Why isn’t UNC getting the flowers they should be?

Somebody who's not an agitator, but does like to stir it up a little bit, my friend, Brett Friedlander, Saturday wrote, ACC Columnist, at BeFriedACC on Twitter, or whatever we're calling it these days. North Carolina's headed for the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, right?

Sure looks that way, doesn't it? And oh, by the way, Brad Marshand is to this generation what Dale Hunter was to when we were growing up with the Washington Capitals. I think he's better than that, though.

But that's the kind of guy he is. Oh, yeah. No question. All right, so the biggest obstacle to North Carolina, is it Duke? Is it Clemson? Or is it North Carolina?

I think that it's probably the latter. And because of that, I think Georgia Tech is a huge potential trap game. Because Carolina, for some reason, has always struggled against Georgia Tech. And they're playing down there in Atlanta.

It's the week before, I believe it's the Campbell game. So you're, you know, you're already in that kind of coasting mode to kind of get ready for those last three games against Duke, Clemson and State. I think they've got it within them. I just loved the way that Mack Brown and the players handled Saturday's game against Miami, in that they realized that they didn't bring their A game.

They still won, which is great, but you got to be better than that against really good teams. But I think that Carolina may be its toughest opponent right now. I actually, I think they're going to take their offense to a new level, I think.

And we already saw what Tez Walker is about. But now you've got multiple dynamic players at receiver. Your tight ends are really good. Your running game is good. The quarterback's pretty good too.

And now that he's got, and I think it'll take a little time to kind of settle into all of these weapons. But at the same time, I don't think they're going to forget the running game that might be the best thing about it. Yeah, I mean, you've got diversity. Listen, I wrote after the game on Saturday, I wrote that if you took all the elements that this team has, including, by the way, a Hall of Fame coach with a national championship ring on his finger. If you took all these elements and you dressed them in Georgia black and red or Michigan maize and blue or especially Alabama crimson, you would be talking about this team as a legitimate national championship threat. Well, it's Carolina and they're in Carolina blue. It's a basketball school. It's the ACC. And I still think they're flying under the radar. And I don't think this team has reached its ceiling yet. I agree with that.

Also, let me throw this at you. Had Carolina played Georgia's or Michigan's non-conference schedule, what would we be saying? We'd be saying that they were fraud because they haven't played anybody. Right.

No offense. Georgia has not laid waste to their schedule. Michigan, to their credit, has destroyed everybody.

I mean, complete destruction. But Georgia hasn't. And Georgia's non-conference schedule was every bit as weak. And their one non-conference game against Power Five will be Georgia Tech. And by the way, Carolina has beaten a Big Ten school and an SEC school by double digits.

Yeah, I mean, they haven't been, they're not great Big Ten and SEC schools. It does bring to mind when Dave Doran beat, when State beat Vanderbilt in a bowl game. And Dave didn't say Vanderbilt. He just came, we beat an SEC school. As though we didn't know that it was Vanderbilt. It's still better than beating Central Michigan. It 100% is.

I find a lie. Reg Friedlander, ACC columnist, SaturdayRoad.com is joining us. Before I get to Duke, to NC State, how do you classify or how do you categorize where they are this year? Because it's clear that there's a dip, right? In a school-like state, every once in a while you're going to go through a dip where things don't align, the quarterback didn't work out. But it's really more than the quarterback. Can't run the ball.

Receivers aren't there either. I mean, six and six might be a really good year for them. It was going to be a bridge year anyway. Dave Doran has pushed all the wrong buttons.

You know, it's been a perfect storm. It was not going to be a championship season. And, you know, all the decisions that were made have been wrong. And it's not necessarily his fault. I mean, who knew that Brennan Armstrong was going to be as bad as he was? And in his defense, you see what happened with MJ Morris last week. It's not all the quarterback. But, I mean, he wasn't giving his receivers chances to catch the ball. He's throwing it at their feet. He was bailing out early. I mean, but who could have imagined that that was going to happen? And, you know, he's had some injuries.

He whiffed on some other transfer portals, receivers in particular. It's just been one of those things. And I think that, you know, it's one of those deals where you've got guys who have experienced some success and who are now looking toward the league. And you get to the point of the season where they're thinking, why did I come back?

