The North Carolina Tar Heels’ defense has kept the sky from falling, and, last week, carried the team to its first conference win of the season.
Carolina is a touchdown favorite against Stanford, the first
time this season the Heels are favored against a Power 4 team.
Here are a few things to watch as UNC seeks its second-straight conference victory.
Stanford Quarterback Shake Up
This week, interim head coach Frank Reich announced that starting quarterback Ben Gulbranson will be benched for Elijah Brown.
The Cardinal have the worst offense in the ACC, ranking last in points per game and second-to-last in yards per game.
Two weeks ago, Gulbranson threw for just 50 yards against Miami. He threw three interceptions versus Pitt last week. Gulbranson leads the conference in thrown interceptions.
Brown was a consensus four-star recruit and the highest-rated quarterback to join Stanford since Tanner McKee in 2018.
As a true freshman, Brown served as a backup until an injury to Ashton Daniels. Brown started against Wake Forest, but sat out the rest of the season to preserve his redshirt. Brown finished his 2024 redshirt season with 274 passing yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions.
In his press conference this week, Reich described him as “very instinctive” and a “very accurate passer.”
Saturday’s game is Brown’s opportunity to keep the starting job. Let’s see how the Carolina defense plans and executes for a new quarterback in a short amount of time.
The “Stoppable Force” vs. “Movable Object”
Something has to give. This game features two of the lowest-ranked units in the country going head-to-head.
UNC’s offense ranks 120th in scoring at 19.4 points per game and 128th in total offense.
Stanford’s defense is 119th in total defense, allowing 424.9 yards per game, and is 134th, last in the country, against the pass.
The Tar Heels have an opportunity to build on last week’s offensive performance. In the 27-10 win over Syracuse, Carolina had its most productive game of the season. The offense’s 426 yards were the most all season. It was the first game with more than 200 yards rushing and was the highest passing total for Gio Lopez and the team in a single game.
The success on the ground opened up opportunities for Lopez. One third of his 216 passing yards last week came on a middle screen to Demon June that turned into a 72-yard touchdown pass.
The offense matched the fewest passing attempts in a single game this season, but had the highest completion percentage out of any game.
The Tar Heels were run-heavy last week, rushing 43 times and attempting just 19 passes.
Will this be the same formula this week, or the rest of the season, for that matter? Or will the Stanford pass defense provide an opportunity for Lopez to get more live-action reps and build some confidence?
Sustaining and Finishing Drives
The defense cannot do it all for the Tar Heels. The offense has to find ways to sustain drives.
There is an interesting wrinkle in this matchup. The UNC offense has been terrible in the red zone, ranking 123rd in the FBS in scoring percentage. Stanford’s red zone defense percentage ranks 24th nationally.
Here’s the kicker: Stanford has allowed the most red zone opportunities in the nation and allowed the most opponent red zone scores.
If UNC moves the ball, its ability, or inability, to score touchdowns instead of field goals will be a deciding factor in this game and down the stretch versus its Big Four opponents.
