It hasn’t been the prettiest at times, but North Carolina is 3-0.

The Tar Heels head into an off week coming off another road win, as Carolina held on to beat Georgia State 35-28 Saturday. The Heels opened the season Aug. 27 with a 56-24 win against Florida A&M, and they followed that with a crazy 63-61 road win at Appalachian State.

The defense has not been good, as Carolina ranks 115th in the nation in scoring defense and 118th in total defense. But so far, it hasn’t hurt the Heels in the win/loss column. And that’s what matters.

Carolina’s early success has come thanks to one of the best offenses in the country so far, led by a first-year starter at quarterback in Drake Maye.

There’s a lot going well for the Tar Heels, and here are 5 reasons why they are off to a 3-0 start:

Hitting home runs

UNC has the No. 6 scoring and total offense in the country, and a big part of that has been its ability to hit for chunk plays.

Carolina leads the country with 61 plays of 10 yards or more. The Heels also lead the country with 21 plays of 20 yards or more. UNC also leads the country with 10 plays of 30 yards or more.

Yes, some of that has to do with the fact that Carolina has played 1 more game than most teams, but the Heels also are way up in the national rankings in these big chunk plays per game, too.

An offense that can gain huge chunks of yards at once is a dynamic threat, and Carolina has been able to do just that. The Heels also are doing it pretty well balanced, as 38 of those 61 10-yard plays have come through air with 23 on the ground.

Maye spreading the ball without Downs, Green

North Carolina is averaging more than 300 yards through the air after 3 games, as Maye has come out of the gate on fire.

What has made Carolina’s steady passing attack even more impressive is it is doing this without star receivers Josh Downs and Antoine Green. The All-ACC Downs played in the opener against Florida A&M, but he has missed the past 2 games because of injury. Green has yet to play.

In their stead, it has been a committee of receivers who have stepped up. The Heels already have 6 pass catchers with 100 or more receiving yards, and 6 players apart from Downs have a receiving touchdown.

Kobe Paysour has been a real standout, with 172 yards and 2 touchdowns to his name. Tight ends Kamari Morales and Bryson Nesbit both also have 2 touchdowns and more than 100 yards. Gavin Blackwell, John Copenhaver and J.J. Jones complete the list of 100-yard receivers.

If you told a Carolina fan that they’d have a top-20 passing game in the country after 3 games without Downs and Green, they might not have believed you. But the stable has stepped up for the Heels, as Maye has had plenty of targets to throw to.

Perfect in the red zone

In 3 games, Carolina’s offense has entered the red zone 11 times. The Tar Heels have scored a touchdown on 10 of those trips. In reality, Carolina is perfect in the red zone, as that 1 trip that did not result in a touchdown came on the final drive of the Florida A&M game with the Heels running out the clock at the Rattlers 16 to end the game.

While UNC’s red-zone conversion rate of 90.91% is technically 5th in the ACC, its same mark of TD conversion rate is the best in the conference even counting the final FAMU drive.

And as was the case with Carolina’s chunk plays, the red-zone scores are incredibly well balanced. Of UNC’s 10 red-zone touchdowns, 5 have come through the air and 5 on the ground.

Maye has been more poised than his age in the red zone, and freshman running back Omarion Hampton has found a way to score 3 of those 5 rushing touchdowns.

56.41% on 3rd down, 66.67% on 4th down

Not much has gone wrong for Carolina’s offense, and that includes when the Heels are in tough spots.

With a 56.41% conversion rate on 3rd down, UNC ranks among the top 15 in the NCAA. The Heels also are 4-for-7 on 4th down, an impressive mark for this early in a campaign.

Again, this starts with the excelled maturity and poise Maye has shown through just 3 games as a starter. He has a great control of the game and the offense already, and there’s a confidence in that entire group that stems from him.

UNC is moving the ball really well, and it hasn’t faced a ton of 3rd downs through 3 games. But when the Heels do face 3rd down, they’ve moved the chains efficiently.

36.6% 3rd-down conversion against

For the sake of sneaking in a positive from the defense, Carolina hasn’t been awful defensively on 3rd down.

This number isn’t great by any means. It ranks 70th in the Football Bowl Subdivision and 10th in the ACC, but that’s a lot better than where Carolina stands in most defensive categories. Appalachian State was 6-of-12 on 3rd, compared to UNC’s 9-for-14.

Then this past weekend, Georgia State went just 4-of-16 on 3rd down. That included the Panthers going 1-for-5 on their final 4 drives as UNC’s defense clamped down.

This isn’t a great number. A lot of teams in the country would be disappointed with this mark. But for Carolina, it has been a lone bright spot defensively and 1 that likely won the game in Atlanta.