North Carolina Football: 3 takeaways from season-opening win over Syracuse

1. Syracuse secondary played up to its competition

Defense was a serious struggle at times for the Orange. Syracuse gave up over 500 yards in half of their contests a season ago. That did not look the case whatsoever for Syracuse today.

Majority of the attention in this game came from North Carolina’s offensive weapons and there’s a reason for that. Two 1,000 yard receivers return in Dazz Newsome and Dynami Brown.

One bright spot early in this game was cornerback Ifeatu Melfionwu. In just the first quarter alone, Melfionwu had two tackles and two pass deflections, one that resulted in an interception. In a secondary that is headlined by preseason All-American Andre Cisco, it was Melfionwu that showed out early on.

Cisco would end up making a play on a deep play as he intercepted the pass and returned it all the way to near midfield early in the 3rd quarter.

Eventually, Syracuse’s defense ran out of gas late, as North Carolina would take over. For a team that had little expectation heading into the season, relying on your secondary was very crucial.

Syracuse is expected to play on the road next week against Pittsburgh at 12 p.m. ET. For North Carolina, they’ll stay at home and be playing their lone Non-Conference game of the season against Charlotte.