For a Power 5 school like North Carolina, playing an FCS team usually means a win can be penciled in on the schedule. The Power 5 school gets a comfortable victory and the FCS school gets a six-figure payout. Everybody wins.
But unlike most FCS teams, The Citadel isn’t coming to Kenan Stadium for a check to fund its athletic budget. The Bulldogs are coming to win a football game.
With a perfect record, The Citadel (10-0) has plenty to be confident about heading into its Saturday matchup against UNC (7-3, 5-2 ACC). The Bulldogs won’t be starstruck playing a Division-I school after beating South Carolina last year.
How do they play?
The Citadel forces opposing defenses to conform to its unique offensive style. The Bulldogs utilize the triple-option offense and average nearly 360 rushing yards per game.
When running the triple option, quarterback Dominique Allen has the choice to hand the ball off to the fullback, run the ball himself or pitch the ball to the wingback. One missed defensive assignment by the North Carolina defense can result in an explosive play at any given moment.
The advantage for UNC in this matchup is the experience that it has defending the triple option. Just two weeks ago, North Carolina took on Georgia Tech’s triple option. This is immensely helpful for the Tar Heels, because a major reason the triple option is so successful is the unfamiliarity that most defenses have with it.
In UNC’s 48-20 victory over the Yellow Jackets, it allowed Georgia Tech to gain over 500 yards, but the defense forced three turnovers to keep the offense from turning the yardage into points.
