Thursday Tidbits - North Carolina
Happy Thursday - These are your Thursday Tidbits - North Carolina
Under the radar
Notre Dame leads the nation in most consecutive wins (41) when leading at the half. According to The Athletic’s playoff predictor, ND is given a 94% chance of making the tournament, tops in the nation. The Sagarin Rating (sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm), a metric used by the playoff selection committee has the Irish #1 in the nation, having played the 27th hardest schedule to date. Despite all of this, there is very little conversation about the Irish in the national media. It is hard to believe that ND is flying under the radar as the AP #3 team in the country.
LEAVE NO DOUBT!
Defense
Going into week five, Notre Dame leads the nation in total defense allowing just 199 yards per game and only 3.6 yards per play. With three defensive touchdowns, the Irish are tied with Alabama and North Dakota St. for tops in the country. They trail only Iowa in scoring defense allowing just 33 points through the first four games.
Belichick
If you are reading this, you certainly know of North Carolina coach Bill Belichick. We aren’t going to waste any brain power discussing his legendary career. However, there are some things you may not know:
For example, did you know that his college experience was right out of animal house? Before graduating from Wesleyan University in 1975, Belichick’s classmates recall that as president of the Chi Psi fraternity he could be found in the vicinity of frat guys peeing on rival houses and blasting soda machines with a shotgun.
Did you know that he is great friends with Jon Bon Jovi, appearing here on stage with him and a former Notre Dame coach?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzbMP7pLRkA&t=27s
And, did you know that he refused to be depicted in Madden video games? Fans of the long-running Madden NFL video game series might be perplexed whenever they call up the Patriots head coach. It’s never Belichick, but an anonymous character named Josh Moore. (Sometimes, the more generic “NE Coach” is used.)
Carolina
North Carolina enters the game with a record of 2-1 coming off of an open date. Their defense is amongst the country's top units, ranking 44th overall, allowing 312 yards per game. They rank fourth nationally in red zone defense and ninth nationally with 10 sacks. Defensive lineman Xavier Lewis (90) leads the nation in sacks per game with 2.0 through Carolina’s first three games this season. Additionally, his 2.83 tackles for loss per game is also the best among the FBS. Defensive back Greg Smith (1) was named to the Pro Football Focus (PFF) National Team of the Week after picking off a pass en route to compiling a career-best seven tackles against Clemson.
The offense is coached by Bobby Petrino, of crashing your motorcycle with your mistress on the back, who happens to be an intern on your staff, fame. Beyond that, there isn’t much exciting to say about this offense. Keep an eye on running back Benjamin Hall (7) who turned in the best game of his collegiate career at Clemson with a career-high 130 yards on 18 carries.
UNC will unveil a new permanent display inside Kenan Stadium on Saturday honoring the program's College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame members, of which there are twelve.
UNC Chapel Hill is the first state university in the United States and the only one to award degrees during the 18th Century. Classes officially began in 1795 and had a student body of just one for the first two weeks.
The school’s athletic teams are referred to as the North Carolina Tar Heels, but what exactly is a tar heel? There are two possible origins. The first: during the revolutionary war, British troops found their feet covered with tar after crossing North Carolina rivers. A product of North Carolina’s pine trees, tar became one of the state’s most important exports. The second stems from the Civil War when North Carolina soldiers threatened to stick tar on the heels of retreating soldiers to make them stay in battle. General Robert E. Lee is said to have commented, “God bless the Tar Heel boys!”
Famous alumni include the inventor of Pepsi; the sheriff of Mayberry (Andy Griffith); a President of the United States (James Polk, 11th); the greatest basketball player of all-time (MJ); one of the most influential women athletes of all-time (Mia Hamm); and a four-time PGA major champion (Ray Floyd). Sorry, no FBI most wanted like last week, however they do claim Lawrence Taylor.
The Game
Notre Dame is 21-2 all-time against North Carolina with the programs first meeting in 1949. The Irish have traveled to Chapel Hill nine times, holding a 7-2 record over the Tar Heels in Kenan Memorial Stadium.
Notre Dame is a 21.5 point favorite over North Carolina with an over/under of 47.5 points. The game starts at 12:00 ET on ESPN.
Complacency may be the biggest challenge facing Notre Dame right now, and UNC is a significant step-up in competition from last week when the Irish were flat in the second half. Belichick is regarded as one of the greatest defensive minds to coach in the NFL. With an extra week to prepare and a respectable defense, expect the Irish to struggle early. Fortunately, UNC will struggle to score as well.
Expect this one to be close early with the Irish’s superior talent pulling away late.
Those are your Thursday Tidbits - North Carolina
Stay thirsty, my friends.
Go Otters and Go Irish!
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