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They officially are the Rams, like Alabama is the Red Elephants.  Supposedly, there was some Rev War battle on the Tar River and the NC contingent "dug their heels" into the river and wouldn't retreat, or something like that, Stonewall, but Tar River.

Over the three tours I had at Fort Bragg, I heard several different stories of the origin of the name.  That was one of them.  A similar one didn't mention the Tar River, just that they dug in their heels as if they were stuck in tar.  Another had to do with sailors being called "tars" and North Carolina's pine trees being used to make various shipyard products.

#26 Virginia Tech Hokies

#2 in ACC

Justin Fuente’s roster has been turbulent, to say the least, is his short time in Blacksburg, and this offseason has been no exception, with four additions, and 14 subtractions via the transfer portal.  So god only knows what the depth looks like, but as far as the starting group goes, there is actually some stability from last year, with 19 returning starters, the 6th most returning production in the nation.  The defense, as has frequently been the case at Virginia Tech over the past 25 years, is the strength, returning ten starters (including four all-conference players) from a top third ACC defense a year ago.  It was nice to see Bud Foster go out on a solid note, considering what an instrumental role he played in the Hokies’ success under Beamer.  Foster had been coaching at Virginia Tech since 1987, as defensive coordinator since 1995, winning the AFCA Defensive Coordinator of the Year Award in 2000, and the Frank Broyles, as the nation’s top assistant, in 2006.  He is replaced by a former player, Justin Hamilton, who returned to his alma mater as an analyst in 2018, moving to position coach last year.  His only coordinating experience though, came at Virginia-Wise from 2011 to 2013, during their transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II.  He inherits a defense with All-American candidates at every level, with cornerback Caleb Farley being the most likely candidate.  Rayshard Ashby is the unquestioned leader on this side of the ball, but if there is any question, it’s getting more production from their defensive ends.  Their interior line has the potential to be outstanding, a far cry from last year when it looked to be a major problem area with Jarrod Hewitt and a bunch of question marks.  The Hokies scored in the JUCO market with DaShawn Crawford, and freshman Josh Fuga redshirted last year, but by all accounts is ready to explode in 2020.  That’s a rare thing to write anymore, and even in Blacksburg where two other true freshmen defensive linemen burned their redshirts to contribute.  But the coaches wanted to firm up Fuga’s 310 pound frame to make him more than just a space eater.  The offense has questions at the places that you might be ok having some questions, the running backs and receivers.  Because the line and the quarterback looks set.  The Hokies went young on the line last year, starting an entire two deep of underclassmen, all of whom return in 2020.  Their overall metrics weren’t great, but they still allowed the fifth fewest sacks in the ACC, and were solid in short down situations.  Their bottom 30 run blocking needs to beastly improve with experience.  If you had told me Virginia Tech had finished fourth in the ACC in passing yards per attempt and passing efficiency, I would have been shocked, because I couldn’t have named who their starting quarterback was.  Hendon Hooker won the job away from Ryan Willis, throwing just 2 interceptions on the year, to 13 touchdowns.  Unfortunately for Hokie fans, those two interceptions (along with a fumble that was returned for a touchdown) came in a late loss to Virginia, to end a 15 year winning streak against their rivals, and cost Virginia Tech a trip to the ACC Championship Game.  Virginia Tech unexpectedly does need to figure out the other skill positions, after leading rusher Deshawn McClease left early for the NFL, and top receiver Damon Hazelton transferred to Missouri.

	KEY PLAYERS
QB	Hendon Hooker, Junior
T	Christian Darrisaw, Junior
G	Lecitus Smith, Junior
	.
DT	Jarrod Hewitt, Senior
LB	Rayshard Ashby, Senior
CB	Caleb Farley, Junior

