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In the first non-COVID-19 season without divisions since 2005, the media picked North Carolina — the last Coastal Division champion — on Tuesday to finish third in the ACC. Clemson is the prohibitive favorite to win the league for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.
After only playing in the season finale of his rookie season, the Washington Commanders are giving Sam Howell a chance to show his talent on the field this season. One of his former UNC targets, wide receiver Josh Downs, one of four rookie alums, has a shot at starting for the Indianapolis Colts.
CHARLOTTE — The prevailing assumption of the college football world, including Carolina coach Mack Brown, is that quarterback Drake Maye’s redshirt sophomore season as a Tar Heel will be his last. Not so fast, says the Heisman Trophy candidate and likely high pick in the 2024 NFL draft if he chooses to enter it. He says he’d consider returning for his redshirt junior season, particularly if UNC falls short of its goals.
CHARLOTTE — Carolina junior quarterback Drake Maye answers media questions during ACC Kickoff on Thursday at The Westin Charlotte.
North Carolina will appear on the football version of ESPN’s College GameDay for the third time when the show will air from Charlotte before the Tar Heels’ Sept. 2 season-opener against South Carolina. It will be the Tar Heels’ first appearance on the show since Sept. 4, 2010, before they lost to LSU in their season opener in Atlanta.
If you enjoy watching Carolina win a national championship, beat Duke and N.C. State, Armando Bacot make history and Drake Maye work his magic, set your DVR for Carolina takeover day Saturday on the ACC Network. Each conference school has one takeover day as the network replays the biggest victories aired on ESPN channels during the last school year during “ACC Network School Takeover.” It began Saturday with Wake Forest and ends July 15 with Boston College.
CHAPEL HILL — Between schools cheating in the NIL game and the competition telling recruits that Coach Mack Brown is going to retire, the veteran coach battles plenty that he can’t control on the recruiting trail. Brown says that he’s in the best shape in 20 years and wouldn’t be recruiting Class of 2026 players if he expected to stop coaching any time soon. But the talk from rival coaches isn’t likely to stop for the Hall of Fame coach who will turn 72 before the Sept. 2 opener against South Carolina in Charlotte.
Watch UNC coach Mack Brown’s press conference as he talks about the upcoming season, NIL, realignment and other topics.
It was an emotional and thrilling opening day in the XFL for former Carolina wide receiver Austin Proehl. He was part of an amazing comeback that only could have been pulled off because of the league’s quirky rules.
Carolina opens the season Sept. 2 against South Carolina in Charlotte and finishes with road games against N.C. State and Clemson in what Coach Mack Brown calls one of the toughest schedules in school history. Brown already knew which ACC teams his Tar Heels (9–5, 6–2 ACC last season) would face, but he didn’t like the way the league allocated those games in what probably will be quarterback Drake Maye’s final college season.
Today’s Carolina students have no idea how much better seats their predecessors enjoyed at Tar Heels games decades ago — or how much easier ticket distribution is for them. The university has to take care of Rams Club members who support the athletics programs. But college sports should be all about the athletes and their fellow students, and it’s too bad that UNC students don’t get better seats at games.
Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams is the favorite to repeat as Heisman Trophy winner, but North Carolina redshirt sophomore quarterback Drake Maye has the second-best odds to win the prestigious trophy. Williams odds are at +400, followed by Maye at +1,000, with three other quarterbacks at +1,200 — Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., Oregon’s Bo Nix and Florida State’s Jordan Travis.
By R.L. Bynum All the elements were there for a long night in San Diego for North Carolina, but the … More
Drake Maye was back to his top-level self at the Holiday Bowl, and Carolina’s defense made game-changing plays. But they couldn’t come up with one last defense stop. An unlikely interception late in the first half, one of several big defensive plays, seized the momentum for North Carolina and gave the Tar Heels the lead until the final min
Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was back on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ bench. The hopes of making the playoffs for Coach Arthur Smith’s Atlanta Falcons ended. Interim Coach Jeff Saturday’s Indianapolis Colts lost their fifth straight. Texans defensive back M.J. Stewart Jr. suffered a concussion. It was that kind of week with few highlights other than wins by the teams of two offensive linemen who played every offensive snap — Houston’s Charlie Heck and New Orleans’ James Hurst — and Michael Carter’s 50 totals yards to start the NFL week in the New York Jets’ 19–3 Thursday home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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