Friday night college football games 2018
![friday night college football games 2018 friday night college football games 2018](https://www.eptrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/AP18363847481397.jpg)
Those issues were also present in linebackers Jeremiah Gemmel and Tomon Fox, who combined for 21 missed tackles. Morrison recorded 32 tackles on the season but missed a whopping 17. Safety Trey Morrison led the team in pass breakups, but the defense comes back to being able to stop the rush. The secondary is one of the better units in the ACC with the returns of cornerbacks Storm Duck and Tony Grimes. The Tar Heels have primarily worked out of a 2-5-4 and 2-4-5 defense through the past two years, generating top-25 marks in Sack Rate but lagging efficiency numbers against the rush.Ī rank of 104th in Line Yards makes North Carolina a bend-don’t-break system, but a Finishing Drives rank outside the top 75 proves the defense needs better red zone play. North Carolina brought in Bateman in 2019 from Army to create a defense that could improve against both the pass and the rush. Ty Chandler + Sam Howell in the backfield this season ? Howell will be looking for new explosive targets after the departure of Dazz Newsome, Dyami Brown, Michael Carter and Javonte Williams. Specifically, Asim Richards and Jordan Tucker are both at the tackle positions and allowed pressure on 7% of dropbacks. While the offensive line returns every snap from 2020, there must be improvements made with a Sacks Allowed rank outside the top 100. Howell led an air attack that ranked 11th in Passing Success Rate and eighth in Finishing Drives. North Carolina runs exclusively out of the 11 formations no matter the down or distance with a tendency to move toward the pass on 53% of snaps. The scheme for the Heels is not expected to change, as Longo has long coached successful uptempo offenses since his days at Ole Miss and the current FCS champions in Sam Houston State. With no Clemson on the schedule, while playing host to Miami later in the season, the Tar Heels are expected to give the Tigers a challenge for the ACC. On the defensive side, coordinator Jay Bateman returns looking for improved efficiency from a unit that loses just two tacklers out of the top 20. This was a top-10 offense in terms of Success Rate and Finishing Drives, two statistics that should continue with the return of Howell under coordinator Phil Longo. Per TARP, Brown returns the national average of 76% on both sides of the ball but loses key explosive elements on offense. The Tar Heels were shut out in the second half against playoff-bound Notre Dame, but a pair of field-goal losses to Virginia and Florida State sent North Carolina to the Orange Bowl. This may be the season the ACC finally has a shake-up at the top. 3Ĭlick the team logos for one of the matchups below to navigate to a specific betting preview for Friday evening’s Week 1 college football slate. Week 1 College Football Picks for Friday, Sept. Or instead, wouldn’t you prefer to join us as we yell and scream at Wake Forest vs. Do you really want to go to “couples dinner” and deal with public face masks, rising gas prices, finding a valet, and all that nonsense? And now, finally - mercifully - we’ve come to the final obstacle to Saturday’s glorious Week 1 return. Thursday night followed up by delivering in spades - 27 games of juicy college football action lasting deep into the night (thanks UCF-Boise State for the major delay). UAB and yet another opportunity to bet on college football rather than finally mending broken relationships, developing our self-image, finally starting a retirement plan … but I digress. All it did was whet our appetites as we stared down the Week 1 Saturday slate with laser-point focus.īut then … something beautiful happened: Wednesday came around, delivering us Jacksonville State vs. I think we’ve all lost more than enough money betting on baseball, and College Football’s Week Zero slate was just what we needed. The season officially ( unofficially) “began” last Saturday during “Week Zero.” Don’t get us wrong: We were ecstatic about having football back. College Football has been teasing us, stringing us along for seven consecutive days.