When a Power Three team plays an overmatched Group of Five or FCS team, especially early in the season, there are a couple of things the P4 team hopes to accomplish. Among these are usually practicing execution and polishing some of the rough edges, while at the same time avoiding injury and ideally having a big enough lead late in the game to rest starters and get some snaps down the depth chart. And, in Carolina’s case, with the season-ending injury to Max Johnson last week, the Tar Heels hoped to get Conner Harrell more comfortable leading the offense.

CHAPEL HILL — Against an overmatched Charlotte program, game one with Conner Harrell directing North Carolina’s offense went smoothly, helped by a young “Bullet” in the backfield.

CHAPEL HILL — When extremely tired college athletes are particularly winded they sometimes see colors. That happened Thursday night for at least one offensive lineman when Carolina dominated time of possession with 29 third-quarter snaps in the Tar Heels’ 19–17 opening-game win at Minnesota.

CHAPEL HILL — The quarterback legacy Sam Howell and Drake Maye created goes well beyond their on-the-field accomplishments at North Carolina, and is a big reason the program attracted 6–5 Max Johnson.

The sixth season of Coach Mack Brown’s second stint as North Carolina’s coach will begin on the road with a game on Thursday night, Aug. 29, against Minnesota. That matchup was previously announced and is part of the ACC’s Week 1 schedule that the league announced Monday on ACC Network.

Prior to UNC’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl game vs. West Virginia, I made a post on the app formerly known as Twitter begging UNC fans not to make the bowl game a referendum on the entire program given the fact that 12 starters plus a number of key reserves would not be playing for a variety of reasons.