And what am I going to do for me now rather than we? Well, they have to win two more games to get to a ball. And when we get to a ball, who knows if any of those guys are going to play in it because it's not going to be a high-level ball. Which I'm okay with any player who doesn't want to play in an exhibition.

I think that we have to all absolutely respect their right to say, yep, that's one dangerous spot that I don't need to be in. So, if it's Peyton Wilson, he doesn't want to play in whatever bowl game they go to, man, if I were Dave Dorn, I wouldn't let him play in the bowl game. Especially with an injury history like his.

No question. I would not let him. And my opinion of this is clouded by a friend of mine, and you remember Deontay Williams, right? I mean, if he doesn't play in the Music City Bowl, he's an NFL player.

Never played in the NFL after completely messing up his ankle. Alright, let me throw Duke at you. If Riley Leonard plays, and he's healthy, because playing not healthy is not good, if he plays at Florida State, chance you give Duke of beating the Seminoles.

Oh, 50-50. Listen, he is a difference maker. But the problem is, he can't just come back at 50%, 70% and play. His running ability really is what fuels that Duke offense.

And if he's not mobile, then he'll be a sitting duck in the pocket. But listen, that is a defense that is legit. And you can say all you want about how bad NC State's offense is, and yeah, they only gave him 3 points. This is a team that leads the ACC. They're giving up less than 10 points a game, and they gave up 7 against Clemson, and 13 against Notre Dame, a team that scored about 40-some against Southern Cal last week.

So this is a legit defense. And Florida State has got an issue right now with taking breaks during the middle of games. It almost cost them against Boston College, so they ended up coming back in the second half taking a 2-score lead, and darn near lost that game. They got up 22-0 against Virginia Tech, and gave up 17 unanswered points. Last week against Syracuse, they're up 17-3.

Couldn't get the ball in the end zone twice, including once when they had the ball first in goal at the 5. If they do that against a team like Duke with an 80-85% Riley Leonard, Duke's gonna beat them. And I think they've got a real shot at it. My boss asked me if Duke beats Florida State, where would that rank in upsets? Would it be on the level of Virginia ending Florida State's ACC winning streak when they first came into the league, or Syracuse beating number 2 Clemson a couple years ago?

And I said no, because those two teams weren't legit teams. Duke is a realistic 10-win team. They're a legit team, and beating Florida State on the road, I think, would only validate that. I think Keon Coleman will not run roughshod on Duke's secondary. I think Duke's defensive line will pressure Jordan Travis. The difference for me is if Riley Leonard is healthy and can play, that's the difference maker. I don't believe Duke will win this game with Henry Bielen IV at quarterback, although I do think the future is bright for Duke at quarterback. The kid can throw.

The kid throws a beautiful ball. And he's athletic enough, man. He's a good athlete, but he's not Riley Leonard. Riley Leonard is a difference maker. He's, I think, a better version of Daniel Jones, to be perfectly honest.

And they are similar players. Riley could be better throwing the ball, but man, he is so dangerous running it. So if you had to tell me right now who's the ACC championship game, is it Florida State, North Carolina, or is it, for the second time this year, Duke and North Carolina? No, I think it's Clemson. I think it's Florida State and Carolina. I think that, as much as I think Duke's got a real shot at this, I think Florida State's going to win it. And I think they'll be undefeated in Charlotte. And it's just a matter if Carolina can run the table or not, if they're going to be 12-0 or 11-1. But I think it's going to be the Tar Heels and the Seminoles. And you know what, that's going to be a really fun game, a good game, and I think winter gets into the playoff. We could get two teams if everything works out, but things would really have to work out.

Drake May might help in that regard. FSU, Louisville, UNC, all on the road for the Blue Devils. We all knew going into the season that it was not going to be easy. We joked, I joked anyway, I thought we could be talking about the greatest 5-7 team in the history of college football.

And they're going to wildly exceed those numbers. Brett Friedlander at Be Fried ACC, Saturday Road ACC columnist. Thanks, man. I appreciate your time. Anytime, Adam.