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Scouting North Carolina

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UNC junior wide receiver and return man Anthony Ratliff-Williams has become a big-play threat after originally being recruited to play quarterback.
UNC junior wide receiver and return man Anthony Ratliff-Williams has become a big-play threat after originally being recruited to play quarterback. (USA Today Sports)
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North Carolina has gone through a second straight season of shaky quarterback play, and also had a litany of suspensions to start the campaign. It has added up to a disappointing 2-8 mark and 1-6 in the ACC, leading to mounting speculation over whether head coach Larry Fedora is back next year.

With that as a backdrop, the Tar Heels host rival NC State at 12:20 p.m. Saturday.

Here is a full scouting report on North Carolina.

Five North Carolina Players To Watch

Senior defensive end Malik Carney — He missed three games due to suspension but is still tied for third on the team with 50 tackles, and leads the Tar Heels with 11.5 tackles for loss. The 6-toot-3, 250-pounder is tied for tops on the squad with 5.5 sacks, four fumble recoveries and two recovered fumbles.

Junior quarterback Nathan Elliott— The soft-tossing Elliott has completed 201 of 325 passes for 2,169 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions, but isn’t much of a running threat with 35 yards on 39 carries. The 6-1, 215-pounder could get a quick hook Saturday with freshman Cade Fortin potentially healthy enough to be in the mix. Elliott has thrown for over 300-plus yards in three games this season, with 321 passing yards and two scores in the 40-37 double overtime loss at Syracuse on Oct. 20.

Senior outside linebacker Cole Holcomb — The 6-1, 235-pounder leads North Carolina by a wide margin in tackles this season. He has 99 and the next closest is defensive back J.K. Britt with 57. Holcomb also is tied with Malik Carney with four forced fumbles, and Holcomb has added one sack, 6.5 tackles for loss and three passes broken up. He has one more tackle than NC State fifth-year senior linebacker Germaine Pratt to lead the ACC.

Sophomore wide receiver/returner Dazz Newsome — The explosive 5-11, 185-pounder is dynamic with the ball in his hands. He has caught 38 passes for 415 yards and two scores, and also has rushed six times for 94 yards, including an 84-yard touchdown at Duke on Nov. 10. Newsome is a factor on both punt returns and kick returns, snagging 17 punts for a 16.1 average (second in the ACC) this season and a 75-yard touchdown against Syracuse, and five kick returns for an average of 21.8. Newsome caught six passes for 110 yards in the 38-35 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 22.

Junior wide receiver/returner Anthony Ratliff-Williams — The former quarterback leads UNC with 40 catches for 613 yards and two touchdowns, and has tallied 10 rushes for 75 yards and a score. The 6-1, 205-pounder is always a threat on a trick play but has thrown two incomplete passes thus far. He has returned 25 kickoffs for an average of 21.9 yards. Ratliff-Williams had four catches for 103 yards in the 38-28 loss vs. Georgia Tech on Nov. 3.

What to expect from North Carolina            

1. Erratic quarterback play. The Tar Heels had a solid run at the quarterback position capped by Mitchell Trubisky going pro a year early and being the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft to the Chicago Bears. LSU graduate transfer Brandon Harris was a bust last year, and Chazz Surratt was inconsistent and eventually got injured.

Elliott picked up the pieces last year with 926 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions to close the 2017 season, but UNC has been hoping to upgrade all throughout the 2018 season. Surratt started the season suspended and then got hurt again. Freshmen Cade Fortin and Jace Ruder both sustained injuries when given their opportunities. The former passed for 97 yards and rushed for 44 in his most extensive action Oct. 13 in a 22-19 loss to Virginia Tech.

2. Unlikely to challenge passes on defense. North Carolina has only six interceptions on defense in 10 games, which is tied with NC State for ninth place in the ACC and tied for 98th in the NCAA.

Junior free safety Myles Dorn, the younger brother of NCSU fifth-year senior basketball player Torin Dorn, and backup junior cornerback Patrice Rene lead the way with two interceptions apiece. The Tar Heels have gone five full games without a pick.

Syracuse threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns and Duke passed for 361 yards and three scores, with the UNC defense getting one interception apiece in each of those two games. Western Carolina junior quarterback Tyrie Adams threw for 290 yards and rushed for 104 and two scores last week.

3. Big play potential in return game. Ratliff-Williams and Newsome are among the top returners in the ACC and have a proven track record.

Ratliff-Williams had two kickoff returns for touchdowns last year, and is averaging 21.9 yards on 25 kickoff returns this season. Newsome went 75 yards for a score against Syracuse and is averaging a nifty 16.1 yards on 17 punts this season. He also has returned five kickoffs for an average of 21.8.

Three Keys To The Game            

1. Win the battle on the ground: Historically the rival that wins the rushing battle usually wins the game in NC State and UNC.

NC State ranks 112th in the country with 128.4 rushing yards per game, which is well below what it has traditionally averaged under head coach Dave Doeren. The Wolfpack bounced back last Saturday against Louisville after struggling rushing the football against Wake Forest. NCSU had 36 carries for 164 yards and three scores in the 52-10 win over the Cardinals. Anything close to that kind of rushing effort against North Carolina, and the game shouldn’t be overly competitive.

NC State rushed 45 times for 292 yards and five touchdowns against UNC last year, thanks to Nyheim Hines going for 196 yards and two scores in the 33-21 victory in Raleigh.

2. Don’t give up anything cheap to Elliott: Elliott doesn’t have the arm strength to stretch a defense side-to-side or vertically, so any time UNC has a big play in the passing game, a defense’s pride takes a hit. The other key will be to not let a short pass turn into a long gain, which wide receivers Newsome and Ratliff-Williams are both capable of doing.

3. Speaking of Ratliff-Williams: UNC head coach Larry Fedora has definitely tried some trick plays against NC State in the past, whether onside kicks or flanker passes. Ratliff-Williams was the No. 19 dual-threat quarterback in the country by Rivals.com in the class of 2015 coming out of Matthews (N.C.) Butler High. He eventually switched to wide receiver, but would anyone be surprised if he tried to take a shot downfield Saturday on a flanker pass?

Ratliff-Williams hasn’t completed a pass this season in two attempts, but went 3-of-4 passing for 86 yards and two scores last year.

Three North Carolina Numbers Of Note     

5.4 Yards per carry for the North Carolina rushing attack, even though running back Michael Carter leads the team in rushing with just 595 yards in eight games played. UNC has tallied 367 carries for 1,970 yards and 17 scores on the ground thanks to having three running backs gain at least 300 yards. UNC’s rushing yards per game (197.0) ranks No. 44 overall in the country.

13 Passing touchdowns this season for UNC, which only 26 teams in college football have thrown less than. In fact, three college wide receivers have caught that many or exceeded it themselves.

108 Ranking nationally for UNC in third-down conversion percentage on defense. The Tar Heels defense has allowed teams to go 64 of 146 for .438.

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