UNC football takes on N.C. State in head coach Mack Brown's final game at Kenan Stadium

There’s a lot at stake in Saturday’s rivalry showdown. 

UNC will look to defeat N.C. State for the first time in three years. The Wolfpack must win to earn bowl eligibility. And most importantly, head coach Mack Brown will coach his final game in Kenan Stadium after being fired on Monday. 

To send Brown off on a high note, here are three keys for North Carolina to end the regular season with a victory:

Get ahead early

There will be plenty of pomp and circumstance surrounding Saturday’s clash. Senior night festivities will set the stage for Kenan Stadium’s second sold-out matchup of the year, with rivalry stakes and an unknown coaching situation adding to it all. 

“The players know it and that's what makes this game so much fun and it makes football so good,” Brown said in Monday's press conference before he was fired. “It's all there. It's real. Now you got to go do it.” 

In the face of these circumstances, a good start for UNC will be of utmost importance. 

Last year, N.C. State jumped out to a 23-0 lead in the second quarter. By halftime, a 19-point deficit was too great for the Tar Heels to overcome, eventually conceding a 39-20 loss. 

This season, the Wolfpack are 101st out of 134 FBS teams in first-quarter scoring, averaging only 3.7 points. That total drops to just 2.5 points when N.C. State plays on the road. 

If the Tar Heels can tally a first-quarter touchdown or two against the Wolfpack, they may be a few lengths ahead coming down the final stretch. 

“We’ve got to have a better edge,” Brown said. “We've got to play with more excitement, energy and confidence than we did last week.” 

Slow down N.C. State’s receiving core

The defensive focus for UNC should be to limit N.C. State’s speed at the skilled positions and stop big yardage plays.

“They're really good," defensive coordinator Geoff Collins said. "I mean they’ve got speed all around the perimeter. The running back depth and rolling guys through the tight end room is really good as well.” 

The Tar Heel secondary has struggled to suppress the long ball all season. North Carolina is the 13th-worst in preventing yards per completion in all of college football. Its defense has allowed 13.8 yards per catch, the worst margin in the ACC. 

Limiting big plays, especially from Wolfpack star wide receiver KC Concepcion, will be key to keep N.C. State at bay offensively. Concepcion has 416 yards on the season.

“You start looking at their guys and we'll have our hands full and have to play much better,” Brown said. 

Feed "Big-O" the ball

The Tar Heels are 5-1 when junior running back Omarion Hampton has 25 or more carries in a game. UNC is 1-4 when he doesn’t reach that threshold. 

North Carolina's only win when Hampton didn’t touch the ball 25 times was its victory against Charlotte — a game in which he was ruled out with injury in the second half. It's been proven time and time again that a consistent diet of Hampton runs is needed for UNC to be successful. 

“We need to make sure we stay ahead of the chains and really stay in a situation where we're not dropping back and throwing it,” offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. “That's not what we want to do every down for sure.” 

Part of a successful night for Hampton will also be support from his offensive line. Brown has been unsatisfied with how the Tar Heels have done in run blocking and pass protection over the last two weeks. 

For Hampton to be impactful, and for North Carolina to keep quarterback Jacolby Criswell upright, the offensive line must step up. N.C. State’s defensive front will likely load up the tackle box and force North Carolina to throw unless UNC can win the line of scrimmage. 

“NC State's going to stack the box and try to stop Omarion just like Boston College and Wake Forest tried to do,” Brown said. “ We [have to] get ready to go into it.”

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