I hope you guys had a restful week; I know after all the hard work it took to cover National Signing Day a week ago that I was spent. But there were three things that happened in between now and when I last blogged about National Signing Day -

1. I blogged briefly about the UNC-Dook rivalry, which you can find here.

2. The 2010 UNC football schedule was released.

3. UNC picked up a MAJOR football recruit for the class of 2011.

Since you don't need my reaction to my own blog post (that sounded redundant even in my head), I will react to the other two items.



The football schedule was finally released last Thursday (February 5th, 2010), and I can honestly say that I LOVE how the schedule turned out for the Heels. You can find the official UNC release here, but here it is:

Sept. 4 LSU (Atlanta, GA)
Sept. 11 BYE
Sept. 18 Georgia Tech (Chapel Hill, NC)
Sept. 25 Rutgers (Piscataway, NJ)
Oct. 2 East Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)
Oct. 9 Clemson (Chapel Hill, NC)
Oct. 16 Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)
Oct. 23 Miami (Miami Gardens, FL)
Oct. 30 William & Mary (Chapel Hill, NC)
Nov. 6 Florida State (Tallahassee, FL)
Nov. 13 Virginia Tech (Chapel Hill, NC)
Nov. 20 NC State (Chapel Hill, NC)
Nov. 27 Dook (Durham, NC)

First things first. The game against LSU could quite possibly be the biggest game for this UNC program since the Notre Dame game in 2008, and may be even more important in terms of taking the next step as a nationally recognized football program. If Carolina wins that game, you can almost guarantee that they will go into that (very) early bye week pumped and ready for the rest of the season.

The Georgia Tech game comes at the absolute BEST time for the Heels - right after a bye week. With 2 weeks to prepare for the unique Georgia Tech option attack, the defense should be more than ready to do battle with the Yellow Jackets, who lost 28-7 the last time these two teams met in Chapel Hill.

After two games against Rutgers and East Carolina, this team will face its next biggest opponent in Clemson, who the Heels haven't faced since a 2006 blowout in Death Valley, where the Tigers easily won 52-7 (and should have been 52-0, but the Heels were the beneficiaries of a blown call on a Cameron Sexton scramble towards the end zone). This year, both of these teams are expected to compete for their division crowns, and I don't think anyone would be truly surprised to see both of these teams end up in Charlotte for the ACC title game later in the season.

Two away games back-to-back are always tough, but when you look at who they are against, the Heels should be a little more concerned than usual. Traveling to UVA has not gone well for Carolina, who hasn't won in Scott Stadium since 1981, and since that time has won a total of seven times against the Cavaliers. This is a rivalry game, but a game that UNC should circle even if it wasn't; these are the types of games that UNC must win to be considered legitimate ACC title contenders.

The Heels also travel to Miami the following week. Since Miami's inclusion into the ACC in 2004, the Heels have lost to the Hurricanes only twice, and haven't lost since former UM head coach Butch Davis arrived in Chapel Hill, though the last three games have been close (33-27, 28-24, 33-24). Carolina will be tested by an always athletic and tough Miami team.

After an intriguing game against FCS opponent William & Mary (who beat Virginia last season and now has former UNC QB Mike Paulus on the roster), the Heels face their toughest stretch of the season - at Florida State, against Virginia Tech, against NC State, and at Dook. All four of these teams played UNC very tough last season, and the Heels went 2-2 against this quartet in 2009.

FSU will be among the favorites to win the league next year, but under new head coach Jimbo Fisher there may be some growing pains. By the time these two teams meet in November, everyone will know exactly what these two teams are about, and will be in for a great game. The Heels have not beaten the Seminoles since 2001.

Virginia Tech will come into Chapel Hill angry about last season's loss, but the Heels will be ready to play. The last few years this game has been extremely close, but until last year the Hokies had always come out on top. This game could very well determine who wins the Coastal division.

There are only a few things that Coach Davis has not been able to accomplish in UNC since his arrival in 2007, but one of them is winning against rival NC State. 2007 and 2009 both yielded close losses, but the 2008 drubbing to the tune of 41-10 still riles up Tar Heel fans. There will be no excuses for this UNC team against the Wolfpack this year.

Last year's Dook game was extremely physical, and resulted in a variety of penalties on both sides as the Heels slopped to a 19-6 victory. This year probably won't be any different, but the Blue Devils have improved under coach David Cutcliffe and if the Heels aren't careful they could lose to Dook for the first time since 2003. The Battle for the Victory Bell is also once again the final game of the season, whereas last year the NC State game culminated the Heels' schedule.

Overall, this schedule could not have been laid out better for the Heels. The biggest coup is getting Georgia Tech after a bye week, and getting both them and Clemson early in the season. If the Heels start the season 4-0 coming into that Clemson game, they could be a top-10 ranked team if they beat the Tigers, and have a great shot of winning 10 games the rest of the season. I'll be very excited to watch Carolina battle it out in 2010, and this schedule is one of the best that UNC has had in the last few years.

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And now for something completely different.

Last Friday, Myrtle Beach High School held a press conference. Their star quarterback, 5'11 Everett Golson, was going to announce who he was going to play football for in 2011. However, most everyone in the room knew where he was going to go - and he didn't disappoint.

"I've made my decision to verbally commit to North Carolina," Golson said.

You can view the video of Golson's commitment here. (You will have to turn up the volume to hear everything he says; he's a very soft-spoken guy.)


There's no denying his talent (3558 passing yards, 47 TDs, 3 INTs as a junior) and his playmaking ability (see highlights on YouTube), and Golson becomes the 3rd highly-regarded quarterback to commit to Carolina since Butch Davis' arrival (Mike Paulus and current redshirt freshman Bryn Renner are the other two). With Golson on board, the Heels strike early and with authority for the recruiting class of 2011, and with a guy who grew up a lifelong Tar Heel fan. It's always great when you can add to your recruiting class so early, but when it's a quarterback - especially one as talented as Golson - it acts as a magnet for other recruits; great football players want to play with other great football players, and Golson is one of those guys who people love to be on a team with. With both Junior Days (maybe a blog on what a Junior Day is coming shortly), a ton of unofficial visits, and the nationally-televised Spring Game still to come, UNC and Golson will have many opportunities to build this recruiting class up and make it one of the best in Tar Heel history.

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Stay tuned, everyone...I'm currently working on a blog that has some major news for the Tar Heel athletic program attached to it, so stay tuned.