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No. 22 Tar Heels dealing with familiar Week 1 problems again

Wes Lunt will need to pick his spots wisely against this North Carolina unit. The standout defensive lineman can’t wait.

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I think Smoot is the player that North Carolina fans should look to make an impact.

“You guys may find this hard to believe, but I’m going to say I felt relief, all right?”

Plenty has changed for the Illini.

A moment of silence was held prior to the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game to honor former UNC and Wake Forest head coach Bill Dooley. Josh Ferguson, one of the leading rushers for the Illini in 2015, is trying to make his way in pro football.

“The offense will work, just do what you’re taught to do”, Fedora said.

UNC will be on the road to go against IL on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network).

“He was a great National Football League coach, and he’s going to do special things with this program”, Jones said. “The 2016 team hasn’t won a game yet. I think he’ll be a better player this week from last week”. He ranks second in the nation in rushing yards, topped only by the 249 yards UTEP’s Aaron Jones amassed last weekend against New Mexico State. “Those seniors did a great job”.

This will not be a one-sided affair like last year’s matchup. “We can walk into anybody’s stadium and get our tails whipped thinking it’s going to be easy because of the score past year”. This week, our staff chatted with The Daily Tar Heel’s sports editor, C Jackson Cowart. Even with the loss.

“When we bring pressure, we usually get pressure”, Smart said. “We want to beat all of our in-state opponents”. True freshmen to see action were safety Myles Dorn, defensive end Tomon Fox, cornerback Patrice Rene, linebacker Dominque Ross, punter Tom Sheldon and linebacker Jonathan Smith. But, this is the IL football program that we are talking about. “We don’t want to spend the offseason with a bad taste in our mouths”.

North Carolina’s weapons are many.

There are times when quarterback Wes Lunt has the mojo going but then there are times where you can nearly call the play from your seat. When UNC runs the ball, the battle between the Tar Heels’ veteran offensive line and the talented Illini defensive front should be fun to watch. “It’s a decision of how many times you want to do that in the game”. If we were running the ball effectively, we would run the ball quite a bit more, actually. “The first thing we asked him to do was take care of the football, and I don’t ever remember him throwing the ball into any coverage or anything like that”.

Keep an eye on these Tar Heels during Saturday night’s big game.

It wasn’t enough, as the defense gave up 474 yards in a 33-24 loss.

But last year’s quarterback, pass-run threat Marquise Williams, is gone and has been replaced by his backup, junior Mitch Trubisky. Over the past three games, the Tar Heels have allowed an average of 313 rushing yards.

Yes, Murray State is in the Ohio Valley Conference and went 3-9 last season.

He was 24 of 40 for 156 yards in the opener. The good news is it’s entirely fixable.

The bad news is the strategy ended in a loss for North Carolina.

“I know he doesn’t throw interceptions”, Smith said, pointing out that in relief roles last season and in the opener Trubisky has attempted 105 consecutive passes without an interception. “Did he play as well as he would have liked to? No. I couldn’t be more proud of him”.

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Whether Chubb is better than before may take more time to answer, but his opening display was indeed impressive. “Yes, there’s no doubt about it”. But Saturday was Trubisky’s first real test as a starter and it came under some extraordinary conditions. “I just didn’t get it done”.

Mike Granse-USA TODAY Sports