By Briana Gorman

bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668

CHAPEL HILL — There were high expectations for North Carolina in the ACC this season, with conference championship and the Tar Heels sometimes mentioned in the same sentence.

But after Saturday’s 16-3 loss to previously winless Virginia, UNC sits at the bottom of the ACC at 0-2, and showed it has some serious problems on offense.

The offensive line is inexperienced and has been hurt by a slew of injuries, but the Tar Heels have struggled to move the ball not only on the ground but also in the air against ACC opponents.

Quarterback T.J. Yates, who has thrown four interceptions the last two games, doesn’t deserve all the blame, however, as the Tar Heels’ have totaled 56 rushing yards the past two games.

Against conference competition UNC has managed just 328 yards of offense, which helps to place it 113th out of 120 D-I teams in total offense with 280.8 yards per game. Virginia is 117th with 272.25 yards per game.

The defense is obviously getting frustrated and Yates said the offense needs to start holding up its end of the bargain.

“We’ve got to put some points on the board,” Yates said. “They can’t shut everybody out.”

Fortunately for UNC it doesn’t face an ACC opponent for the next few weeks, which should give it time to try and fix things offensively. This week the Tar Heels face Georgia Southern, a Football Championship Series team, and then they have a bye before hosting Florida State on Oct. 22. Georgia Southern, which is 3-2, is coming off a 26-21 win over Wofford.