ACC PReview: Boston College at UNC

Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL — Boston College started the year trying to replace Matt Ryan at quarterback. So far, the No. 23 Eagles have done well enough that they're positioned for another run at the ACC championship game.

When BC travels to North Carolina today, it knows it can't afford a slip up considering the Eagles are in a crowded group atop the league's Atlantic Division — even as the Tar Heels are in the midst of their most successful start in a decade.

The Eagles (5-1, 2-1 ACC) looked like they were in for a bumpy start after losing Ryan, the league's player of the year and a first-round NFL draft pick who helped BC reach No. 2 in the rankings last year. But now, the Eagles' offense is rolling after two straight league wins while their defense has held teams to 13 points per game on the year.

North Carolina (5-2, 1-2) is has already surpassed its four-win total from last year and is off to its best start since winning the first eight games of the 1997 season, Mack Brown's last in Chapel Hill before heading to Texas. But the feeling around the team this week was one of disappointment after last weekend's overtime loss at Virginia, extending the program's losing streak in Charlottesville to 14 games.

The Tar Heels were picked to finish second in the league's Coastal Division, but now find themselves sliding in the standings.

"We've got to take a long look at ourselves ... and going back to the things that allowed us to win the games we've won," coach Butch Davis said. "If we go back and worry about ourselves and take care of what we're supposed to do, we'll play well."