North Carolina might be in position to gain a little momentum in what has been a challenging season.
The Tar Heels will look for back-to-back Atlantic Coast Conference victories when they face Stanford on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina (3-5, 1-3) will aim to pick up steam after snapping a four-game losing streak with a 27-10 victory at Syracuse last Friday. The next day, Stanford (3-6, 2-4) dropped a 35-20 decision to Pitt.
It’s a matchup involving former NFL head coaches, with North Carolina’s Bill Belichick (New England, Cleveland in the NFL) and Stanford interim coach Frank Reich (Carolina, Indianapolis).
“Some familiar faces this week with Frank and (Stanford general manager) Andrew Luck,” Belichick said. “Those guys were hard to compete against at a different point and time. Have some memories and real battles with the Colts.”
Neither man is putting much emphasis on the coaching ties.
“The last thing in the world this is about is any kind of matchups that we’ve had,” Reich said. “I’m only interested in our team and our players. My only motivation is for the good of this team.”
Reich announced a quarterback change, with redshirt freshman Elijah Brown replacing Ben Gulbranson as the starter, calling it somewhat of a gut feeling in making the switch.
“Obviously a tough decision because Ben has done some really good things this year,” Reich said.
Brown has played in three games this season, throwing for one touchdown. He was in the game late vs. Pitt.
“I think Elijah is very instinctive at the position, very accurate passer,” Reich said.
Belichick said there’s not much footage of Brown to study.
Part of the objective for Stanford, Reich said, is to get back closer to a balanced attack. The Cardinal might have a chore against an improving North Carolina defense.
“Obviously a well-schemed defense,” Reich said. “You know when you go up against Coach Belichick and anything that he’s involved with defensively there’s kind of a game-by-game game-planning thing.”
North Carolina’s offense has received a boost from freshman running back Demon June, who notched his second outing of more than 100 rushing yards in the Syracuse game. Of his 117 receiving yards this season, 81 came against the Orange.
Stanford, which will be in its road finale, is 0-5 away from home.
