UNC football’s top storylines for the 2024 season

Intro welcome to WL triangle in two I'm Mark Bergen joined by LS Fernandez football season is here week zero is upon us and we're going to go through the top story lines for each of the triangle teams starting with your beloved Carolina Tar Heels Lewis yeah yeah Mark we're we can't do it a normal way right and just talk about it we're g to do this kind of in a draft style so we're gonna go back and forth here snake draft shout out to Fantasy Football um getting started right about now um and we're just going to go back and forth and pick the different storylines that are most exciting to us the things that we think are going to matter the most yeah and we're going to give you the first pick you're a UNCC Alum Lewis so you can kick us off and do the honors with your beloved Tar Heels so I'm I'm not going to make this more difficult than it needs to be okay the the first storyline UNC QB: Max Johnson or Conner Harrell? that we're watching for the quarterbacks um this is is very easy when you're going from Sam how and then Drake may now you have a question mark who's next exactly who's next uh as this recording which we are recording on August 22nd uh UNCC has not made the announcement on who the starter is going to be in fact what they're going to do is wait until the day of the game against Minnesota um because Minnesota does not release depth charts oh so this is a little bit Petty between the two schools in a sense yeah so that Minnesota does not release depth charts not just like this season not against just in general traditionally traditionally PJ Fleck apparently not a big death chart guy so in response UNCC will not be releasing a depth chart they did this once or twice last year if I remember correctly it just never really timed out to the beginning of the Season where we're waiting to see who the starting quarterback is so we won't know who the starting quarterback is for UNCC until warm-ups before the game uh in Minneapolis who are you hoping will eventually be the starter because you've got Connor harl you've got Max Johnson I know jacobe Chiswell is back with the tar of the three just how do you see that race shaking out who do you think will actually be the starter come the opener on that Thursday night well so here here's the thing I think what UNC would have wanted would have been for Connor harrold to run away with the starting job in training camp right he was uh the starter for the game against West Virginia the Dukes Mayo B um and you know he didn't really have the best game that really UNC as a whole struggled in that game losing 30 to1 against West Virginia um so you would have hoped that he would have ran away with it in training camp but they haven't announced anything so you kind of assume he hasn't um he's definitely got a lot of talent um you know whether it be running or throwing the ball um and then the other two are jaob jacobe Criswell who you know lost the battle to Drake May um couple years it was it was it was it came down to the very end of the season um he he had spent multiple years at you would see transfers um to Arkansas he's from Arkansas originally and now he comes back to UNCC and then Max Johnson who has all the experience in the SEC um he has have my notes here he's thrown for over 5,000 yards in the SEC tchm and LSU 47 touchdowns 12 interceptions um so I think Juke you would have wanted Conor Harold to run away with this job what I think is gonna happen is Max Johnson will will get the start at least early on that's just kind of what my gut is saying any kind of information there and I think it's because of how UNC is going to try and play football this year yeah and Johnson's dad brand Johnson longtime NFL quarterback too so you have the family lineage of a great athletic lineage with Drake May uh this is maybe stepping on Can UNC be better without Drake Maye? your pick a little bit Lewis but for me is is can this team be better without Drake May okay and it's the common theme you know I listen to what Mack uh Brown has been saying in the offseason at the ACC kickoff of you know we were trying to win the Heisman with Drake May and we're going to throw the ball throw the ball throw the ball um we'll talk about this throughout today's draft of the top story lines but it is going to be a different style of ball where it's not just going to be let's hurry up quick get to the line of scrimmage and try to just pass all over teams I think it's going to be a little bit different than what we've seen the last two years with this Tar Heels team and really which quarterback that that is I don't think you need any of them to be Drake may I think it's playing sound football knowing when to take risks and protecting the ball playing more of a ball control style offense controlling the clock you keep your defense off the field I think whichever quarterback can do that best it's not going to be as flashy as this last few years we've seen with both Drake May and Sam Hall yeah I I think that's part of the reason why I'm leaning towards Max Johnson right now is just because the experience the experience exactly like it all those games being played in the SEC that does mean something um I think with how UNCC is going to play football this year taking care of the ball is going to be very important which brings me to my UNC's defense under Geoff Collins second storyline the defense uh you Jeff Collins Baby D waffle waffle house man himself um Jeff Collins uh throughout the the offseason there's been a lot of talk about how much energy he's brought to that defense um he know he's gone out of his way to really compliment Jee chisik and the war that was done beforehand um but you know with with Collins he brings a lot of energy he's talked about wanting to simplify the defense a little bit so that players can just move can attack can be fast um I so I think that energy if if the defense can even Elevate to just the point where it's average or above average I think that does a whole lot for UNCC um especially down the stretch so my second big storyline is what does the defense under Jeff Collins do what what does it look like um you know he had a lot of success against UNCC as the head coach at Georgia Tech he was three- one I believe against the the Tar Heels so you know what does he bring to the team um and and how does he improve that defense because that can take the pressure off of the offense and the quarterback you're in my brain which is a dangerous place to be but it's the complimentary football Lewis is what I was going to say and last year Virginia put out the recipe of how to beat the Tar Heels and it was dominate time of possession MH top is not always a metric that always tells the tale but that to me was several of uncc's losses on the backstretch they got dominated on time of possession if he can help with that of keeping the defense off the field you run the ball effectively with Omarian Hampton who we'll talk about here in just a second that is going to be key in Shoring up this defense for what's been a prolific offense the last two years and think that the tar Hills ability Can UNC finish the 2024 season strong? late in the season which is my next pick is how you finish you know you start out