Struggling UNC, seeking first conference win, hosts Georgia Tech

Visiting Georgia Tech will look to make matters worse for North Carolina when the longtime Atlantic Coast Conference foes meet Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C.The Yellow Jackets (4-2, 2-2) will aim for their fourth straight win in the series at the expense of the Tar Heels (3-3, 0-2), who have lost three games in a row this season.North Carolina fans might have thought a 70-50 home loss to James Madison on Sept. 21 was rock bottom, but things have spiraled even more. The following week, the Tar Heels blew a 20-0 lead to rival Duke to lose 21-20 before falling at home again last Saturday to Pitt 34-24.For Tar Heels coach Mack Brown, the belief is that the wins will come if the effort remains.”You spend all your life recruiting these kids and then you’re coaching them every day,” Brown said. “If they go out there and do everything they can do, and try their hardest — and I thought our coaches (and) players did that Saturday — then you can come back in and try to help them correct things. I can’t handle a team that doesn’t give everything they’ve got.”North Carolina is led by running back Omarion Hampton, who tops the ACC with 764 rushing yards, an average of 127.3 per game. The Tar Heels are seventh in the conference in scoring at 32.7 points per game.But the Tar Heels defense has allowed an average of 41.7 points per game in each loss. First-year defensive coordinator Geoff Collins will face his former team Saturday; he was fired midway through the 2022 season after compiling a 10-28 record as Georgia Tech’s head coach.Helping the Yellow Jackets rebound has been the job of Brent Key, who has manned the sidelines in Atlanta since Collins’ firing.

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