Remember those rainy days at Kenan Stadium? Here comes another.

I recall three games that literally dampened the spirits at the old lady in the pines, and all of them ended up with much different outcomes than we expected. If you have any more, comment below!

I will start with the best on the absolute worst day for football in Chapel Hill. In 1968, the 7th-ranked Florida Gators came to town with All-American running back Larry Smith in the second season of coach Bill Dooley’s 11-year stay at UNC.

The Tar Heels had gone 2-8 in his first season of those 10-game schedules. It ended well with converted quarterback Gayle Bomar leading UNC to a stunning 20-9 upset of Duke in Wade Stadium.

Not much more was expected the next year, as Carolina lost three of its first four games, giving up 103 points in defeats to N.C. State, South Carolina and Maryland to fall 0-3 in the ACC (the Heels did beat Vanderbilt of the SEC by the baseball score of 8-7).

When Dooley learned the forecast for the final tropical storm of the so-called hurricane season to blow through North Carolina on October 19th, he smiled and drawled, “Well, you know, rain can be the great equalizer.” And so it was.

The Gators fumbled seven times in the game, several by Smith, and suffered a 22-7 shocker as the thoroughly soaked and surprised students had a ball. The 3-7 season ended with Bomar directing another upset of Duke and All-ACC quarterback Leo Hart, 25-14, in a delightfully dry Kenan. The next year Florida got a 52-2 revenge on the Heels in sunny Gainesville.

After coaching Carolina to an 8-5 record behind Mack Brown’s last recruiting class led by Julius Peppers, John Bunting opened his second season with a 27-21 loss at home to Miami of Ohio in pouring rainstorm.

Nothing, however, compared to what happened in 2016, a year after Larry Fedora led the Tar Heels to their only Coastal Division title. With Mitch Trubisky at quarterback, Carolina won its first two ACC games and faced its chief competitor in the division, Virginia Tech, on the day Hurricane Matthew was ravaging our state. Several college football games were postponed or their starting times delayed until the torrential rain passed through the Triangle.

Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham decided to play the game on time, and Trubisky’s passing game and UNC’s Coastal hopes drowned in a 34-3 loss to the Hokies. Ian is bringing a 90-percent chance of rain Saturday. So bring foul weather gear, and have a blast cheering the Tar Heels in their ACC opener.

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