No. 22-ranked UNC is about to find out just how good of a team it is.

Butch Davis takes his 3-0 Tar Heels to Atlanta Saturday, facing Georgia Tech’s dynamic and confusing spread option attack. Carolina has not beaten the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta since 1997 — which happens to be the last time the Tar Heels began the season 3-0. Carolina has also not won its conference opener dating back to 2001.

Carolina edged Georgia Tech 16-13 in 1997, and a similar low-scoring affair could be in store this weekend.

Links follow below:

  • UNC started preparing for the option back in preseason practice,the News & Observer reports. A similar approach paid off last season with a 28-7 win. The Tar Heels had a bye week before hosting Georgia Tech but still allowed over 300 rushing yards.
  • The Heels are still stuck at No. 6 in the ACC Sports Journal power rankings. Both Georgia Tech and Clemson are ahead of the Heels, but it should be interesting to see how this changes after Saturday’s big conference games.
  • Davis’ Monday audio is available for download on www.TarHeelBlue.com. He talked about injury updates, the Yellow Jackets’ offense and of course the offensive line.
  • Long snapper Trevor Stuart will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Mark House replaced Stuart against ECU and has previous starting experience.
  • Most interesting about House is how www.StateFansNation.com — a Wolfpack blog — uses him to illustrate Davis’ scholarship manipulation. According to the blog, House was kicked off the team … well, apparently not. The article is long but worth the read for good ol’ rivalry delusion, especially the recurring theme that UNC uses youth as an excuse. I’m glad State fans haven’t tried any type of excuse for their team … like injuries or something like that.
  • Don’t worry. There are delusional Carolina fans, too. The UNC message boards are playing the no R-E-S-P-E-C-T card. Beating an FCS team, an average UConn team on the road and a down ECU team should, apparently, warrant a much higher ranking for the Heels. Maybe if UNC looked impressive in all of these victories I could understand a higher ranking — but right now, No. 22 seems about right.