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A new year of college football is upon us, which means it's time for our annual preview of the seven North Carolina FBS teams, as well as Clemson and South Carolina.
The Mountaineers enter the season with a new head coach and only the third head coach since 1989, after Scott Satterfield left after six for Louisville.
Former N.C. State offensive coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz takes over the reins. And fortunately for Drinkwitz, the Sun Belt champions will be returning nine offensive and six defensive starters, including last year's breakout quarterback Zac Thomas.
A majority of the coaching staff is different, but the usual defense-focused Mountaineers should continue to succeed with Drinkwitz's offense-minded style and Thomas leading the way.
Thomas has a solid group of receivers to work with and at running back, including senior Darrynton Evans, who is coming off a 1,000-yard season.
The 49ers have yet to make a bowl game in their six years of existence. They were one win away from being bowl eligible last season, but the expectations weren't met and Brad Lambert was let go as head coach.
This season will usher in a new era of Charlotte football with head coach Will Healy taking over the reins.
Healy is focused on changing the culture into a winning program.
There are still a lot of question marks, though, entering the season. There was a starting quarterback battle between transfer Brett Kean and redshirt sophomore Chris Reynolds. One day before their first game, the 49ers had yet to name a starter, only to say that each will play.
Senior running back Benny LeMay should be the focal point of Charlotte's offense as one of the five returning offensive starters, and Healy will also have seven defensive starters returning.
Head coach David Cutcliffe continues to make the Blue Devils a regular bowl-eligible team and he will have another tough challenge this season after the graduation of quarterback Daniel Jones.
Jones became the highest drafted Duke quarterback ever and senior Quentin Harris will be looked upon as Jones' replacement.
Harris started and won two games for the Blue Devils last season and will bring a much different style to the position by being more of a runner.
Duke immediately has a monumental challenge set out for it with a game against Alabama to start the season. The schedule also games against three other preseason AP Top 25 teams on it.
The Pirates have been irrelevant the last two seasons. They’ve won just six total games.
This year welcomes new head coach Mike Houston, who won a national championship and went 37-6 at James Madison in the FCS.
One of the first big moves Houston made came in August, when he named sophomore Holton Ahlers the starting quarterback over last year's starter Reid Herring, who is a junior.
Ahlers gave the Pirates a spark last year when he replaced Herring in the seventh game and finished his freshman year completing 127-of-263 (48.3 percent) for 1,785 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Losing defensive end Nate Harvey leaves a big hole in the ECU defense, even though the Pirates allowed over 30 points per game last year.
The Wolfpack have a lot of new faces on offense as head coach Dave Doeren enters his seventh season.
Many of those new players are on offense as junior Matt McKay replaces Ryan Finley at quarterback. Also, there are new starters at running back, wide receivers and on the offensive line. There’s even a new offensive coordinator.
McKay backed up Finley last season and has drawn comparisons to former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Lamar Jackson, who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.
The defense struggled in a big way last season, but the Wolfpack looks to be better this time around as they return eight defensive starters, including five in the secondary. Senior defensive end James Smith-Williams is expected to be the anchor for the defense.
The Mack is back in Chapel Hill.
Following two atrocious seasons, UNC fired Larry Fedora and rehired Mack Brown as head coach. Brown made UNC a top program in the 1990s, before leaving to go to Texas, where he won a national championship.
Brown installed the Air Raid offense and freshman Sam Howell, who was named the starting quarterback, is the first true freshman to start a season opener in program history. He gets a stiff test in Game 1 as he faces the SEC’s South Carolina in Charlotte.
Running backs Michael Carter and Antonio Williams are the team’s running backs.
New defensive coordinator Jay Bateman has former quarterback Chazz Surratt at linebacker to try and replace the team's leading tackler Cole Holcomb and the Tar Heels will switch between a 4-3 and 3-4 scheme.
The Demon Deacons are coming off three straight bowl victories and head coach Dave Clawson has made Wake Forest a respectable opponent.
They have some turnover in the receiving corps and offensive line, but Clawson has helped make the Demon Deacons a top tier offensive team nationally the last two years.
Wake Forest has struggled to keep its starting quarterbacks healthy in recent years. Jamie Newman has been named the starting quarterback after splitting time with Sam Hartman last season.
The Demon Deacons lost its top receiver from a year ago, so look for senior running back Cade Carney to carry a lot of their offensive workload.
Just four games into last season, Clawson fired the team's defensive coordinator. Even so, the Deacons still finished the year ranked 116th nationally in total defense. This season, Clawson's defense will switch things up with three safeties and a cornerback instead of a rover linebacker.
The Tigers are coming off one of the most dominant seasons in College Football history with an undefeated year en route to their second championship in three years.
Many believe sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence would’ve been the No. 1 draft pick in the NFL had he been eligible to enter the draft. He enters this year as the Heisman Trophy favorite.
The Tigers are ranked first in the preseason AP Top 25 for the first time ever, and despite losing top defensive linemen Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence and Austin Bryant, head coach Dabo Swinney expects the younger defense to adjust quickly under defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
The defense may not be as dominant, but with Lawrence at the helm on offense and running back Travis Etienne leading the ground game, and four wide receivers that are expected to play at the next level, Clemson's offense should be star-powered enough to overshadow any early defensive struggles.
The Gamecocks capped off a disappointing season last year by getting shutout in the Belk Bowl against Virginia.
Head coach Will Muschamp, who is in his fourth year at USC, has what many consider to be the toughest schedule in the country, with matchups against the top three ranked teams in the country in Clemson, Alabama and Georgia.
Senior quarterback Jake Bentley returns, but he holds a 1-10 record against ranked teams and has struggled with consistency.
Bryan Edwards is expected to be the team’s top receiver after the Gamecocks lost Deebo Samuel to the NFL.
The defense looks to be one of the best since Muschamp arrived in Columbia, as defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw leads the charge.