I am, first and foremost, a college football fan. I spent the majority of yesterday flitting around my television, dropping in on games here and there to see how things were shaking out. There was no specific
game I was honor-bound to suffer through, no appointment I had to keep with the CW or the ACC Network to look upon the Tar Heels and despair. It was a nice opportunity to get to soak in the joy of a day of college football, unmarred by a string of three-and-outs from my childhood team. (Don’t ask what happened to my alma mater).
There were dark forces at work yesterday. Perhaps here, on the last weekend of September, the ghosts of the Halloween season gathered in stadiums nationwide, sowing chaos to welcome us into October. Teams ranked #3, #4, #5, and #21 all lost yesterday, joining Friday night’s victims of Florida State (#8) and TCU (#24). Not that the Tar Heels would have had to worry about the ranked-specific chaos; Carolina, of course, prudently and safely remains below “others receiving votes” in the weekly polls. Still, there was plenty to go around, with wild happenings all throughout the rankings and fans of teams on bye weeks — like the Tar Heels — uniquely positioned to pop some corn and enjoy every minute of it.
The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time. There are football reasons for this; Gio Lopez’s uncertain injury status and the likelihood of starting a new (hopefully younger) quarterback, the health of the team at large, and time to study film and try to correct some of the glaring issues that have plagued this team in the early part of the season. Chaos and weirdness aside, this was a wonderful week to have off, ahead of a conference-opening tilt with similarly-spiraling Clemson.
Fans and players alike got a weekend to enjoy and unwind; it remains to be seen whether that will help either group of people in the long run. Will our collective blood pressure still spike when the Tar Heel offense go run-run-pass-punt on the opening drive of the game? Will an extra week of film study and practice be able to bridge the talent gap between a team that has won three national titles (and 14 conference titles) in the 45 years since the other has managed to win the ACC?
The road to the ACC Championship remains open, although it feels like there is an interminable distance between here and there. In any case, the dream remains alive at least until the clock hits zeroes next week, which means we have one more week to hold out hope — all thanks to a well-timed bye.
