North Carolina
Game Prediction: #15 Oregon Ducks vs North Carolina Tar Heels
The ACC is off to a 2-0 begin in bowl season and can look to proceed that within the Vacation Bowl matchup between the Oregon Geese (9-3) and the North Carolina Tar Heels (9-4).
Location: Petco Park (San Diego, Calif.)
When: December 28 – 8:00 PM ET
Community: Fox
Unfold: Oregon -14.0, O/U 75
IB has damaged down the sport and now it is time for us to make our predictions.
BRYAN DRISKELL, PUBLISHER
Prediction: North Carolina 31, Oregon 27
It is a matchup of two groups that struggled mightily down the stretch, with North Carolina dropping its closing three video games and Oregon dropping two of three. Oregon was fairly sloppy in its win over Utah, which was sandwiched between losses to Washington and Oregon State.
North Carolina was terrible down the stretch and the Tar Heels wanted a break. Each groups are coping with personnel departures, in order that’s a wash as effectively. Oregon has most of the matchup benefits, however I am going with my intestine a bit on this one due to two key matchups, and my intestine says Drake Maye goes to rally his workforce round him after asserting he is returning in 2023 as an alternative of transferring.
When given time Maye is excellent, and Oregon ranked 123rd this season in sacks per recreation and can play this recreation with out DJ Johnson, their greatest move rusher. Oregon additionally ranked 107th in passing yards allowed and 68th in yards allowed per try. If UNC provides Maye time to throw he’ll shred the Oregon protection. Oregon QB Bo Nix will battle however it will not be sufficient.
Prediction: North Carolina 35, Oregon 21
There are at all times so many variables that go into predicting a bowl recreation and this recreation is not any completely different. Oregon misplaced its offensive coordinator to Arizona State and can be tutoring Drew Pyne for the following few years down at Arizona State. He isn’t anticipated to be teaching within the bowl recreation and it’ll be a “collaborative effort” to name performs and put collectively the sport plan. Sorry, that by no means works. Within the meantime, UNC QB Drake Maye has doubled down on his love and loyalty for the Tar Heels after stories of him leaving for multi-million greenback offers elsewhere. It might not be the favored choose however I’m taking the Heels on this one.
RYAN ROBERTS, DIRECTOR OF RECRUITING
Prediction: Oregon 37, North Carolina 21
The Tar Heels ended the season wanting very uninspiring throughout. The protection continues to be a difficulty and the offense started to make a ton of errors.
On the opposite facet, Oregon is driving a ton of momentum. Quarterback Bo Nix has had an incredible season and needs to be tough for North Carolina to cease him. The Geese maintain onto momentum coming into the low season.
SHAUN DAVIS, RECRUITING ANALYST
Prediction: Oregon 41, North Carolina 35
There needs to be numerous passes thrown on this recreation, which suggests it may simply run over 4 hours in tv time. On the Carolina facet, Drake Maye nonetheless has sufficient weapons at his disposal to place factors on the board towards a Geese protection with out DJ Johnson there to hurry the passer, they usually struggled mightily towards the move late within the season.
Whereas the UNC protection might be attacked in several methods, the Oregon receivers ought to have the ability to feast on a Tar Heel secondary that can be with out three key elements. Bowl video games usually come right down to which workforce is extra motivated on this recreation, it must be Oregon. Whereas each groups have had main opt-outs and are buoyed by the data that their quarterbacks will return in ’23, the Geese appear to be a workforce decided to make use of a bowl win to create momentum going into 12 months two of the Dan Lanning period.
Scroll to Proceed
SEAN STIRES, STAFF WRITER
Prediction: Oregon 36, North Carolina 31
North Carolina had received six straight after dropping to Notre Dame, however the Tar Heels have misplaced three straight going into the Vacation Bowl. Oregon is the most effective operating workforce UNC has seen for the reason that loss to the Irish. The Duck run for greater than 216 yards a recreation and can be an excessive amount of for the Heels to deal with.
ANDREW MCDONOUGH, IB CONTRIBUTOR
Prediction: Oregon 44, North Carolina 28
The Vacation Bowl options an intriguing matchup between two applications that overcame September stumbles to enter November with a shot on the School Soccer Playoff earlier than faltering within the season’s closing month. Oregon dropped 2 of its final 3 video games, falling to rivals Washington and Oregon State, whereas North Carolina misplaced its closing 3 video games to Georgia Tech, NC State, and Clemson. Nonetheless, each applications have seized momentum this offseason, with Oregon NIL {dollars} fueling a category that vaulted into the top-10 based on some recruiting companies, whereas UNC’s redshirt freshman QB Drake Maye introduced that he would spur the rumored multi-million greenback paydays and return to Chapel Hill.
