Chansky's Notebook: A quiet 5-0?

Art Chansky's Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose from 35 rotating taps and over 200 beers in the fridge.

Here is Carolina's 4-step plan to be 5-0 by the end of September.

Mack Brown says he won't talk (much?) about who the Tar Heels play because he wants them to live up to the standard he and his team set for them.

That's all well and good, but he can't deny that September is upon us with four increasingly difficult games that could give them a 5-0 lead for the second year in a row, with a chance to repeat last year's 6-0 start in October without Drake Maye.

The first game of September is against (psst!!!) UNC-Charlotte, which lost to a future Carolina opponent we won't name here and was plagued by injuries in the 30-7 loss, so you know the opponent is cousins at 3:30 in the home opener at Kenan Stadium.

Okay, the 49ers are just a few hours down I-85 and have three well-known assistant coaches (whose names will be mentioned later) and an excellent defensive back who began his career in Chapel Hill.

We won't mention the head coach because he has no direct ties to the Tar Heels, aside from hiring Dre Bly, Tim Brewster and Tim Cross, all former assistants to Brown at UNC.

Their All-AAC defensive back from last season, Dontae Balfour, is also a former Heel. Charlotte had to sit out nine players due to injuries in its opening loss.

Even if Brown doesn't want to talk about who they're playing, a large crowd should still show up to support Conner Harrell, the new starting quarterback after Max Johnson was sidelined in Minnesota with a broken leg.

Nevertheless, all in all, an easy win and a 2-0 record against an inferior opponent should be possible.

Step #3 is a night game against a team from Durham (not Duke). They're called the North Carolina Central Eagles and are better than Charlotte on paper, but still a heavyweight in Kenan.

They opened their season with a 31-24 win over Alabama State in the Orange Blossom Classic in Miami and will face Elon this week. UNC has added Central to the 2022 schedule because Brown always supports HBCU schools.

Then comes Step 4, which on paper will be the toughest of the three home games. James Madison, a mid-major team, won its opening game in Charlotte and will face Gardner Webb in JMU's home debut on Saturday.

If Carolina is 4-0 by Sept. 28 — and that's a pretty big if — the ACC slate will begin with a road game against the other Durham team, a matchup that seems to be nail-biting until the last possession every year. I guess it's OK to say “Duke” because the Blue Devils are now coached by Browns protégé and ex-mommy boss Manny Diaz.

The Blue Devils beat Elon in their opener and are at Northwestern, at home against UConn and at Middle Tennessee before facing the Heels on Sept. 28.

Until then, maybe we can talk about the two blue bloods.

Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward

Art Chansky is an experienced journalist who has written ten books, including bestsellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods” and “The Dean's List.” He has contributed to the WCHL for decades after first appearing as a student in 1971. His The “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his opinion column “Art's Angle” appears weekly on Chapelboro.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees and you can directly support our local journalism efforts here. Want more of what you see about Chapelboro? Let us bring you free local news and community information by subscribing to our newsletter.