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00:00 - What's going on everybody?
00:01 It's Chantel Powell with Sports Illustrated's
00:02 Gamecock Diet.
00:03 Just joined as always by Kiera Luck of all Tar Heels.
00:07 And this is Carolina Connection.
00:09 The spooky season edition.
00:11 Happy October everybody.
00:12 - I like that.
00:13 - Yeah, yeah.
00:15 We get that little crisp in the air.
00:17 So it really feels like football season now.
00:20 The Gamecocks had their second game
00:23 lost somewhat of a heartbreaker.
00:24 They were this close to, you know,
00:27 coming back on Florida.
00:29 Got the ball back with eight minutes to go.
00:31 Used seven and a half of those minutes
00:34 on their last drive and didn't score.
00:35 So ended up losing by two scores.
00:38 And I hate to say it,
00:40 but Will Muschamp seems to be in the hot seat right now.
00:43 A lot of fans are unhappy,
00:44 especially with his explanation of how that last drive went
00:48 and why they didn't use a quicker tempo.
00:51 So yeah, it might be scary hours for him this October.
00:56 If, you know, they don't turn something around soon
00:58 'cause that's 0-2.
01:00 You guys can actually restarted your season.
01:03 - Yes.
01:04 It is finally football season here in North Carolina.
01:08 For UNC, North Carolina traveled to Chestnut Hill,
01:12 Massachusetts to fight on Boston College.
01:15 Both teams were undefeated,
01:17 meaning for the eighth time
01:19 since Boston College joined the ACC.
01:21 North Carolina has that advantage now since they won.
01:25 Six to two all time against the Eagles.
01:29 Sam Howell, moving his legs, getting quicker, getting faster,
01:32 becoming that mobile quarterback.
01:35 Michael Carter with 121 yards and a touchdown.
01:39 We have an amazing Trey Morrison
01:41 who started at safety for the first time
01:44 and got a pick late in the fourth quarter
01:48 that sealed the deal for North Carolina.
01:50 Boston College almost came back,
01:52 but with a quick pass rush with Tyrone Hopper,
01:57 forced a pick and Trey Morrison
01:59 got it all the way back 100 yards
02:02 and North Carolina defeated the Eagles 26 to 22.
02:06 And they're heading back home to Chapel Hill
02:08 to face Virginia Tech this Saturday at Kenan Stadium.
02:11 And this will also be the first game with fans back.
02:15 So pretty interesting week for North Carolina.
02:20 All of the football players have their normal ticket numbers.
02:24 They're allowed to have their fans present.
02:26 So it'll be hopefully like a normal home game for them.
02:31 And they're pretty excited to finally have
02:33 such an integral part of their team back in the stands.
02:38 - I wanna be a cardboard cutout for Halloween.
02:41 - You have been riding this cardboard cutout for weeks.
02:45 - You know, it's been my favorite part
02:47 and we hardly knew you cardboard cutouts.
02:50 - Oh, that is hilarious.
02:51 But you know, it's funny, Boston College actually behind
02:54 like whatever field goal that North Carolina
02:57 was kicking towards, they had a crying Jordan face.
03:00 (laughing)
03:02 Yeah, it didn't work in their favor,
03:04 but it was pretty creative.
03:06 - Crying Jordan is still hilarious, I'm sorry.
03:09 I'll grow up one day, but that's still funny to me.
03:12 You know, BC and UNC was another one
03:17 of those close games yesterday.
03:19 I know this Florida State was going at it
03:21 with Jacksonville State.
03:23 That one kind of came down to the second half.
03:26 And I was like, you know, it looks like some Gamecock fans
03:29 might be happy today, but you know,
03:32 Florida State pulled it out.
03:33 Jacksonville State gave a good effort.
03:35 And it's just kind of interesting to see this year.
03:39 We were talking about this last week, you know,
03:40 the parity amongst teams is closer than ever.
03:45 So now you're seeing teams that may or may not
03:50 have been in the game before like they were,
03:53 borderline pulling the upset.
03:54 And you know, for as much as Florida has been touted
03:59 as possibly coming out of, you know, their division,
04:03 South Carolina was still right up in the game
04:06 up until the end.
04:07 So what are we kind of seeing just in terms of the product
04:10 at this point again?
04:12 - I think what we're seeing is a lack of practice,
04:15 lack of spring football, and we're seeing almost,
04:20 no one knows anything.
04:21 So no one knows what to really prepare for.
04:24 So we're just really playing in uncertainty right now.
04:29 Unfortunately, that's been the theme this year,
04:31 uncertainty, uncharted, unprecedented.
04:33 - Yeah.
