The Minnesota Golden Gophers are just hours away from the kickoff of their 2024 season against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
North Carolina has made the journey up to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers in the Huntington Bank Stadium. Minnesota went 6-7 a season ago and lost this matchup in North Carolina last season, 31-13, behind the performance of quarterback Drake Maye. Without Maye, North Carolina could be a more vulnerable team and the Golden Gophers are aiming to prove that tonight with the upset victory.
Minnesota Golden Gophers, North Carolina Tar Heels Kick Off 2024 Season Together
In just a few hours, the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the North Carolina Tar Heels will kick off the 2024 season. Both teams faced each other a season ago, with the Tar Heels walking away with the 31-13 victory over the Golden Gophers. This season, however, the Tar Heels will be starting their post-Maye era as quarterback Drake Maye has moved onto the NFL.
Transfer left-hander and former starter Max Johnson is currently expected to take over the duties at quarterback. Johnson originally committed to LSU out of high school and started a season for the Tigers before Jayden Daniels transferred into the program. Johnson spent the past two seasons with Texas A&M, but transferred to UNC after losing his starter role.
For the Minnesota football team, this is going to be a true test of what the team is made of ahead of their tough conference schedule. Minnesota will face #25 Iowa, #9 Michigan, #23 USC, and #8 Penn State during the 2024 season, which is quite the tough batch of opponents. Minnesota will of course finish their season off with the difficult clash against the Wisconsin Badgers as well.
Last season, the Minnesota offense was wildly inconsistent as the team scored just 51-points in the first three games and then 34-points in the fourth game. Minnesota seemed to score at ease at times, with a 35-point performance against Louisiana-Lafayette, but also struggled mightily at times. However, the Golden Gophers are expecting some major changes on the field this season following new additions that were made.
How Can the Minnesota Football Team Defeat the North Carolina Football Team?
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The Minnesota Golden Gophers have had quite the quarterback carousel the past few seasons as they are now on their third quarterback in as many seasons. Tanner Morgan was once the face of Minnesota on offense, but following his graduation Athan Kaliakmanis took over for a season before departing for Rutgers. Now, the Golden Gophers are starting former New Hampshire standout Max Brosmer after a 34 touchdown season in 2023.
For the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Brosmer is going to be the key to victory as the offense is likely going to run through the quarterback. Minnesota likes to run the ball and they have a talented running back in Darius Taylor, but that is really not the play style of their quarterback. Brosmer is known to air the ball out and utilize the pocket which adds a different dimension to their offense that Kaliakmanis previously did not have.
A season ago, Brosmer 3459 passing yards along with 29 passing touchdowns and just six interceptions. The quarterback also recorded a 64% completion percentage last season and scored five touchdowns on the ground with his legs. Brosmer does not like to leave the pocket, with just 127 rushing yards last season on 56 attempts, but has the ability to rush for a first down when needed.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are going to need to lean on Brosmer to beat North Carolina also due to the fact that the air might be the Tar Heels weak spot. North Carolina delivered a devastating run defense last season that produced ten forced fumbles, all of which were recovered by the Tar Heels. Three of the top five defensive backs last season for North Carolina, however, have all since left the team, leaving a potential weak spot on the defense.
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