UNC opens season vs. TCU in Ireland

North Carolina kicks off year two of the Bill Belichick era on Saturday, traveling across the pond to take on TCU in Dublin, Ireland in the Air Lingus College Football Classic. You might recall that these teams faced off last season in Belichick’s debut with the Tar Heels, and it didn’t go well. The Heels got routed 48-14, the beginning of a brutal 4-8 season. Now UNC looks to bounce back with a bunch of new players, a new offensive coordinator in Bobby Petrino (ick), and the hope that the defense continues to show improvement. The Horned Frogs finished with nine wins last season and are looking to make some noise in the Big 12 this year. Saturday’s game kicks off at noon on WBT.

Both teams feature new quarterbacks. Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards Jr. will lead the UNC offense, while Harvard transfer Jaden Craig takes over at TCU. Edwards is on his fourth school, while Craig went 19-5 as a starter for the Crimson and threw for nearly 2900 yards with 25 touchdowns last season. Craig directs TCU’s air-raid offense that absolutely obliterated UNC’s defense last year. Fifth-year wide receiver Jordan Dwyer had nine catches for 136 yards and a touchdown against UNC last year. He anchors an inexperienced receiver’s room with a bunch of young players. Running back Jeremy Payne is back though, he had 623 yards and five scores last season. And the Horned Frogs are expecting big things out of sophomore running back Jon Denman, who scored three touchdowns last year. UNC’s defense might have started out last year looking atrocious but improved greatly as the season went on, and now returns plenty of experienced talent that should fare better against the Horned Frogs.

Edwards also has some talent to work with, starting with receiver Jordan Shipp, who led the Heels with 60 catches for 671 yards and six touchdowns last season. The Heels also have a 1-2 punch at running back in sophomore Demon June and Benhamin Hall. June averaged 5.5 yards per carry last season. They’ll face a TCU defense that lost a lot of production but still features senior safety Jamel Johnson, who had a team-high five interceptions last season.

Traveling across the ocean to start the football season is not ideal, but the Tar Heels seem to be embracing the challenge. Here’s hoping that Belichick learned something in his first year as a college coach and that translates into more wins for UNC. Picking up a “w” against this TCU team is a tall task, but not impossible if the Heels can control the ground game and the defense can limit explosive plays. Let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best – go Tar Heels!