North Carolina football vs Minnesota first watch: Odds, key matchup, player to watch

They’re ready at Minnesota.

The Golden Gophers open the 2024 football season at home against North Carolina and have declared the Aug. 29 game at Huntington Bank Stadium a “Gold Out”” night for the fans.

Into the golden breach will come the Tar Heels, who blasted the Gophers 31-13 last season in Chapel Hill. They’re also coming in without quarterback Drake Maye, who mauled Minnesota for 414 yards passing last fall but now is throwing his passes for the New England Patriots.

Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said this week that the Gophers have one of the most “underrated home environments in college football.” Huntington Bank Stadium holds 50,000-plus and should be full for the ACC vs Big Ten matchup that should give both teams a better handle on what they have and end some of the preseason guessing about what they might have.

”I really love this football team,” Fleck told the Minnesota media this week. “I love the depth on this football team and I love the competition on this football team. We’ve had more competition this year than we’ve had since I’ve been the head coach here.”

The Gophers were a rarity last season: a team that finished 6-7 after a bowl win. Minnesota lost the last four games of the regular season to close 5-7 (3-6 in the Big Ten), but with some bowl spots needing to be filled, the Gophers got to the postseason as a five-win team because of a high Academic Progress Report (APR).

The Gophers made the most of it, going to the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit and coming away with a 30-24 win over Bowling Green as running back Darius Taylor accounted for 208 of Minnesota’s 267 rushing yards and was named the game’s MVP. Fleck, entering his eighth season as coach, is 5-0 in bowls.

Taylor is back for his sophomore season and Fleck has added another dangerous back in Oklahoma transfer Marcus Major, a graduate who played 35 games in five seasons for the Sooners.

The duel of depth charts – both teams are refusing to release one before the game — has continued the guessing game about UNC’s starting quarterback. But the defenses on both sides have the challenge of stopping or containing the run — UNC’s Omarion Hampton is coming off a 1,500-yard season and Taylor is a load for the Gophers.

UNC has not won a season opener on the road, on the other team’s home field, since beating Wake Forest 35-17 in 1992. That was in Mack Brown’s first run as the Heels’ head coach.

One side note to the ‘92 game: Brown used both Mike Thomas and Jason Stanicek at quarterback in the opener.

Key game matchup

Think Geoff Collins vs Corey Hetherman. Both teams have new defensive coordinators and both have preached the same message: play fast, be aggressive, attack rather than react.

That has been Collins’ approach after replacing Gene Chizik as defensive coordinator at UNC, and Hetherman has done the same at Minnesota in his first season after leaving Rutgers for the Gophers.

Fleck likes to talk about the Gophers’ “ESV” buzzwords — excitement, swarm, violent. He expects to see that kind of play from his defense under Hetherman, saying, “We’ve got to bring that on-the-field violence.”

The Gophers will start Max Brosmer, a transfer from New Hampshire, an FCS school, but behind an experienced offensive line. The opening game could be decided on which QB, on either team, can quickly adapt to what the other defense is doing, make plays and be consistent in doing it.

UNC player to watch: Omarion Hampton

Who else? The sophomore from Clayton, a preseason All-America, will be running behind a restocked offensive line and without the threat of Maye throwing the ball down field.

The Tar Heels may see eight defenders stacked near the line of scrimmage, looking to stuff Hampton and challenging the quarterback — Max Johnson, Conner Harrell or Jacolby Criswell — to throw it.

Betting odds

The Gophers have been made a slight favorite — 2.5 points by ESPN, which puts the over/under at 50.5 points.

How to watch

The game can be seen on Fox Sports on Spectrum and cable or can be streamed on such services as DIRECTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, Sling Blue and YouTube TV.

North Carolina at Minnesota

When: Thursday, Aug. 29, 8 p.m.

Where: Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis.

TV: Fox

Series: Last year’s game in Chapel Hill, a 31-13 UNC win, was the first between the schools.