North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers | Preview & Prediction

year six of m brown back to backto back one in four finishes against Power five teams and I can't sit around any longer Carolina needs me and at 37 years old and with 4 years of Eligibility remaining I have officially decided to Hoist the flag and take my talents to Chapel maybe that window is sailed looks like it's back to the stinking couch but my couch game is [Music] strong so was the barbecue game had Gopher for the first time last year and it's not too shabby bone app peti you don't w n you don't well well well 2024 is finally here what's going on toor Hill Nation it is your favorite North Carolinian Ross the Tar Hill and it's finally game we baby my North Carolina Tar Hills are going to take a trip up to Indianapolis to take on the Golden Gophers of Minnesota a 800 pm on Fox Big 10 country to start the season and I am stoked now before we get into this one I just want to take a moment to say thank you to Torah Hill nation and college football fans everywhere and our first year as a champ Channel we were able to grow to over, 1300 subscribers and the hope is to continue that growth in year two so do your boy a favor press pause double check and make sure that you were subscribe to this channel you are not going to want to miss the fun that we're going to have this football season the plan is to deliver even more content the second time around so do your boy a solid and show the channel some love additionally leave a comment down in the comment section of this video if you were excited about Carolina football this year and I'm going to pick a couple of random individuals to send some Tor Hill huddle wristbands we got the white ones and we got the Carolina blue ones so comment down in the comment section if you're excited about Carolina football and I'll send you some wristbands baby so let's keep this Tar Hill train chugging down the tracks in 2024 now UNCC leads the alltime series in this football game one to nothing as the heels took it to Minnesota in Chapel Hill last year 31-13 and I think it's fair to say that Carolina dominated that game 519 yards of total offense Drake Made through for 414 pass yards and two touchdowns oh Marian Hampton the All-American we only rushed for 46 yards on 13 carries but he did have a touchdown but he only was averaging three and a half yards per carry Nate McCullum on the other hand had his thinking best game as a Tar Hill with 15 catches for 165 yards and a touchdown and UNC just controlled that football game they were 12 for 17 on third downs one for one on Fourth downs and they won the time of possession battle against a big 10 team that's trying to run the football now in 2023 Minnesota was featuring The Aiden cak manise show aka the Greek rifle and it was not worth the price of admission he was horrendous 11 for 29 for 133 yards and an interception Darius Taylor however gassed the UNCC defense with 22 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown now here's the thing gone are Drake May and gone is Aiden C Amman Manis but back is Omarian Hampton and Darius Taylor so let's break this thing down Minnesota is led by head coach PJ Fleck who has a combined record of 50 and 34 at his current position as the Minnesota gopher's head coach he's 80 and 56 overall and he's six- two in bowl games I'm looking at you coach m brown Minnesota comes off a six and seven campaign three and six in conference where they only average 21 points per game 20 .9 points per game to be exact that's good for 110th and the entire country there's only 133 stinking teams they averaged 1575 yards rushing per game and only 143.5 yards passing that is 301 yards of total offense once again drawn Myer Minnesotan that ain't going to cut it e the defense allowed 26.7 points per game about mid of the pack 70th in the country 149 rushing yards per game 29.3 passing yards per game only allowed 368 yards per game yeah you know give or take the Gophers earned a bow bid despite only winning five games in the regular season and they actually made good on it because they defeated Bowling Green 30 to 24 four in the Quick Lane Bowl now North Carolina on the other hand they're led by the Hall of Famer m brown who is a combined 107 73 losses and one tie and his two stance at the University of North Carolina he's 4- six in bowl games at UNCC and UNCC is coming off at 8 and5 4 and4 campaign that saw the UNCC offense average 35 and half points per game which was good for 20th in the entire country and they were also seventh in the country according to team rankings.com and yards per game with 4827 here's the problem the UNCC defense gave up 27.3 points per game which was good for 75th in the country and North Carolina finished 99th in the country by giving up 44.2 yards per game not to mention in the last six of their power five conference games they were averaging