There’s a stereotype about people from the Land of 10,000 Lakes that “Minnesotans are nice,” meaning that Minnesotans are generally friendlier and more polite than people from neighboring states.
Tonight, UNC will not share in the “Minnesota kindness.” Head coach Mike Brown’s team will travel to the harsh environment of Huntington Bank Stadium, which will be covered from the field to the upper bleachers. The Golden Gophers are also nearly sold out.
Road environments are nothing new for Carolina, but facing them in a season opener is. UNC hasn’t played a non-conference opponent in a true road setting in a season opener since 2018 and hasn’t won such a game since 1985. That’s not even taking into account how strong Minnesota’s home field has been in non-conference games in recent years.
Brown admitted that the team’s situation seemed very unfavorable to him, and he even compared the current environment to one of the team’s most disappointing losses in recent times.
“The really impressive statistic is that they are 13-1 in home non-league games. [under head coach P.J. Fleck]”They were tough. They played this game like it was a golden game. They played this game like it was a golden game. So we expect the atmosphere here to be very similar to the atmosphere we had at Virginia Tech for our first post-COVID game.” [in 2021]”
Not that any UNC fan needs a reminder, but that day was the day UNC fell from playoff contender to a 6-7 season when they beat then-No. 10 Carolina 17-10 in Blacksburg. Expectations aren’t as high for this year’s team, but a Week 1 loss could derail an already fragile season in similar fashion.
The same can be said for Carolina’s opponents. Minnesota has won nine games in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022, but went 5-7 in the regular season last year, including a 31-13 loss to UNC at Kenan Stadium. As Gophers reporter Randy Johnson of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune told Chapelboro, tonight is a key bounce-back opportunity for a program facing a tough schedule this fall.
“It’s a big game, just to get the momentum back,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be tough, too. They don’t have an easy schedule. They’re going to play Penn State. They’re going to play Wisconsin. They’re going to go to Michigan. So it’s not going to be easy.”
So it’s no surprise that the Golden Gophers and their fans are ready for a showdown with Carolina. The game will be broadcast on national television and will be held in conjunction with the nearby Minnesota State Fair. According to Johnson, it’s rare for the Golden Gophers to have the big stage all to themselves, and they’re ready to take advantage of it.
“Minnesota has to be a little bit different from the pros,” he said.[Minneapolis] It’s a huge professional market. When you can find some good non-league opponents, you’ve got to provide them with a fan base.”
All of that responsibility will fall on UNC’s new starting quarterback, new offensive line and new starters at other key positions. You can count Brown as one of many in Chapel Hill hoping tonight won’t be like that fateful night in Blacksburg three years ago, and the head coach offered an optimistic, if somewhat uncertain, message about how his team will hold up.
“Young players perform in front of 5,000 to 20,000 spectators. [fans]”They will have [50,000] On Thursday night, they had a really heated argument, and I told them, ‘Don’t take this as pressure, take this as pride, take this as fun. ‘ We’ll just see how they react.”
Carolina certainly wasn’t “friendly” against the Minnesota Gophers in Chapel Hill last fall. If the reversal is fair, North Carolina will face a tough game tonight in the Twin Cities.
If they don’t, their season could end in a wood chipper finale.
Featured Image via AP/Reinhold Matay
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