If your Friday night plans include watching UNC football, make sure you eat dinner early and drink a cup of evening coffee.

North Carolina (2-3, 0-1 ACC) travels cross-country to the Golden State, facing the Cal Golden Bears at 10:30 p.m. ET, in the first-ever conference matchup between both programs. The Tar Heels desperately need to find offensive solutions if they’re going to win, but they face Cal’s Top-50 defensive unit.

UNC enters Friday’s nightcap averaging just 263.8 yards per game, fourth-least in the FBS ahead of only Northern Illinois, Ball State and UMass. North Carolina has playmakers on offense, most notably Demon June and Jordan Shipp, but large deficits in losses to Clemson and UCF made the Tar Heels abandon their gameplan.

With new starters across the offense, UNC’s offensive struggles aren’t surprising. North Carolina replaced Omarion Hampton, who’s now starring with the Los Angeles Chargers, plus the likes of experiences vets J.J. Jones and Bryson Nesbit.

Bill Belichick recruited Gio Lopez from South Alabama in the transfer portal, but the Tar Heels’ new quarterback keeps getting injured. Max Johnson, a sixth-year SEC veteran who began 2024 as UNC’s starter, looks more effective at QB anyways.

If you watched any of North Carolina’s first five games, particularly their losses, Freddie Kitchens isn’t showcasing much variety in his offensive playcalling. The Tar Heels run plenty of screen plays, but if blockers aren’t doing their jobs, those plays get blown up.

Can UNC beat a Cal (4-2, 1-1 ACC) squad with losses in two of its past three games? We tell you what North Carolina needs to do offensively for a big victory.

Establish the run game EARLY

The Tar Heels had to abandon the run early against Clemson, facing a 28-3 deficit after the first quarter. UNC finished the night with just 57 yards on 18 total carries.

Michigan transfer Benjamin Hall (pictured above) anchored North Carolina with 24 yards and a touchdown on five rushes, while June collected just 16 yards on five rushes.

Whether the Tar Heels roll with Hall, June or Davion Gause, keep the hot running back in the game. While UNC is tied early and victory is still within a manageable reach, Kitchens needs to have his players run the ball.

Continue spreading the football around to receivers

Johnson is in line to start again – and he’ll get a chance to continue proving himself as North Carolina’s permanent QB1.

As a result of the Tar Heels’ large deficit throughout their loss to Clemson, Johnson attempted 42 passes, completing 26 of them to 12 different pass-catchers.

Ideally, UNC establishes the run and takes some pressure off Johnson’s arm. If Johnson continues spreading the football around, though, Cal will have its hand full with North Carolina’s young receiving core.

Freddie Kitchens needs to establish playcalling variety

When interior runs and screen passes are a majority of your offense, defenses sniff that out. That’s what the Tar Heels’ offense looks like under Kitchens, an experienced NFL mind also coaching his first year in college.

Mix in play-actions. Run the football outside the tackles. Take deep shots if they’re available. Fans are clamoring for even the slightest glimmer of excitement in UNC’s offense, which this variety does – and can bring a big victory back to Chapel Hill.

Finish drives

If North Carolina determined its offensive success based on first drives alone, they’d be amongst the country’s best. The Tar Heels scored on their first drive against Clemson, thanks to Rece Verhoff’s 35-yard field goal.

UNC didn’t score another touchdown until garbage time in the fourth quarter, when Hall punched in an 11-yard rush. North Carolina has a theme of not finishing drives, which makes it tougher to win games.

If the Tar Heels want to upset Cal Friday, they need to turn field goals into touchdowns.

Blocking has to improve

Clemson only sacked Johnson once, but that wasn’t the issue Week 6. It seemed like Johnson had no time to throw the football, plus running backs didn’t have big gaps to run through – both of which result from poor blocking.

California has nine sacks through six games, which averages to 1.5 sacks per contest. The Golden Bears also collected 28 tackles for loss, showcasing their ability to get into the backfield.

If UNC wants to leave the Golden State with a victory, offensive linemen need to step up and block.

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC football’s offensive keys to victory against Cal Golden Bears