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FOOTBALL

As North Carolina, Minnesota Are Kicking Off Their 2024 Seasons Thursday Night North Carolina, Minnesota Are Shifting, Transitioning To Gridiron In Minneapolis Minnesota

During 2023 season North Carolina, Minnesota played on the gridiron in Chapel Hill on Saturday September 16, 2024 where North Carolina won via score of 31-13.

North Carolina beat Minnesota 31-13 Saturday in Chapel Hill to improve to 3-0 on 2023 season.

As North Carolina beat Minnesota 31-13 Saturday in Chapel Hill Nate McCollum caught 46 yard pass from Drake Maye, Noah Burnette kicked extra point giving North Carolina a 7-0 lead in 1st quarter before North Carolina extended their lead to 14-0 in 2nd quarter as Omarion Hampton ran for 1 yard touchdown, Noah Burnette kicked the extra point before Minnesota got on the scoreboard with field goal as Dragon Kensich 23 yard field goal to cut North Carolina’s lead to 14-3 before Bryson Nesbit caught 19 yard pass from Drake Maye , Noah Burnette kicked the extra point extending North Carolina’s lead over Minnesota 21-3 before Minnesota trimmed North Carolina’s lead to ten at 21-10 as Darius Taylor ran for 2 yard touchdown . In the 3rd quarter Dragan Kesich kicked 45 yard field cutting North Carolina’s 21-13 before North Carolina answered with field goal of own as Noah Burnette kicked 42 yard field goal extending North Carolina’s lead over Minnesota 24-13 before British Brooks ran for 1 yard touchdown, Noah Burnette kicked extra point in 4th quarter making final score 31-13 North Carolina.

Following North Carolina’s 31-13 win over Minnesota North Carolina Head Coach Mack Brown had this to say about player leadership about Nate McCollum, Drake Maye on controlling the game!

“I started to go sit in the

stands. I thought, you know, they got this thing, man. When you see that type of leadership we

have, it puts a smile on your face. Cedric Gray comes back for an extra year just because he

wants to win. Jahvaree Ritzie came by and patted me on the head saying, ‘we got your back

coach, we're good, man, we're good.’ We haven’t always had that type of team or attitude. These

kids are enjoying each other and they're enjoying playing and that's really fun for a head coach.”“He became Josh Downs for us today. He was the go-to guy. Now, Pittsburgh is going to start

putting too much on him and somebody else will have to step up.”

“I've never seen anybody do it better than Drake. We've had some great quarterbacks, but Drake

has a knack of finding the open player, and he'll do that next week.”“I am very happy for our guys. Today was a hard game

against a tough and physical team. We knew they would come in and try to run the ball and keep

the ball, but we ended up having the ball for 33 minutes to their 27. In their previous two games,

teams were averaging 50 plays a game against them and we ended up having 77 plays to their 61.

The way we controlled the game is a credit to how our defense played tonight.”

Following North Carolina’s 31-13 win over Minnesota Drake Maye had this to say about Nate McCollum’s 20’s target!

“Obviously, I’m just trying to throw to the open

guy and Nate got open a lot tonight. He is a heck of a player and is going to get open. He's got

that same kind of twist that Josh (Downs) had the past few years.

Following North Carolina’s 31-13 win over Minnesota Nate McCollum had this to say about Drake Maye about being ready for the opportunity about his performance!

He definitely makes my job easier. He is a leader and has the ability to take control of the whole

offense. He’s super humble and it's a blessing to play with somebody like that.”

“I was ready to go. Last week, I only played a few snaps and I've been itching to work myself

back up. Coach Galloway has been pushing me every day and today, I felt ready to go.”Sometimes it might be that players' game but you never know. Next week, it could be the

running backs game. To me, you just play hard every play and do what you're supposed to do and

things will come your way.”

According Matt Bowers article on goheels.com

Minnesota meanwhile lost to North Carolina by a score 31-13 though Darius Taylor ran for 138 yards and a touchdown shortly before halftime to lead Minnesota (2-1), but the Gophers generated little else beyond the dynamic running from the true freshman. Athan Kaliakmanis threw for just 133 yards on 11-for-29 passing, and that played a big role in Minnesota converting just 3 of 12 third downs

According to article https://gophersports.com/news/2023/9/16/football-gophers-drops-road-opener-at-no-20-north-carolina-31-13

Kickoff is set for 8:00pm from Huntington Bank Stadium!

The game is going to be televised on Fox with Jason Benetti, Brock Huard, Allison Williams commentating!