Division: Between Georgia Tech's lethal option game, Miami's bombs-away passing philosophy, Virginia Tech's power running/play-action game and balanced assaults from across the divisional divide by Florida State and Clemson, even a defense as hyped as North Carolina's is going to find itself in a few holes.
In the AJC. an ode to Josh(ua) Nesbitt from Mark Bradley.
Rivals ranks Clemson No. 37th nationally.
That's one spot ahead of Auburn.
That's also assuming Kyle Parker is in the fold.
Clemson has plenty of question marks at the skill positions on offense, but the offensive line and defense are good enough to keep the Tigers in ACC title contention. Of course, it also helps that Clemson is playing in the Atlantic Division, which again looks much weaker than the Coastal. If Parker plays football this season, Clemson has a realistic shot at winning a second consecutive Atlantic Division title, though we'd still make Florida State the favorite. But if Clemson must break in a new starting quarterback, Clemson likely finishes below Florida State and Boston College in the Atlantic.
In the ACC Sports Journal, Dabo Swinney is sweating over KP's decision.
The Charlotte Observer's Ron Green Jr., covering the British Open, files this column on Tiger.
The balding among us will appreciate this column by Ken Burger, who's still churning out great lines for The Post and Courier even though he's no longer doing it in sports.
Great lines such as:
I recall noticing my father's male-pattern baldness when he was my age. And I've closely watched my older brother's hair thinning out as he reached retirement age.
But the real whack upside the head came the day I stepped inside one of those elevators with 360-degree mirrors.
I remember looking around, wondering who the bald guy was.
Turned out, I was alone in the elevator.
All you folks who think Clemson's administration isn't sufficiently committed to athletics can take solace in this fact: Could be worse.
So the Big Ten title game could end up being hosted at Soldier Field.
Here's what the pre-game tailgates might look like:
Suddenly, Charlotte in December seems downright tropical.
LW
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