ESPN College Football

Here are three keys for North Carolina heading into the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl against Tennessee:

1. Fluster Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray. He’s a big reason the Vols rode a four-game winning streak into the postseason, and he’s got a lot of poise for a true freshman. He does a good job of picking up pressure and eluding it. He gets good protection, so the Tar Heels will have to get off their blocks and win the battle up front. Quinton Coples has the ability to do that.

2. Good decisions by UNC quarterback T.J. Yates. His experience could be the difference in the game, and with the Tar Heels so thin at tailback, the passing game will once again be heavily depended upon. When Yates is on, he’s on, but when he’s off, you have the Virginia Tech game (four picks). UT has limited opponents to fewer than 250 yards passing in three of the last five games, and after recording only 10 sacks in the first eight games, the Vols have had 13 sacks in the last four.

3. Lockdown on third downs. After struggling to convert on third downs in the first four games of the season, the Vols greatly improved their conversion rate in the final eight games. Tennessee converted only 11-of-58 (19.0 percent) on third-down attempts in the first four games, but the Vols are 52-of-115 (45.2 percent) on third downs in the eight games since. UNC opponents have converted 40 percent of their third downs this season.

Here are three keys for Tennessee on Thursday in its Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl matchup with North Carolina:

1. Pressure T.J. Yates: One of the more improved players in the ACC, Yates was the backbone of North Carolina’s offense this season, particularly with all the issues the Tar Heels encountered at running back. The last thing the Vols want to do is allow Yates to get into a rhythm early. Pressuring him into some early mistakes and getting the Tar Heels into a lot of third-and-long situations is the kind of tone the Vols need to set defensively.

2. Avoid special-teams mistakes: Tennessee’s problems catching punts this season have been well-chronicled. And with two teams this evenly matched, giving up an easy score because of a special-teams blunder would probably be the difference. The Vols don’t necessarily have to win special teams to win this game, but a critical mistake could easily cost them the game.

3. Take advantage of the crowd: It’s going to feel like a home game with so much orange in the stands, and the Vols need to capitalize on that environment by starting quickly and forcing the Tar Heels to play from behind.