04:34 - So what we're looking at is our team that, you know,
04:38 aren't fully prepared for the season.
04:40 And as Coach Brown said, late last week, I believe,
04:43 you know, seeing late comeback,
04:46 seeing teams who are supposed to win, who are losing.
04:49 Just Saturday, we had four top team blues,
04:54 and we're looking at just teams who are just unprepared.
04:58 And due to COVID, unfortunately,
05:00 caused a lot of stress, the workouts,
05:02 with trying to maintain the bubble aspect
05:05 and trying to keep, you know, team members healthy
05:09 with testing and academics.
05:11 It's just a lot going on right now for these kids.
05:14 And as a result, we're seeing the effects
05:17 of those circumstances.
05:19 - And you know, that's particularly evident
05:21 on the defensive end, 'cause a lot of these games
05:23 are ending in like 41, 42 shootouts.
05:26 And you're seeing that they didn't get to tackle
05:28 during spring, they haven't really gotten to tackle
05:31 during fall camp, 'cause you don't wanna, you know,
05:33 injure your own teammates.
05:35 So a lot of defenses are kind of struggling.
05:37 And unfortunately, you know, it's working out so far,
05:42 because I know like in the WNBA and the NBA,
05:45 one of the issues that we kind of saw as things progressed
05:49 is the lack of time to prepare for the season
05:54 or the season restart.
05:55 And that resulted in a lot of lower leg injuries.
05:57 You know, we see Minnesota Lynx in the playoffs
06:00 without Sylvia Fowles, you know, calf injury.
06:03 We saw Kennedy Carter ankle, we saw Sabrina Inescu,
06:07 an even worse ankle, and you know,
06:09 we're seeing just all types of different injuries.
06:12 And it's interesting because Jarrett Dudley,
06:14 I know before the season started, had tweeted like,
06:16 you know, we're not really thinking through the effects
06:18 of this, you know, restart,
06:21 because that could have a strain on our lower body.
06:23 And Patrick Beverly was like, we don't wanna hear that.
06:25 We just wanna, and what happens?
06:27 He got a calf injury sometime during the playoffs
06:31 and was out a couple games.
06:32 So it's like, we're seeing that,
06:34 and then it's tearing over into the NFL,
06:37 to where you had no preseason.
06:41 You're going from zero to a hundred in no time at all.
06:45 And it's just, aside from COVID,
06:48 the NFL has kind of a couple problems to work on right now.
06:53 - Just in the week alone, and I'm just referring to COVID,
07:01 not even thinking about, you know, injuries,
07:04 20 Tennessee Titans have tested positive for COVID.
07:08 And it's almost like every day is two more people,
07:11 three more people.
07:13 And as a result, the Vikings had to get, you know, retested.
07:18 The Steelers versus the Tennessee Titans had to be postponed
07:21 to later in the season, affecting the Steelers' bye week,
07:24 which former Tar Heel, Eric Ebron, felt a certain way,
07:28 you know, almost like, why do we have to be penalized
07:33 at fault for another team not doing
07:35 what they're supposed to be doing, essentially?
07:37 Because that bye week for the Steelers was supposed
07:39 to be a time for his family celebrating his kid's birthday.
07:42 And now he has to, assumingly, play football.
07:46 And it's just stressful and it's an inconvenience.
07:49 Cam Newton of the New England Patriots announced
07:52 that he tested positive for COVID,
07:54 which in result caused the Patriots
07:57 to be moved to Monday night.
07:59 And it's just a lot of moving pieces of going on,
08:03 on top of having injuries and then thinking about COVID
08:06 and the long-term effects.
08:08 I know someone who got diagnosed with COVID
08:12 and they don't even have their taste or smell back.
08:15 And they got diagnosed back in July.
08:17 July, imagine not eating,
08:20 eating and not tasting nothing in July.
08:25 And that's just a normal person.
08:27 That's not even a superstar with access
08:31 to some of the best healthcare the world has to offer.
08:33 So this season, I just wish everything would kind of stop.
08:38 I know that our jobs kind of depend on it,
08:42 but now the president has COVID.
08:46 Different senators have COVID.
08:48 And it's just like, it's too much going on
08:51 in the world today to just risk everything for a dollar.
08:55 Like you said, it's like, it's a parody.
08:58 It's just what in the world is going on, Chantel?
09:02 Like how, what do we have to do or what has to happen?
09:07 You know what, sadly I have to say this,
09:10 who has to be seriously injured
09:12 or I don't even want to say pass away,
09:16 but something drastic has to happen to someone significant
09:21 for the world to pay attention.
09:23 - Or pass out.
09:25 - Yeah, apparently a million people dying isn't worth it.
