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Carolina
vs. Arizona State prediction
Raleigh__ What are the prospects for a Carolina victory? Not good. That's how I feel cause that's how the Heels have been playing. Last week against Georgia Tech it seemed as if the team was in worse shape than when playing Texas. When playing against a less talented team, that's simply not good. As the season wears on and improvements are expected, why does it feel like we're going backwards? "This football team, because of its youth, is learning from us," Bunting said. "And evidently, I'm not doing a good enough job right now to get them to learn faster. I want it done faster." Watching several game tapes repeatedly, it seems that the team just doesn't understand what they should be doing yet. I can't question the play calling because the execution is not consistently good enough to judge. But the Heels seem to be thinking way too much instead of executing like the plays are second nature. To compound this problem, I think the Heels are still reeling from a Miami (Ohio) mistake-prone game hangover. We're still seeing mistakes and unnecessary penalties from the team as a whole, and poor decisions from the quarterback in particular. After the Georgia Tech game, Durant said, "It was hard for us to do things... we were trying too hard to make things happen. Our possessions were limited, I felt like we had to score instead of just letting the game come to me. I wish that I would've done that." The pressure to play better is building from game to game. Nobody wants things to turn around more than the team. But part of the solution is to relax a bit and get into the flow of the game. A more mature team would be better able to do that and still play with focused intensity. On the talent level, Zack Hilton said, "On both sides of the ball, we have people who can run, people who can makes plays. We just have to put together a complete game. I think we're more lacking mentally than physically at this point. If we can get everything going in the right direction we have enough talent to play with anybody". The Heels have demonstrated some awesome talent and play at times. Until the team proves me wrong, I think the mental aspect will continue to be a stumbling block. Michael Waddell has been a prime example. It's tough at this point to expect a 60 minute mental game, although we've seen that in effort for the most part. Arizona State is a team with better momentum and team chemistry. I expect the Heels to fight hard and to be in the game at times, but ultimately they will return home with self-inflected bullet holes in their feet. Give it to the Sun Devils playing at home and call it Carolina 24 - Arizona State 31. Go Heels!
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