There’s a stereotype for people from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. It’s called “Minnesota nice,” and it says that Minnesotans are generally friendlier and more courteous than folks from neighboring states.
“Minnesota nice” will not be shared with the Tar Heels tonight. Head coach Mack Brown’s team will head into a hostile environment at Huntington Bank Stadium, one which will be clad from field-level to the upper deck in Gopher Gold. The gold-out is very nearly sold out as well.
Road environments are nothing new to Carolina, but playing in one in the opening game of the season is. UNC hasn’t played a non-conference opponent in a true road environment in the season opener since 2018, and hasn’t won such a contest since 1985. And that’s not even factoring in Minnesota’s strength at home in non-conference games in recent years.
Brown acknowledged that the deck seems stacked against his Tar Heels, even going so far as to compare the environment with one which sent his team to one of its most disappointing losses in recent memory.
“The real impressive stat is they’re 13-1 in non-conference games at home [under head coach P.J. Fleck],” Brown said. “They’ve been tough. They’ve got it as a gold out. They’ve made it a special game. So we’re anticipating that the atmosphere will be very much like the atmosphere at Virginia Tech when we went up there in the first game after COVID [in 2021].”
Not that any Tar Heel fans need a reminder, but the Hokies upset then-No. 10 Carolina 17-10 that day in Blacksburg, starting UNC’s fall from perceived playoff contender to a 6-7 season. This year’s team doesn’t have those lofty expectations, but a loss in Week 1 could derail an already-tenuous season in a similar manner.
The same can be said of Carolina’s opponent. Minnesota recorded back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2021 and 2022, but followed that up with a 5-7 regular season last year, one which included a 31-13 loss to the Tar Heels in Kenan Stadium. As the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Gophers reporter Randy Johnson told Chapelboro, tonight is a key bounce-back opportunity for a program facing a gauntlet of a schedule this fall.
“This is an important one, just to return the momentum to where it was going,” Johnson said. “It’s gonna be tough, too. Their schedule is not easy. They have Penn State on it. They have Wisconsin on it. They go to Michigan. So it’s not gonna be easy.”
So it’s no surprise that the Gophers and their fans are gearing up for the showdown with Carolina, one which will be broadcast on national TV and which coincides with the Minnesota State Fair nearby. According to Johnson, it’s not often that the Gophers get the big stage to themselves, and they’re ready to take advantage.
“Minnesota has to differentiate itself a little bit from the pro,” he said. “[Minneapolis] is a big pro market. You’ve gotta feed the fanbase with some good non-conference opponents when you can get them.”
All that will fall on the shoulders of UNC’s new starting quarterback, its largely new offensive line and other new starters at key positions. You can count Brown among the many back in Chapel Hill who hope tonight doesn’t resemble that fateful night in Blacksburg three years ago, and the head coach offered an optimistic – if somewhat uncertain – message as to how his team will hold up.
“Younger guys have played in front of 5,000 to maybe 20,000 [fans],” Brown said. “They’re gonna have [50,000] really loud, pulling against them on Thursday night. And I’ve told them, ‘You don’t take it as pressure. You take it as pride. Take it as fun.’ And we’ll just see how they’ll respond.”
Carolina certainly wasn’t “Minnesota nice” to the Gophers in Chapel Hill last fall. If turnabout is fair play, the Tar Heels will have to meet a buzzsaw head on in the Twin Cities tonight.
If they don’t, their season could end up in the woodchipper.
Featured image via Associated Press/Reinhold Matay
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