given up 37 points per game and that's why Jean chisik was politely said thank you for your service but it's time to move in a different direction now Drake May TZ Walker Cedric gray all opted out of the bow game and the heels were then trounced by a fully staffed and Pretty stinking good West Virginia team 30-10 and the Dukes mayoo and for the third consecutive year the heels finish the season one and4 against Power five now let's look at the key returners for this Minnesota Golden Gopher team okay quarterback Max brosmer 6'2 225 pounds he's a grad transfer from un that's the University of New Hampshire not a returning guy but they bring him in he was the leading passer in all FCS last year 2022 we threw for a little over 3,000 yards 27 touchdowns eight interceptions 2023 almost 3500 yards 29 touchdowns six interceptions 314.993.0963 football I would say that this is a definite upgrade from aen cak Manis returning sophomore Darius Taylor 6 foot 215 lbs 138 carries 799 yards five touchdowns almost six yards per carry in six games he got a little injury ridden towards the the tail end of that season now as far as the wide receivers are concerned senior Elijah Spencer 6'2 200 pound transfer from Charlotte well he had a pretty good year in 2022 almost a, yards receiving 943 with 16.5 yards per catch and nine touchdowns then he got injured in 2023 decided he needed a stink and change of pace transfers over to Minnesota Daniel Jackson was an all big 10 second teamer in 2023 he had 59 receptions for 831 yards and eight touchdowns that's not bad numbers considering the guy who was throwing it to you had a completion percentage just over 50 Jackson is a 6' 195b guy who is an excellent route Runner and displays great body control the touchdown catch he had against the Huskers last year was stinking Next Level now here's the worrisome part if you're a Tar Hill Minnesota returns four of their starting offensive linemen including uding AR anante ursery who was on a lot of people's 2025 NFL draft boards so you already know knowing who PJ Fleck is what he's going to try to do he is going to try to run the ball downhill especially against the interior of our defense now North Carolina is currently still in the midst of a quarterback battle as of the re release of this preview graduate transfer Max Johnson he boast 5,500 yards 47 touchdowns only 12 ints through four years of SEC West football at LSU in Texas A&M and he's the probable starter if you ask me Connor Harold's the other guy who's competing for the job he's a dull threat guy that started the bowl game last year and he did show flashes prior to an ankle injury but then that ankle injury really made him one diens in the second half now UNC returns All-American running back Maran Hampton who rushed for500 yards and 15 touchdowns along with one of the best tight end rooms in the entire country John copenhaver is your in tight guy probably your best natural tight end while Bryson nbet is a matchup nightmare when he split out wide 6'5 225 lbs he's small enough and quick enough enough to cause all kinds of problems for your stinking linebackers and he's big enough to where you can't put a nickel or a safety comfortably over his head and don't forget about the number one tight end in the country in this class little brother of Max Jake Johnson who was added to this roster in the spring now JJ Jones Kobe payau and Nate McCullum these are the old heads in the room that bring the experience but don't forget about Gavin Blackwell Paul bips II and Chris CER out there split out wide as well Alex Taylor Jordan ship these are highly rated guys that are waiting for their opportunity I don't know how much we're going to see them in the Minnesota game right 8 o00 kick at night first game week one but when these guys get into the game you can imagine that they're going to be looking for an opportunity to be you know putting out some work and doing some big things and unknown at this point is the fact North Carolina replaces four of their 2023 restarters on the offensive line so what's really going to be something we need to keep an eye on is how quickly these guys jail aside from Willie lampin at 5'1 290 Pounds the heels are stinking huge on that line though averaging about 65 315 across the front so we should be able to at least lean on some teams if nothing else on the other side of the football Carolina boasts a defensive front that is full of highly rated guys out of high school Dez Evans Travis Shaw these are five stars that have not lived up to their rating if we're being completely honest is this the year that they show college football what all the fuss was about Javari ritzy and Joshua Harris these are fourstar guys that should stabilize the interior of that defensive front where we've been having so many problems holding the stinking line and we all know about the butcher Cayman Rucker and Bo ainson off the edge that will surely cause some chaos this year I've seen Cayman Rucker on a couple of preseason All-American lists now behind that defensive front is an experienced power reckles who's going to be accompanied by sophomore Amari Campbell Carolina LAX experience Behind these guys but there is still some good talent in that room despite the lack of experience and then the secondary is almost surely going to be the best all-around group on this defense with Elijah huzzy and Marcus Allen out there on the corners Caleb cost has apparently taken complete control of that star position and the two deep at the safety spots will hardy jaen Harris stick Lane and DeAndre Boykins bro that might be one of the best in the Atlantic conference the minister of Mayhem will take over for a defense that has been lackluster to say the least since m brown returned in 2019 but Jeff Collins has had a ton of success as a DC with successful stints at Florida and in Mississippi State can he point this defense back in the direction that Mack had it all the way back there in the mid 90s before he boted for Texas that's what remains to be seen so with all that being said it's time to talk score prediction baby so let's first look at the ESPN matchup predictor North Carolina is a 54.7% favorite to go on the road and beat the Minnesota Golden Gophers let me translate that for you it's a coin flip a toss up it's basically a pick them according to ESPN now as of August 20th 2024 Minnesota is a 2 and 1 Half Point favorite at home and the over runder is at 50.5 points and I'm going be honest with you I like those numbers I think those are good numbers for this football game here's my thoughts before we get into the prediction this is going to be a close football game guys week one under the lights and Minnesota trots in a new quarterback which was a key missing component for last year's team FCS quarterback in his first big boy football game against the minister of Mayhem I personally have a strong feeling that Max brosmer is going to have a difficult time solving this UNC defense not only has Coach Collins been successful as a DC a good program but there's no tape on this dude in the past five plus years what do you study and North Carolina's front seven should be much improved I think Jeff dares brosmer to prove that he can sling the football at this level and he trusts huzzy and Allen on the corners while trying to stop what PJ Fleck wants to do with Taylor and that is run the football and control the clock question how often can Carolina get off the field and third and shorter yardage three or four yards on the other side I imagine PJ Stacks the box and dares Max who I project to be the starter to throw the football around here's the thing he can is he Drake May no has he played at the highest level college football has to offer though yes and there will be nothing Earth shattering for Max Johnson in front of 50,000 fans up in Minnesota the guys competed in front of a buck 10 in Knoxville and that's the stinking sleeper in this game I think om Marian Hampton has another game where he struggles to average four plus yards per carry and we find out that we have a quarterback that can manage the game and methodically move the football down the field I like Carolina's talent I like Carolina's depth and I like Max Johnson's experience and UNC has not had problems starting the season the problem has been on the tail end once again this is a close football game and I think Carolina goes up to Minnesota and they have a game that we should go ahead and try and get comfortable with a one one possession football game North Carolina scores just enough against the gritty Minnesota defense and they win a battle 24- 20 I'm still not sold that Minnesota has drastically improved on offense it's going to be a very runhe heavy predictable offense that will make Carolina probably look more improved than they actually are in week one the UNCC offense will also expose some of its own limitations however I think Tar Hill Nation will be able to walk away from this one similarly to the way that we felt against South Carolina last year the question will then be can Carolina stat games where they actually actually play complimentary football that is the question so let me know what you think down in the comments section Tar Hill and go for nation is Russ on to something are we all feasting on gopher late on August 29th or am I somewhere up in the upper decks unable to see what the heck is going on don't forget call-in show August 28th the night prior to the game Carolina fans Minnesota fans by all means come and hang out and call into the show and then you already know baby live reaction and watch party August 29th for the ball game so you better come and hang out with your stinking boy that's it it's almost time baby it's right around the stinking Corner we'll talk to you on Wednesday torill Nation [Applause]