By Dave Holcomb
SouthernPigskin.com

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Dave Holcomb breaks down North Carolina and Florida State.

North Carolina and Florida State arent naturally rivals in any sport, especially football, but that may be changing.

Quarterback Sam Howell will be starting his 31st game for the Tar Heels this weekend against the Seminoles. At one point, the Seminoles figured Howell, a 4-star recruit and the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the 2018 class, would be making 30-plus starts at Florida State.

Early in the 2018 recruiting cycle, Howell was verbally committed to the Semonles. But on National Signing Day, Howell changed his mind and signed with the Tar Heels. That decision seemed to change the course of history, as North Carolina became a contender again in the early years of Mack Browns return while Florida State continued to spiral into irrelevancy.

Maybe if Howell had remained committed to Florida State, Will Taggert would still be the Seminoles head coach?

Florida State is still searching for its next elite quarterback, but the program found revenge of sorts against North Carolina last year when the Seminoles upset the then No. 5 Tar Heels, 31-28.

The Seminoles led that matchup by 24 at halftime. A tremendous second half from Howell and the Tar Heels offense made it close. Still, the comeback fell three points short.

The loss was one of three ACC defeats North Carolina suffered last season, all of which were vital to keeping them outside the top two spots in the conference and out of the ACC Championship Game.

With that in mind, its Howell and the Tar Heels turn for revenge.

Similar to the second half last year against Florida State, Howell has been playing extremely well as of late. He struggled mightily in Week 1 against Virginia Tech but rebounded by completing 72.4% of his passes and throwing three touchdowns the following Saturday against Georgia State.

In his last three ACC games, Howell has 10 touchdowns versus one interception. He has also completed about 62% of his throws and averaged 10.2 yards per pass.

The Florida State defense, which gave up just 150 passing yards last week against Syracuse but is still only ranked 12th in the ACC in pass defense, will have its hands full. The key to another upset against North Carolina will be pressuring Howell as Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech did.

North Carolina has allowed an ACC-high 22 sacks this season. Fourteen of those 22 sacks came in North Carolinas two losses to the Hokies and Yellow Jackets.

The Tar Heels offensive line didnt necessarily do a great job of protecting the quarterback in their wins either. But in their victories, the Tar Heels have allowed 2.67 sacks per game as opposed to the 7.0 sacks they are giving up in their losses.

Florida State is fourth in the ACC in sacks with 14, but the Seminoles only have one in each of their last two games against Syracuse and Louisville. Making Howell uncomfortable is the biggest key for Florida State beating North Carolina a second straight time.

North Carolina and Florida State used to play each other every year, but since the ACC expanded to the division setup, they have met in back-to-back years just once — 2009 and 2010. The Seminoles, who lead the all-time series 16-3-1 with North Carolina, havent beaten the Tar Heels in two straight seasons since 2003-04.

Offensively, the Seminoles will once again be looking for a spark from quarterback Jordan Travis. He only averaged 4.3 yards per pass against Syracuse, but he threw two touchdowns and rushed for 116 yards. His rushing came in handy late against the Orange, as Travis drove Florida State into field-goal range for the game-winning score.

The Seminoles and Tar Heels wont meet again for at least four more years. That severely dampens any potential football rivalry developing between these two schools. Still, both North Carolina and Florida State badly want a win against each other this weekend for personal reasons.

Prediction: North Carolina 30, Florida State 20