The Tar Heels didn't get to play opening weekend, but it gave us a chance to look at the upcoming opponents and how they're looking. Of course, we haven't seen the Heels play yet, so it's hard to judge how we'll match up, but it's fun to speculate, right?

Part 1 looks at the Heels' first six opponents. We'll take a look at the next five tomorrow.

First up the Tar Heels face Georgia Tech this weekend, in Atlanta.
The Yellow Jackets looked good in an upset win over Auburn, but the Tigers didn't look great.
Reggie Ball is moving from an above-average quarterback to a very good one. And we know about Calvin Johnson, who will cause problems for any secondary. We don't really know how good Matt Baker is, but he'll be tested Saturday. The Jackets forced Auburn to make mistakes. Carolina can't make those mistakes. Georgia Tech looked better than I'd hoped they would.

The Heels' home opener is Sept. 17 vs. Wisconsin. The Badgers won a shootout in Madison against Omar Jacobs and Bowling Green on Saturday.
Wisconsin's secondary was porous (better in the second half), but they were facing Jacobs, a Heisman sleeper and terrific passer. Again, we haven't seen Matt throw enough to make a determination, but the Carolina receiving corps has to be licking their chops looking at this defense, which features eight new starters.

The Heels travel to Carter-Finley on Sept. 24 to face N.C. State, who dropped a close one to Virginia Tech Sunday night.
Like Georgia Tech, N.C. State looked better than I hoped they would. They're just undisciplined, and penalties might have cost them the win over Virginia Tech. Jay Davis is better, and the Pack is deep at running back. N.C. State is going to be pumped for revenge (even though they'll swear they won last year's game), and the Heels will need to bring it all if they hope to steal one at Carter-Finley.

Utah comes to Kenan on Oct. 1, and they pulled out a close one over the Arizona Wildcats this weekend.
Utah has a new coach and quarterback, sophomore Brian Johnson, who looked very shaky in the first half of his first start. The Utes still had a monster game moving the ball. The Heels will have to get after Johnson to avenge a last year's lopsided loss.

Oct. 8, Carolina goes to Louisville. Louisville simply dominated rival Kentucky. In the first half. They almost gave up the tying score, but held on.
The Cardinals have a new quarterback, Brian Brohm, who looked good this weekend. Looking better was Michael Bush.
The Cardinals have a great offensive unit, and will test the improved (so we've heard) Tar Heel defense. This game could be a battle.

Virginia comes to town on Oct. 22. The Cavaliers held on to beat Western Michigan on Saturday. I'll confess I saw none of this game. Not even highlights. But apparently Western Michigan had a chance to lead in the fourth quarter.
Marques Hagans is a capable quarterback, and has a year under his belt as the starter in Charlottesville. He threw 2 picks this weekend, but he'll have the jitters worked out by mid-October. Virginia has had the Heels' number lately. Lots of game tape will be watched before this one.

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll take a look at how Miami, Boston College, Maryland, Duke and Virginia Tech did in their openers.

Time to watch Miami/ Florida State. I think Florida State is headed for a disappointing season (by FSU standards, anyway). Look for the Canes to win by 10.