nine in one two years back with Drake may he comes on to the scene everyone's saying could he potentially win the Heisman we knew he was going to be one of the top picks the third pick to the Patriots you start six and 0 last year you get up to number 10 in the AP Top 25 you finish the year two and five can you finish and you know that kind of mirrors with Jeff is the new DC m in helping with that so that that's my next pick but all of this stuff like we said off the top loose it's all correlated but the complimentary football that to me is going to be the biggest measure of is he effective in this in this position as the new defensive coordinator of the Tar Heels yeah um yeah I I think just to go off of that kind of end of the season type stuff right in 2022 UNCC finished 0 and4 in the final four game in 2023 0 and3 in their final three games lost five of seven down the stretch um this is not rocket science this is not new information that we're putting out there right it's how do you finish the back half those the last six games of the season for UNC this year not to skip too far ahead home against Georgia Tech who they've struggled with at UVA a place where they've struggled to play at FSU right now ranked to top 25 team highest ranked team in the ACC going into the year exactly home against Wake Forest rivalry you never know what happens at BC and then home against NC State so there are winnable games in there for UNC should they play better in the back half yeah okay so your second pick was my second pick was finishing just finishing from what we've seen the last two years given all that information you just gave us this and Can Omarion Hampton run for 2,000 yards? and so my third pick then I will once again keep it simple um Omarian Hampton yeah he's good that was next on my list so good pick um you know, 1500 yards on the ground a year ago and he he said at the beginning of the Season he wants the aim for 2000 um you know he's he's confident going full Barry Sanders on Chapel Hill and listen if he gets 2000s like let's start the Heisman campaign like right now well I mean he's he's a preseason All-American like he's he's one of the best running backs one of the best players uh in college football this year so it's going to be how how does he continue to hold those expectations um running backs coach Larry Porter we talked to him um last weekend last weekend yeah last weekend um and and he said you know he's the same old o he's the same old quiet guy who you know you kind of have to like get out of his shell a little bit so he hasn't changed based on the expectations um how does UNC change and this as you can tell is kind of a theme with what UNC is going to be like if they want to run the ball well are going to need to play complimentary football defensively and passing game um you know everyone knows in the stadium that Marian Hampton is going to be getting the ball like that's just every everyone knows that so how do you adjust how do you keep defenses honest um you look at Players like Caleb Hood if he can continue to stay healthy um you know um Darwin Barlo I think is another player the the transfer two-time transfer coming over from USC who could really kind of add to that running backs room if they continue to ground and pound and make that more of their identity they got to have be able to not just lean on Omarian Hampton I want to make sure we do this for the viewers and listeners so the people that are watching on the 99 fan YouTube page right now you have no idea where I'm going with this no I don't when the EA Sports college football video game came out you know Marian Hampton is ranked in like the 90s he's the highest rated player on UNC that gets me excited so it's like if you're playing that game of like who's going to Tote The Rock for guar heels he's the dude that's going to do it this leads me to my next pick Lewis and it's again all of this stuff correlates you have pretty much a brand New offensive linemen new offensive line minus one starter a lot of transfers a lot of talent coming in can you translate that success of the ground game 1500 yards on the ground from a year ago can you do that again when you're going to be the guy who defenses are honing in and focusing on right you know Drake May's gone uh TZ Walker's gone Josh DS is gone you know players that we've seen produce at a high level from a skill position standpoint for North Carolina the last few years when you're the guy and it's a stacked box of eight guys in in the Box can you at least move the chains get four five yards at a time and continue to move the football down field that's going to be the big thing and you have new offensive linemen how they gel early is going to be key for Omari and Hampton's success this season and I think that there sometimes there's a misunderstanding about college offenses right where it's you think pass pass pass chip Lindsay I think is wants to coach very complimentary ball he wants to be able to run the ball I mean you know Omarian Hampton doesn't run for 1500 yards because they you know never run the football last year right so the key I think is going to be the passing game is much going to be much more complimentary of what the running game does this year so um Nate McCullum uh you know the former George Tech transfer who actually played with Jeff Collins um you know way back when in Atlanta uh you know he said that from the wide receiver perspective from the offensive perspective running the ball and deep shots downfield that's what they truly want to be good at and when you look at the Players they have returning the JJ Jones the Nate McCollum Kobe pesur hopefully being healthy they have a lot of speed some talented young receivers as well so how does the bassing attack and the rushing attack balance itself out chip I know you're watching play action just set up the play action pass and uh listen man that is my list that is my draft it's it's with the line so Recap it's kind of recap let's go through really quickly just if people are watching um your first pick Lewis was just the quarterbacks yep who's who's gonna start will it be Conor harrold or Max Johnson or Jobe Chiswell we will find out um most likely hours if that before the Minnesota game because they're not releasing a dep chart W mine was better without Drake May question mark so that was uh that was my first pick um my second pick was was defense Jeff Collins what is that look like how does he transform this Georgia Tech or excuse me this UNC defense coming from Georgia Tech that's that's going to be key uh in order for UNC to be able to reach its ceiling I had finishing after falling apart La at the end of the last two seasons uh we had Omar and Hampton's emergence and then again some new offensive linemen along the tar Hills tar Hills offensive line the Big Fellas up front yeah they've their returners the people who they have coming back are really good but there's a lot of just people transfers and that's going to happen with the transfer portal but um listen let's wrap this we've got other additions as well if you're watching on YouTube we're gonna have full previews for Duke and NC State Lu Fernandez Mark Bergen stay tuned for those other videos in the start of the college football season