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North Carolina
Oregon Ducks’ Dan Lanning Compliments ‘Brilliant’ North Carolina Coach Bill Belichick
The No. 1 Oregon Ducks are the only undefeated team left in college football. At 13-0 and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Oregon earned a first-round bye. The Ducks are Big Ten Champions in their inaugural season in the conference. Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel was a Heisman Trophy finalist.
…. In short, the 2024-25 college football season has been Duck domination by coach Dan Lanning.
However, another coach is grabbing headlines while the Ducks prepare to face either theOhio State Buckeyes or Tennessee Volunteers in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick will coach at the collegiate level for the first time as he takes over the University of North Carolina football program. Belichick takes over for Mack Brown in a stunning move.
Lanning and Belichick are familiar with each other and Lanning complimented the new Tar Heels coach.
“I got an opportunity to go visit OTAs (NFL organized team activities) before and visit with him on the phone a few times,” Lanning said. “Obviously, a brilliant football coach and there’s a reason he’s had all the success he’s had. Extremely organized, deep thinker, and certainly he can coach football. So I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him have success there at UNC.”
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Belichick holds the NFL record for most Super Bowls with six as the New England Patriots head coach. Widely regarded as one of the best NFL coaches of all time, Belichick is 72-years-old and a descendant of the Bill Parcells coaching tree.
How Belichick transitions to college and the new transfer portal, Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) era will be under much scrutiny. In 2024, North Carolina finished 6-6 and in 10th place in the ACC conference.
In his introductory press conference in Chapel Hill, Belichick said he “always wanted to coach in college football and it just never really worked out. I had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK. But this is really kind of a dream come true.”
His dad, Steve, served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953 to 1955. Belichick doesn’t have vivid memories of his family’s time at UNC but said he was always told, “Billy’s first words were ‘Beat Duke.’ … So, full circle.”
Belichick and Lanning won’t meet in the regular season as members of difference conferences. The two could meet on the recruiting trail and in the transfer portal, as many prospects are excited about the idea of playing with the legendary Belichick.
Also, with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12-team, the ACC could have a larger presence in the postseason, moving forward. Meaning, Oregon and UNC could meet in the playoffs.
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MORE: Oregon Ducks’ Dan Lanning ‘Attacking’ Extra Preparation Time Before Rose Bowl
MORE: Oregon Ducks Fans Color To Wear In Rose Bowl Vs. Ohio State Or Tennessee in Pasadena
North Carolina
North Carolina joins mystery drone conversation – Washington Examiner
(The Center Square) – White House dismissal notwithstanding, mysterious drones are the talk of the nation. And North Carolina has entered the chat.
“We are actively communicating with federal and local agencies about residents’ reports of drones spotted in eastern North Carolina and are working to find answers,” said U.S. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C.
The federal government, said national security spokesman John Kirby, hasn’t identified public safety or national security risks. Sightings started in the northeast last month, speculation has intensified, and there’s been little to no explanation.
Reaction has ranged from marvel and wonder to the paraphrase of a number of both Democratic and Republican politicians to “shoot first, ask questions later.”
“There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration,” Kirby said. “And there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day. That is the ecosystem that we are dealing with.”
That said, federal probes have been started. There have been more than 5,000 reports to the FBI, with roughly 100 drawing investigations, says a joint statement put out by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense.
Published reports of similar sightings exist to the west in California, the Midwest in Minnesota, and even across the Atlantic in England.
North Carolina
North Carolina parent arrested for strangling student inside school in caught-on-video attack: police
A North Carolina father was arrested Monday after allegedly storming into a high school and strangling a teenage student in a caught-on-video attack.
Quinton Lofton, 43, was charged with felony assault by strangulation and disorderly conduct for allegedly jumping a 17-year-old inside the halls of Fike High School in Wilson the same morning, CBS 17 reported.
Lofton, who has a child at the school, was supposed to report to the high school’s office but instead targeted the student — allegedly over a prior dispute outside its halls.
“The parent did not report to the office and instead assaulted a student in the hallway,” Fike Principal Ross Renfrow said in the statement to families obtained by the local station.
The attack was an escalation of a “situation that happened outside of school,” Renfrow added without providing further details on the said situation.
The Wilson County Sheriff also said the assault was over “an isolated incident that occurred outside of school.”
Disturbing footage of the beat-down obtained by WRAL News shows Lofton allegedly grabbing the student by the neck and tossing him down onto a staircase.
The teen appears to seize as his body lies on the stairs but is able to slowly get up and walk away shortly after, according to the clip.
Staffers then separated the grown man from the student, “diffused the situation and escorted the parent out of the building,” Renfrow said.
The student’s family questioned how Lofton was allowed inside the school and able to attack the teenage boy without any intervention.
His older sister said he was “traumatized” by the assault.
“He’s very shaken up by the whole event that took place this morning,” his sister Shaniqua told WRAL. “He’s pushing through. He’s trying to, you know, remain positive through the whole situation.”
School officials called authorities and the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lofton. He is no longer permitted at the high school.
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