Tonight is the Battle of the Light Blues. The Citadel marches into Kenan Stadium at 6pm to take on the Tar Heels. The Heels return after an 8-5 campaign last season that ended in a 1-point loss to West Virginia in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. In the regular season, the team lost three games by a combined 8 points before suffering a meltdown blowout to N.C. State.

The team finished 11th in the league in total defense last year, and hopes to make great strides with much experience, talent, and depth on the line and at linebacker. In order for the Heels to stop teams, they will have to get better on the corners and stop the big plays. Of course, pressure from linebackers, a strategy rarely used last season, will have to be applied to rattle the opposing QB.

Many questions remain on offense, too. The Heels’ top returning player is the ACC’s sixth-most efficient running back, Shaun Draughn. Also notable is the return of a healthy T.J. Yates, who keeps his starting position despite heavy competition from high school All-American Mike Paulus and former North Carolina Player of the Year Braden Hanson. A talentless and inexperienced offensive line fronts an experienced backfield. Rounding out the offense is a talented, yet inexperienced Wide Receiver corps. In order to move the ball this season, the Heels have to master the short passing game in order to open up the running game.

In typical fashion gogoraleigh.com offers the best printable depth chart on the internet. The 2-deep chart features each players highest high school achievement and denotes which players were recuiting studs, are inexperienced, and are Seniors. The right side of the chart lists the incoming recruits, with font-size emphasizing the rookie’s rating as a prospect.

Download 2009_UNC_Football.pdf