BY BRIANA GORMAN

bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668

CHAPEL HILL -- When North Carolina coach Butch Davis opened his weekly news conference Monday, he didn't mince words about the Tar Heels' assignment in week two.

"The challenge is dramatically different than a week ago," Davis said.

No. 19 North Carolina visits Connecticut today (noon, ESPNU), and even though the Tar Heels were impressive in its season-opening rout of The Citadel, UConn will be UNC's first Football Bowl Subdivision opponent of the year.

Davis acknowledged the matchups will be tougher on both sides of the ball -- the Huskies will have more talent, size and speed than The Citadel.

"They're a lot bigger and a lot stronger," said linebacker Bruce Carter, who had three blocked punts in UNC's 38-12 win over UConn a year ago. "They're just a bigger school from Citadel, and just playing Citadel helped give us confidence going into our second game."

UNC's defense opened the year with a solid showing against the Bulldogs, holding them to three points and just 153 yards of offense. But the Tar Heels' run defense will get its first true test today, since The Citadel's top two running backs were injured and it only attempted 20 rushes for 30 yards.

UConn is the complete reverse, as its offense relied heavily on its two running backs, Andre Dixon and Jordan Todam, in its 23-16 victory over Ohio a week ago.

"They've got a lot of speed," Davis said. "You can just see their ability to run, to change direction, slash, cutback. They've got the ability to turn a minimal gain into a bigger gain just because of the speed."

UConn's tandem of Dixon and Todam replace Donald Brown, who was the nation's top rusher a year ago. Brown was the only player to break the 2,000-yard mark with 2,083 yards, and the Indianapolis Colts took him 27th overall in the NFL draft.

"I think, certainly, that Donald Brown was a very good running back and not to take anything away from him, but he was more of a punishing, tougher, physical, run-between-the-tackles and grind it out and every now and then he'd hit some big plays," Davis said. "But I think both of these kids have real home run ability."

Dixon, a senior, was UConn's starter two years ago but was sidelined with an injury, which led to the emergence of Brown. Dixon, who was named second-team All-Big East in 2007, had 100 yards on 19 carries in the opener. His teammate, sophomore Jordan Todam, had 25 carries for 157 yards and one touchdown.

Davis said UNC hasn't really had to prepare for two running backs, however, because both players are so similar. He said the Huskies run the same plays and just rotate the tailbacks to keep fresh legs on the field.

"It's not like one guy runs all outside plays, one guy runs all the inside plays, one guys for option, one guys for power," Davis said. "They just run the same stuff."

UConn also has a returning starter in quarterback Zach Frazer, but there's no question where the Huskies offensive strength is located and where UNC's defense will be focused today.

"They've been running the ball a lot from the film we watched of the Ohio game," Carter said. "I feel like that will be our main thing -- stop the running game."

NOTES -- Starting fullback Bobby Rome and reserve defensive tackle Jordan Nix have tested positive for probable H1N1 influenza and will not travel to Connecticut. ... Offensive linemen Jonathan Cooper (ankle) and Lowell Dyer (shoulder) and defensive back Terry Shankle (illness) are questionable. ... Receiver Dwight Jones and tight end Ryan Taylor will miss their second consecutive game with a knee injuries.