#25 Appalachian State Mountaineers

#1 in Sun Belt

If Appalachian State wants to join the Boise State’s of college football, it needs to prove it can survive a coaching change...again.  Eliah Drinkwitz led Appalachian State to the best (FBS adjusted) season in school history, and promptly turned it into a Power Five job at Missouri.  Shawn Clark, who played at Appalachian State from 1994-1998, and has been part of the coaching staff since 2016, is next up.  Technically he is 1-0, getting credit for the Mountaineers New Orleans Bowl victory, their fifth consecutive bowl victory since stepping up to FBS, joining Marshall (1998-2002) and Louisiana Tech (presently), as the only Group of Five schools to ever collect a bowl winning streak of at least 5.  Zac Thomas has proven to be an effective quarterback, but with running back Darrynton Evans departing early for the NFL, he needs to take the next step.  His four leading targets return, including Kansas State transfer Corey Sutton, who missed five games, and still led the team in receiving touchdowns.  Without Evans’ nearly 3,000 career rushing yards behind him, if Thomas can capitalize on the NFL potential he flashes at time, the Mountaineer offense should be fine.  Part of the question  is whether Thomas can’t do it, or they don’t need him to.  He was fourth in the Sun Belt in pass efficiency.  Whether the key to Appalachian State’s run game was the line, or Evans, they’ll have to figure out new pieces either way.  Senior center Noah Hannon is the most experienced proven commodity on the line, and the three backs vying to replace Evans had 70 fewer carries last year COMBINED than Evans had.  Their combined 6.1 ypc shows promise, and maybe the answer is running back by committee.  The defensive line looks to be in fine shape, led by sack leader Demetrius Taylor, but the back eight has some issues, everywhere except cornerback, trying to replace five of eight graduated seniors.  Saying cornerback is an exception is a bit of an understatement, as they have a pair back there who could start for most Power Five teams.  Shaun Jolly tied for the Sun Belt lead with 5 interceptions, and he keys a secondary that led the Sun Belt in opponents ypa (6.4), interceptions (14), and completion percentage (55.6%), tallying to be the #18 pass efficiency defense in the nation.  But aside from that cornerback pair, there are issues.  A lot of pressure on the line to not allow teams to the second level, where the tackling will be an issue until proven otherwise, replacing both safeties, and three of four linebackers.  The one linebacker they do return, breakout freshman Nick Hampton, who was second among Sun Belt linebackers with 5.5 sacks, will be relied upon to be much more than just a pass rush specialist.  Appalachian State has won four consecutive Sun Belt titles, and their closest competition, Louisiana, seems to have some sort of mental block there.  They finished ranked for the first time last year.  Their next step is their first New Years Six Bowl, the first for the Sun Belt as a whole.  The Mountaineers beat North Carolina last year, and took Penn State to overtime in 2018.  They’ll get their shot this year, with road games at Wake Forest and then at a likely top 10, if not top 5, Wisconsin, back to back in September.  If they can go into Madison and pick up a win, they’ll move into the driver’s seat for that birth.

	KEY PLAYERS
QB	Zac Thomas, Senior
WR	Thomas Hennigan, Senior
WR	Corey Sutton, Senior
	.
DE	Demetrius Taylor, Senior
LB	D'Marco Jackson, Senior
CB	Shaun Jolly, Junior

SEC West should be interesting, I'm not sold on A&M, but they likely will be dangerous and a threat to beat the other 3 top teams.  The East should have two top ten teams and nobody else ranked.  Florida plays LSU every year and Georgia plays Alabama and Auburn this year.  UGA should have a solid defense.

https://alumni.unc.edu/what-is-a-tar-heel/

Yeah, the story I heard may be wrong, and I was a student there for 4+ years.  The official story sounds more plausible.  This is their mascot imagery, the ram thing, looking angry. 



Marine School of Infantry is at Camp Geiger (near Lejuene) north of Bragg a ways.  Same kind of country, sandy, pine trees, and snakes.  Fayettenam is not a very nice town from what I saw.

The Mack Brown has made a quick turn around, which I think is nice for him as he likely will retire fairly soon.

The two additional links in the story you linked told many additional versions of the story.  Most are highly improbable.
I liked my time in North Carolina.  Liked the people.  I could have done without having my car covered in yellow pine pollen every spring, but on the whole, I liked it there.  Fayetteville was much nicer when I last left in 1993 than it was when I first got there in 1980.
My boss at Ft. Leavenworth was a civilian Ph.D.-type from Virginia.  He was extremely proud of being from Virginia and extremely proud of Virginia's role in the Civil War.  He referred to North Carolina--situated as it is between Virginia and South Carolina, as "a vale of modesty between two mountains of conceit."
I like all those old-school mascots wearing sailor caps.  LSU, Auburn, Missouri, Princeton, and Occidental all shared the same tiger-head design, in different colors and with different initials on the cap.  I've seen Cal, UCLA, and Baylor bear-heads in caps, a Texas steer-head in a cap, a Michigan wolverine-head in a cap.  Others I can't think of right now, I'm sure.
Maybe the desire to have a mascot wearing a cap is what steered UNC to adopting the ram as its official animal.

When I lived in Alabama for about 15 months during jr. high school, I had to choose between Alabama and Auburn.  One was not allowed to be neutral or indifferent.  By the time I had been there two days, I had heard enough Bear Bryant hagiography to make me sick, so I chose Auburn.  I had a beautiful dark-blue Auburn pennant, in soft, heavy felt, with "AUBURN" in orange letters and the picture of "Aubie" as seen above.

I forgot to post the pic of the steer in a cap.  He seems to be an angry steer.  Maybe he's angry because he's no longer a bull.  Or maybe he's in pain because he's in the process of becoming a steer.



Re Huskers not wearing caps, I don't think there were human mascots depicted as wearing sailor caps.  Maybe Navy?

Huskers sometimes wear baseball caps, don't they?

steers and queers in Texas

not that there's anything wrong with either of them

I'd rather not think of that lil feller

not that there's anything wrong with him