No. 17 UNC after a football rarity: beating Georgia Tech in Atlanta. How to watch
For many years, it was called Grant Field. Then, Bobby Dodd Stadium at Grant Field. Now, it’s Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field after an influx of naming rights dollars.
North Carolina’s Tar Heels probably have a few other names for it, but we won’t go there.
Whatever the name, the No. 17 Heels have struggled mightily in the past two decades to beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta. And that includes the 2021 game held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium downtown.
“Georgia Tech is a game that has been tough for us,” UNC coach Mack Brown said this week. “We’ve lost two out of three since I’ve been here. We did win at Bobby Dodd Stadium our first year here, but Atlanta hasn’t been good to the Tar Heels.
“We’ve lost 10 of 12. Hear me now. We’ve lost 10 of the last 12 games in Atlanta to Georgia Tech. Everybody thinks we’ve got Miami’s number because we’ve beaten them five in a row. Well, Georgia Tech has had North Carolina’s number.”
The Tar Heels (6-1, 3-1 ACC) had hoped to motor into Atlanta this week undefeated and ranked in the top 10. Virginia didn’t let that happen, coming into Kenan Stadium last week, outplaying UNC and leaving with a 31-27 victory.
In many ways it was similar to Georgia Tech’s game in Chapel Hill a year ago. The Heels were 9-1, had won the Coastal Division and built a 17-0 lead only to lose 21-17.
Wide receiver Josh Downs, always so reliable last season, was open at the goal line and dropped what would have been a go-ahead touchdown pass from Drake Maye with about four minutes left in the game.
Maye said he expects the Yellow Jackets (3-4, 2-2) to use many of the same defensive looks and concepts they employed last season in Saturday’s game.
“They’re going to get after us,” he said. “They’re going to heat us up, do multiple things.
“At the end of the day, playing in Georgia, playing in Atlanta has been tough. They’ve kind of had our number. So it’s just getting over that hump and just bringing energy.”
The Yellow Jackets were the talk of college football a couple of weeks ago after bumping off Miami, then undefeated. Much of the postgame chatter centered on Miami’s decision to run the ball rather than have the quarterback take a knee and run out the clock in the final minute. The Hurricanes fumbled, the Jackets recovered and Haynes King connected with Christian Leary for a 44-yard winning TD pass with two seconds left for a 23-20 win.
There was no Georgia Tech comeback last week, the Yellow Jackets taking a 38-23 beating from Boston College. That was before the Heels stumbled against Virginia, a loss that resulted in a lot of glum faces in Kenan Stadium.
“Everyone was upset, frustrated, mad,” tight end John Copenhaver said this week. “We took Sunday and we dealt with it, watched film and put that to bed. Now we’re on to Georgia Tech, and I think that (loss) just put a little fire under our butts and that’s what we needed.”
How to watch
The UNC-Georgia Tech telecast will have an 8 p.m. start and be shown by the ACC Network. It can be viewed on Spectrum cable, on satellite providers DirectTV and Dish Network and streamed on DIRECTV Stream, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and fuboTV.
Betting odds
ESPN made made UNC an 11.5-point favorites and has the over/under at 63.5 points. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Heels have a 79.6% chance of winning.
North Carolina (6-1, 3-1 ACC) vs Georgia Tech (3-4, 2-2)
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta.
TV: ACC Network.
Betting odds: UNC by 11.5 points
