Tar Heels must solve Wolfpack puzzles to win football rivalry game. How to watch, odds
North Carolina will be facing a pair of football puzzles Saturday at N.C. State.
For the Tar Heels defense, it will be about solving Wolfpack offensive schemes that linebacker Cedric Gray said has a lot of “eye candy.”
The UNC offense, when it has the ball, will go up against the Pack’s 3-3-5 stack defense, which can attack from many angles and likes to keep quarterbacks guessing, jumpy and making bad decisions.
State quarterback Brennan Armstrong, back and starting and continuing his late-season resurgence, is a constant running threat and has impressed the UNC players and coaches with his toughness.
“He doesn’t slide,” defensive end Kaimon Rucker said. “He’s a very physical quarterback. I like that about him. He ain’t going to duck. I like people who don’t duck.”
When Armstrong was at Virginia, he hurt the Heels throwing the ball, passing for a school-record 554 yards in the 2021 game. With the Pack, it’s like having another tailback in the backfield, given his running ability and penchant for breaking tackles.
“Even at Virginia he’s always been a quarterback who’s good with his legs,” Rucker said.
Then there’s Kevin “KC” Concepcion. The freshman has emerged as one of the ACC’s most dynamic, versatile players, a big-play type running, catching, even throwing a touchdown pass last week against Virginia Tech.
Concepcion is like UNC running back Omarion Hampton in that any slight defensive lapse can result in an explosive play and a touchdown.
Add in all the different formations and looks presented by Wolfpack offensive coordinator Robert Anae — Pack coach Dave Doeren says Anae as a “rolodex of plays” — and it has added up to a lot of film work this week for UNC’s defensive guys.
“The offensive coordinator I think has done a good job of becoming creative in how he gets his guys the ball,” UNC’s Gray said. “They do a lot of different stuff, a lot of trickery, motioning, sways … a lot of eye candy and people moving around to try and catch us off guard to try and get (Concepcion) the ball or run the quarterback.
“Counters, pullers, they do a lot of different stuff. So our eyes are definitely going to have to be good this game.”
Armstrong is the Pack’s leading rusher with 522 yards and has scored six times. He has been effective in managing the game in road wins over Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, and the Pack had 188 yards rushing and 220 passing in the 35-28 victory over the Hokies.
“He’s having fun out there and that’s contagious,” Doeren said of Armstrong.
The Wolfpack defense, under defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, also is creative. It’s constantly aggressive and comes at you fast.
“They can bring guys from basically everywhere,” UNC quarterback Drake Maye said. “They mix it up. You watch tape from last year and see how they’ll drop eight (into coverage) and rush three, and they were effective doing it.
“Coach Gibson, their DC, has their guys playing hard. They’re flying around and they’re playing from snap to whistle.”
Payton Wilson does. The Pack linebacker, who will be playing his last game at Carter-Finley, is the ACC leader with 123 tackles (11..2 per game) and will be a nonstop attacker on defense.
“They do a great job on defense and he’s the center of it,” Maye said.
Clemson, in beating the Heels 31-20, challenged them with tight, press coverage of the wide receivers. The openings were few, the windows tight and Maye was 16-of-36 passing.
The Pack, which leads the ACC with 15 interceptions, could follow Clemson’s lead and do the same while mindful UNC wideouts Tez Walker and J.J. Jones are deep threats.
Virginia Tech’s Da’Quan Felton had a 42-yard TD grab Saturday against man coverage. That surely caught UNC’s attention – Felton wears No. 9, as does Walker, and looked like Walker on the well-executed play.
How to watch
The 8 p.m. game will be shown on the ACC network. Streaming options: DIRECTV Stream, fuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV.
Latest odds
ESPN has UNC as a 3.0-point favorite with a 62,2% Football Power Index. The over/under is 55.5 points.
