Know Your Enemy: North Carolina

Each game, we'll get the inside look at Virginia Tech's opponent by talking with the opposing team's beat writer. This week, we spoke with

Really, what's stuck out to me is it looks like they're in that two-minute, end of the game, losing by four points kind of offense all the time. Coach (

They have three guys right now, any of which can be a featured tailback. Redshirt freshman

Since Willie Parker left, Bernard is maybe as good an offensive player they've had. But Bernard missed the Wake Forest and Louisville games with some knee tenderness and he's had ACL issues in the past. But they really didn't seem to miss a beat. Morris was great in the second half against Louisville. UNC tries to run 80 plays a game, so you need more than one back. For Carolina, it starts with the running game and also having a veteran offensive line that's only allowed one or two sacks.

The first half at Louisville was a nightmare. Outside of that, he's really been solid. He's found his targets and done it with his arm and legs. I don't know if we've seen Renner at his best this year, but he was limited at Wake Forest or they didn't need him last week. He needs a big ACC win to hang his hat on.

The biggest thing was just missed assignments. Guys were not where they were supposed to be and there's been some changes since the Louisville game.

They've made a few changes, clearly grown as a defense and prided themselves the last few games on getting after the quarterback. That's gonna be a big focus again this week. But

Last week with Idaho, that was not a good football team. I think Virginia Tech would have shut them out as easily as Carolina did. Carolina was gonna beat that team whether they shut them out or not. The two legitimate teams that Carolina played, they lost to and gave up a lot of yards and a lot of points to both of those teams. I'm sure Virginia Tech will see some things they can exploit.

I just have this sneaking suspicion that Virginia Tech is not gonna lose this game. Carolina is gonna have to go out and take it from them. They'll have to physically beat them. I just can't imagine two weeks in a row the Hokies are gonna beat themselves kinda the way you can argue they did against Cincinnati.

I know UNC is favored, but I just have a hard time going against Virginia Tech. Seeing Foster's commentary earlier this week, that guy is one of the great coaches in this sport. This ia s proud program and they expect to win games like this. I think it comes down to turnovers, field position. I'm gonna give the nod to