Reality check

Sporting News, The, Sept 15, 1997 by Tim Peeler

But perhaps Brown's tenure in Chapel Hill has been best remembered for big wins over USC and Syracuse, a few decent wins over ACC opponents, a load of victories over weaker teams and a key loss every year to a team the Tar Hells are favored to beat. Don't expect that to change in 1997.

This year's upset loss won't be at home, where the Tar Heels are 35-8-1 this decade. Rather, it will occur on the road, where the Tar Heels are 20-15 in the '90s. A closer look at that away mark reveals 11 of those victories have come against Wake Forest, Duke, Maryland and Army.

If history and tradition mean anything -- and they do in college football -- here is what will happen to the Tar Heels this fall: They will survive threats at home against Stanford and old nemesis Virginia. They will become the second ACC team (Virginia is the other) to beat Florida State, toppling the Seminoles with relative ease en route to running their record to 9-0 and rising to one of the top three spots in the pools. Then they will do what so many other UNC teams have done before -- they will lose at Clemson, where the Tar Heels are 5-14. North Carolina's last victory in Death Valley was in 1985.

Where is Fred Brown when you need him?