Syracuse (4-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) hosts North Carolina (1-4, 1-2) for a 12:20 p.m. Saturday start in the Carrier Dome. The Orange are coming off of back-to-back road losses against then-No. 3 Clemson and Pittsburgh. Last week, North Carolina fell to Virginia Tech, 22-19, in Chapel Hill.

The game will air on ACC Network Extra. Here’s what to know about the Tar Heels.

All-time series: Syracuse and UNC are tied at 2-2

Last time they played: After trailing 34-17 in the third quarter, Syracuse stormed back and scored 17 unanswered to force overtime. The Orange eventually pulled out a 49-47 victory in triple overtime in 2003 as UNC failed on a two-point conversion to force a fourth overtime. Walter Reyes dominated the Tar Heels on the ground, rushing for 191 yards and three touchdowns. It was a quarterback battle in the air as R.J. Anderson threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns for SU. Darian Durant threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns.

The North Carolina report: The Tar Heels have no consistency at the quarterback position. Three different signal callers have been in rotation thus far for the Tar Heels — head coach Larry Fedora is still trying to figure out who the lead man is going to be. Nathan Elliott has gotten the bulk of time thus far. Elliott has been held to under 200 passing yards three times in five games as the Tar Heels have struggled to put points on the board.

The center of UNC’s offense is the run game, where Michael Carter has proven to be a major option. In just three games this season, Carter is averaging 8.6 yards per carry, including a 165-yard game against Virginia Tech.

UNC has also dealt with suspensions for the early part of the season. Thirteen players were suspended prior to the season opener for selling Jordan-brand shoes. Their suspensions were staggered, as UNC appealed the suspensions to the NCAA. Only two players still have to make up time: Defensive end Tomon Fox will miss the game against Syracuse, and defensive end Malik Carney still has to miss time but will play against the Orange on Saturday.

Defensively, the Tar Heels have struggled. Their pass defense numbers look much better than they are, as UNC gives up less than 200 yards per game through the air, but that’s because of a porous run defense. Similar to SU, the Tar Heels cannot stop opposing backs, and that allows teams to get out early and maintain leads, forcing UNC to abandon its own run game and try to force action through the air.

How Syracuse beats North Carolina: Get ahead early. North Carolina is a team that has been plagued by injuries and suspension this year. The Tar Heels haven’t had the opportunity to put their top units on the field together at once. The one area of the team that has bite to it is the run game, which doesn’t bode well for Syracuse. If Carter ran for 165 yards against a Virginia Tech defense, he can certainly replicate that against the Orange’s poor run defense. UNC struggles as a passing team, so SU has to use that. Elliott has only put up 250 yards of offense in one game, the 38-35 home victory against Pittsburgh. And on the road, Elliott has thrown just one touchdown and four interceptions. If SU can turn this into an Eric-Dungey-versus-Elliott matchup, Syracuse should come out on top — especially since this is a home game. At this point, Syracuse has shown it can’t stop the run. The keys, then, are to score fast, build up a lead and force the Tar Heels to catch up quickly through the air.

Player to watch: Michael Carter, running back, No. 8

Carter missed the first three weeks of the season with a broken wrist, but wound up only missing two games because UNC’s matchup with Central Florida was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. Fedora eased Carter back into the lineup in his first two weeks back, giving Carter a combined 13 rushing attempts which resulted in 103 yards. Carter finally received a full workload last week in North Carolina’s 22-19 loss to Virginia Tech, and he rushed for 165 yards. So far this season, Carter is averaging 8.6 yards per carry. Carter’s 31 carries do not yet qualify him to be among the league leaders in yards per carry, but if the number did, Carter would currently rank third in the NCAA.

---

Published on October 17, 2018 at 10:32 pm

Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu