Opening stretch is grueling for UNC football team

The news on the North Carolina football team so far has focused on Marvin Austin and the NCAA probe, but here’s a point to keep in mind – Carolina has a really difficult opening schedule.

Everyone knows the Heels open against LSU in Atlanta Sept. 4. But games against Georgia Tech (Sept. 18) and at Rutgers (Sept. 25) follow. So the Tar Heels could be 1-2 or even 0-3 going into the Oct. 2 home game with East Carolina.

It doesn’t get easier after that, with Clemson at home and road trips to Virginia and Miami. (Insert Club LIV joke here). So UNC could easily stumble into November with a losing record. Any player suspensions will only make Carolina’s road that more difficult.

Sometimes a team can have a hard time finding any traction on a season when events go wrong – just ask N.C. State last year. The Wolfpack had a hard time recovering from that early injury to Nate Irving. And all the negativity surrounding UNC now won’t help as it heads into an arduous stretch of games.