09:28 Like 200,000 Americans wasn't worth it.
09:31 So now it's just like what superstar,
09:34 unfortunately has to catch the attention
09:37 for everyone to be like, all right.
09:39 - I mean, we gonna have to watch the president
09:41 'cause if he don't, if he,
09:43 unfortunately he comes back from it,
09:45 then that's gonna shape the narrative.
09:47 Like, oh, well, yeah, we'll be fine.
09:49 But it's like, like you said,
09:51 they have access to some of the best healthcare
09:53 in the world because of who they are and their status.
09:56 So we took an approach as a nation, like, all right,
10:00 well, we just gonna go outside.
10:03 (laughing)
10:04 We just gonna.
10:05 - Girl, what was it?
10:06 It was the Arvin Georgia game, I believe it was.
10:08 - Yeah, where nobody had on a mask
10:11 and it was packed in there.
10:13 - You can't enforce it.
10:14 Once I'm in my seat, you cannot literally watch thousands
10:18 of people and enforce that rule.
10:20 You just can't.
10:22 - And even if you try to,
10:23 like you're putting yourself in danger.
10:25 So that's also a problem, but we took the approach of,
10:28 well, everybody can't catch it.
10:30 And if they do, if everybody has it,
10:32 then nobody can catch it because everybody has it.
10:34 So now that's where we are as a nation
10:37 because we opened up and went outside.
10:39 And it's gonna get real interesting around playoff time
10:44 because if you keep,
10:46 and that's what I was trying to tell people,
10:47 you've got to look ahead.
10:49 - Yes.
10:50 - 'Cause if we keep trying to restart things
10:51 and start it before it's ready
10:53 or start it without a legit plan,
10:55 'cause the NFL, I know it's a bigger league
10:58 and it's more people to keep track of,
11:00 but you still could have had clusters, right?
11:02 We have a Southeast bubble where we're scheduling
11:07 and we're playing this schedule.
11:10 - Right.
11:10 - And you have the Northwest, and you do it that way.
11:13 So now you're having it more controlled
11:15 and everybody just traveling across the country.
11:18 And now you're missing out on the money
11:20 that you were trying to make in the first place
11:23 because the games are getting postponed or canceled
11:25 or whatever, because you don't have people.
11:27 And then nobody really wants to watch it
11:30 if half the team is gone.
11:31 If Cam Newton, like we're watching
11:33 the Cam Newton revenge tour.
11:34 Nobody wants to watch the Patriots
11:35 if Cam Newton's not playing.
11:37 - Absolutely.
11:38 - You know, it's just, it's interesting to see.
11:41 And then, you know, to your point,
11:43 that Auburn Georgia game, like that's the norm, you know?
11:46 FSU's coach got COVID, you know,
11:49 and they had like a packed stadium or whatever.
11:51 So we're going to see around bowl season.
11:55 And then they've lifted the stipulations
11:58 to get into a bowl game.
12:00 So we'll see how all that works down the road,
12:03 but it's just kind of like, we might be reaping what we sow
12:07 trying to push things to start a little earlier
12:10 than they were ready.
12:12 - I don't know.
12:15 I don't know.
12:18 It's really sad and it's really heartbreaking.
12:21 I understand kids want to play.
12:23 I understand coaches want to play,
12:24 but I just wish that there was a safer way.
12:28 Like you said, a hub way to do this.
12:31 You can't really do it in college because school,
12:34 and that will be, I'm sure, super expensive.
12:38 But the NFL should have done much better job,
12:42 much better job.
12:44 It's ridiculous.
12:45 The Tennessee Titans are,
12:47 they could have done a much better job.
12:49 I'm disappointed.
12:51 - Yeah, I mean, but we knew what time it was
12:53 when the players showed up to preseason
12:55 and had no idea what the plan was.
12:57 So, you know, you had time to figure something out.
13:02 You had time to watch other leagues make plans.
13:05 And then you just did that.
13:07 So you even watch baseball have to start and stop
13:11 a couple of times because of it.
13:12 So, you know, it just, it is what it is at this point.
13:17 But we're going to keep plugging along as best we can.
13:22 South Carolina plays Vandy this week.
13:26 Who y'all have next week?
13:28 - We have Virginia Tech at home at noon on ABC 11.
13:33 - You did say that.
13:34 You did say that.
13:35 That's a really good one.
13:36 So, you know, USC needs this win bad.
13:40 And yeah, so just stay tuned.
13:41 Once again, Chantel Powell
13:43 with Sports Illustrated's Game Cop Digest.
13:45 Kiara Luck, All Tar Heels.
13:48 And this is Carolina Connection.
13:49 And we will talk to y'all later.