After back-to-back nine-loss seasons for North Carolina football, the Tar Heels could be playing in a bowl game come December.
What would it take to make it back to the postseason for the first time since 2016? With six games to go, the team needs three wins against the country's 18th-hardest remaining schedule, but it also has several issues to address.
North Carolina finally got its first decisive victory of the season on Saturday, handling Georgia Tech 38-22. Until that win, every game this season had been decided by less than a touchdown.
The Tar Heels could easily be 6-0 this season, but could just as easily be 1-5. There's six games left in the season after this week's bye: at Virginia Tech, vs. Duke, vs. Virginia, at Pittsburgh, vs. Mercer, and at N.C. State.
Outside of Mercer, there aren't really any guaranteed wins there. But there aren't any guaranteed losses, either.
Virginia Tech is coming off a win against Miami that saw the Hokies jump out to a 28-0 lead, then nearly blow it late when Miami tied the game at 35 in the fourth quarter. Before that, VT laid a goose egg against Duke, losing 45-10. Which Hokies team shows up next Saturday is anyone's guess.
The only ranked team in that group is No. 20 Virginia, currently 4-1 and 2-0 in the ACC. The Cavaliers currently have the No. 10 total defense in the nation and the No. 20 passing defense, allowing just 184 yards per game through the air. That will be a tough one for the Tar Heels to win, especially if they keep losing key players to injury.
With all the toss-up games remaining, there's a couple key areas North Carolina will either need to improve in, or continue to do well in to finish strong in the latter half of the season.
First, Sam Howell will have to continue to play at his current level — he leads the ACC in both touchdown passes and passing yards. The Tar Heel offense has lived and died by him this season, and Howell will need to continue avoiding turnovers and making big plays down field.
