UNC football must stop the run, test the secondary in top-25 matchup with N.C. State

The No. 14 North Carolina football team (3-1, 3-1 ACC) will face off against in-state rival No. 23 N.C. State (4-1, 4-1 ACC) this Saturday at noon in Kenan Memorial Stadium. The Wolfpack are currently riding a three-game win streak, and are coming off of a 31-20 victory over Duke this past Saturday. 

The loss against Florida State is still reverberating throughout Chapel Hill, as UNC missed out on the largest comeback in school history by three points. Something the UNC defense can take pride in, though, was that the Tar Heels shut out the Seminoles in the second half, and they'll certainly try to carry this momentum into this week’s contest. Here's four keys for a North Carolina victory:

Test the Wolfpack secondary

Sophomore Sam Howell threw for a season-high 374 passing yards against Florida State last week, and should look to continue his strong stretch of play against an N.C. State defense that ranks in the bottom 30 in the nation against the pass.

It's questionable whether senior cornerback Chris Ingram or redshirt first-year safety Khalid Martin will participate in Saturday’s game for the Wolfpack, as both have been sidelined with injuries in recent weeks. Howell should look at this game as an opportunity to fill the stat sheet and get his Heisman campaign back on track.

Stop the run

North Carolina’s defense must be ready to mitigate N.C. State’s ground game in order to be effective this week. 

Sophomore running back Zonovan Knight is the Wolfpack’s leading rusher, having accumulated 365 yards through his first five games. While Knight only picked up 44 yards against Duke last week, head coach Dave Doeren’s starting running back will likely shoulder more of the load against the Tar Heels due to starting quarterback Devin Leary being ruled out with a broken fibula. 

UNC's defense gave up 241 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to Florida State last Saturday, drawing question to the team's ability to stop the run. However, defensive coordinators Jay Bateman and Tommy Thigpen know that their unit is capable of much better, as they are averaging a more imposing 152.3 opponent rush yards per game on the season.

Clean up special teams

It’s no secret that North Carolina’s special teams squad had a rough game against Florida State. The Seminoles blocked two of sophomore Ben Kiernan's punts in the first quarter, and graduate student Grayson Atkins missed his only field goal attempt in the three-point loss.

While Kiernan has been solid this season, Atkins has been less consistent. The former Furman Paladin has only converted 40 percent of his field goal attempts this season, and has yet to make a kick from further than 35 yards out.

Of course, there are few ways for special teams players to be heroes, and many ways for them to make themselves villains to fanbases. Nonetheless, the UNC defense would gain confidence knowing that their punting unit can give them good field position to work with, and offensive coordinator Phil Longo could call plays more conservatively with a reliable kicker backing up his offense.

Show up before halftime

North Carolina is known to be a fourth-quarter team, and is currently 11th in the nation in fourth-quarter scoring. While this is impressive, N.C. State is ranked 12th by the same metric, meaning that the Tar Heels will have to play a complete game this Saturday.

UNC saw firsthand against Florida State that even if you win the second half of the game, the damage done by halftime may be insurmountable. Head coach Mack Brown evidently has some inspiring halftime speeches, but he’d likely rather tell his team to keep up the good work at the break instead of having to make adjustments against the Wolfpack.

@wackettdeven

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