Getting an early morning to talk about what is yet to come for the gridiron Tar Heels this year, and give a sneak peak of what's yet to come.

I'm going to be honest (perhaps brutally so) with you guys: this season has essentially 3 must-win games left: FSU tomorrow night, Dook at home for Homecoming, and at NC State to finish out the season. If Carolina wins those games, they will go to a bowl game. The only other game that might be considered "winnable" for the Heels on the remaining schedule is at BC, but in Boston in late November it is going to be tough to win a football game against the home team. I think 7-5 is a good estimate of where this team will finish this season given certain injuries and possible returns (most notably TE Zach Pianalto and possibly C Lowell Dyer), and Carolina becomes bowl-eligible for back-to-back seasons for the first time since Mack Brown was the head coach.

Past this season, I think Tar Heel fans still have a lot to look forward to. I know a lot of people were expecting big things from this team THIS year, but (in continuing with the honesty theme) when injuries decimate a team like they have Carolina this season, it is so hard to come back from something like that. Critics will view this as an excuse, but to be honest there is no way this team could have been as competitive as they wanted to be without a healthy offense; even if the offense was healthy enough to be in the top 50 nationally this team might still be undefeated with the defense that has been assembled on the opposite side.

Next year (and no, it's not too early to start talking next year with this team) looks very bright. UNC recently picked up their 5th offensive line commitment for this class (obviously a huge need given the attrition over the last 3 months at that position), and are in the hunt nationally for some other big-name recruits, most notably South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore and Pennsylvania defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd. If either of those players commit to the Tar Heels, this recruiting class will be considered a sure-fire success. Add that to the majority of players returning healthy next season with added experience from this year, and I'm not sure that the Tar Heels don't have a legitimate shot to make some real noise in the ACC next year...and possibly win the league.

Final note about this season and next season: if the offense can find any way to consistently produce, I fully believe that team will be successful given what is on the other side of the ball. That is truly the bottom line for this UNC program; if Carolina can run the ball consistently and complete good passes down the field, even if they are 4- and 5-yard completions, I don't see any reason why this team cannot be an elite ACC football team.