Red Flags: 5 college football teams on upset alert in Week 7

4. North Carolina Tar Heels

Opponent: 25 Miami (FL) | Time, Saturday, Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC) | Spread: UNC -3.5

After an early-season scare against Appalachian State (a team that seems to almost have Mack Brown's number, for whatever reason), North Carolina has seemingly turned a corner. Drake Maye, after a tepid start, is actually playing better than he did in the quarterback's breakout 2022 season, and the defense has looked notably improved.

Just last week, the Tar Heels beat the absolute mess out of a good-not-great Syracuse team, moving the ball at will against the Orange and stifling an admittedly limited offense. Meanwhile, the Miami Hurricanes team that is coming to Chapel Hill this week committed one of the worst instances of coaching malpractice as Mario Cristobal decided not to kneel and run out the clock, leading to a fumble and an exceptionally improbable upset loss to Georgia Tech.

Even with the coaching blunder of the century aside, though, Miami played its worst game of the season last week. Tyler Van Dyke was a turnover machine, the defense had several costly lapses, and it looked nothing like the group that came into last week still undefeated.

That game, however, could be an outlier for the Hurricanes. Miami will be by far the most talented team that UNC has played this season, particularly on the lines of scrimmage. North Carolina's defense, though, improved, has not been tested by the caliber of weapon they'll see on Saturday against The U. And on the other side of the ball, the Heels offensive line certainly hasn't seen some of the future NFL talent across from them that will be there in Chapel Hill in Week 7.

For my money, Maye and the UNC offense will find a way, particularly against a Miami secondary that appears can be taken advantage of with the right talent and scheme. However, there is a world where we are overinflating the Tar Heels and they could certainly get clipped for their first loss of the season.