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Carolina found a way to win or, as Mack Brown likes to say, “not to lose” in their opener.
The Tar Heels flipped the script on Brown’s second tenure with an offense that stuttered and stammered and a defense that was vastly improved under new D-coordinator Geoff Collins.
Noah Burnette, who was put out to pasture after the 2022 season, continued his amazing comeback, with four-out-of-four field goals including a personal record from 52 yards. The last one was a pressure-packed 45-yarder with 1:44 left in the 19-17 victory over Minnesota in a game delayed an hour by storm warnings and ended early Friday morning when Dragan Kesich barely hooked a left-footed field goal that could have sent the Heels home in a state of shock rather than jubilation. It was the program’s first opening road win over a true Power 5 program since 1993, a 31-9 upset at Southern Cal, in the sixth year of Brown’s first stint.
Carolina’s kickoffs and punting were almost as perfect, and Collins’ debut at UNC held the Gophers to 231 yards coming off 400-plus per game in 2023.
The head-hunting “D” was a committee led by Jahvaree Ritzie with five solo tackles and three sacks.
Still, it took a holding penalty that pushed Minnesota out of the red zone and gave Kesich a tougher kick as the clock ran out on a stunned home crowd.
Offensively, the Heels hardly looked like the team that had to outscore opponents the last five years. Omarion Hampton had more than half of his team’s total yards with 129 of the 253. Hampton also fell on a fumble that kept the Gophers from taking over deep in UNC territory with a chance to put the game away. With 30 of the overall 41 carries, he augured well for his preseason All-American selection.
The offense sputtered in the first half behind new quarterback Max Johnson, who was getting better in the second stanza when he injured his knee in a way that could keep him sidelined indefinitely.
Transfer Johnson, who ran for Carolina’s only touchdown, was heating up in the third quarter and finished with 12-19 passing and 81 total yards.
Conner Harrell came in and did a nice job moving the “Big O” attack into position for the last three field goals after their only touchdown of the game in the first half, which ended with Minnesota up,14-7.
The Golden Gophers were playing without their own star running back and were held in check when it counted, never more so than on the last drive of the game when their field goal missed and Brown left the sideline hugging players while allowing it wasn’t pretty… but a win is a win is a win.
Regardless of how it looked, the win was exactly what Brown’s program needed after an off-season of speculation. The Heels now have three home games against mid-majors that can give them another fast start before ACC play begins at Duke on September 28, when they should be 4-0 and happy road warriors.
Featured image via The Associated Press/Abbie Parr.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Pleasant surprise on defense, and an expected slow start on offenses. Lots of work to do.
Still a fine win for the first game and on the road. Go Heels!
Time for UNC to add some triple option to their playbook…at least several series worth, to take advantage of their strengths and mask a few of their deficiencies.
That requires a QB that can run the triple option. I don’t think we have that.