The college football season is underway, and there is a lot of buzz surrounding our local teams. There have been in-state showdowns, close thrillers, and major upsets. North Carolina’s teams have been all over the headlines this year. 

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 The Tar Heels have gotten off to an interesting start. They’re sitting at 3-0 after back-to-back weeks. They started the season with a dominant win over a Florida A&M team that was down nearly a third of their players. All this game really showed was that freshman running back Omarion Hampton could ball out. He ended the game with two touchdowns and 101 yards on the ground. Their second game was one of the weirdest games anyone has ever seen. They barely took down Appalachian State by a basketball score of 63-61. Drake Maye played like a Heisman candidate; however, the defense had more holes than Swiss cheese. The next week featured another SunBelt matchup against the Georgia State Panthers. Maye played a solid game, but the defense was still shaky. The Tar Heels were only able to escape with a 35-28 win at home. It’ll be interesting to see if Carolina can continue to find wins and make a major bowl game.

North Carolina State

NC State fans had some very high expectations to begin the season. Delusions about the college football playoff were thrown about. This almost came crashing down against the East Carolina Pirates in week one. The Pack performed poorly through the entirety of the game but were able to just squeak by with the win. The main reason that they won is that East Carolina’s kicker missed a game-tying extra point and a game-winning field goal. The Wolfpack came back firing on all cylinders in week two with a dominant win against Charleston Southern. Fans still have high expectations for this NC State team, but will they be able to live up to expectations throughout the rest of the season?

Appalachian State

The Mountaineers came into this season with two massive games on their schedule. First, they opened with the North Carolina Tar Heels on their home turf. They got off to a scorching start. App went up 21-7 in the first quarter, however, that lead quickly slipped away and they found themselves down big in the fourth quarter. They didn’t give up though. App scored 40 points in the final quarter and pushed Carolina to the edge. This Appalachian State team has more heart than anyone. This was shown in the Carolina game, and further proven in week two against the sixth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies in College Station. The Mountaineers had the game under control from the opening kickoff and didn’t give it back. They were able to pull off the massive upset by a score of 17-14. Look for Appalachian State to be a dark horse for a New Years 6 Bowl this year.

Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons are off to a 2-0 start to the young season. Week one didn’t really give fans much of an idea of how good this team was, as they played a VMI team that was never supposed to be good. Wake won 44-10. Week two’s matchup against the undefeated Vanderbilt Commodores would give fans a little more insight as to whether the Deacons should even be ranked. After a slow start, Wake took control of the game and ran away with it, winning, 45-25. Going into their week three tilt with Liberty, Wake Forest is the nineteenth-ranked team in the nation and is looking to keep their winning streak alive.  

Duke

Nobody expected the Blue Devils to be competitive this season; however, Duke is 2-0 and has an avenue to a bowl game this season. This is due to fantastic play from freshman quarterback Riley Leonard and great coaching from first-year signal caller Mike Elko. Duke dismantled a struggling Temple team 30-0 in their first game. In their second game, Duke showed true grit by holding off a hot Northwestern squad. Duke will likely struggle in ACC play with their lack of experience, but there is definitely a shot that they go bowling in 2022.

East Carolina

ECU started the year with a huge test at home. They were tasked with stopping the thirteenth-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack, and they almost pulled off the upset. The Pirates put up an unbelievable fight and were in a position to win the game. They were a missed extra point away from tying the game late in the fourth quarter. East Carolina then found themselves in a position to walk off the game with a chip shot field goal, but it wasn’t meant to be. The kicker missed and State escaped with a win. This game showed how much heart this ECU team has. Week two unfolded pretty much how everyone expected for the Pirates. They fairly easily took down Old Dominion by a score of 39-21. It’ll be interesting to see if they can make a bowl game.