Will North Carolina be a contender or a pretender in the ACC this season? The Tar Heels had high hopes of a major breakthrough last season but finished 9-5 including losses to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game and to Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. Mack Brown has 17 starters returning including Heisman hopeful Drake Maye at quarterback.
Offense shouldn’t be a problem for the Tar heels. They have averaged at least 33 points per game each of the last four seasons. Chipo Lindsey is the new offensive coordinator and is stepping into the lap of luxury with Maye returning along with the top three rushers (behind Maye who led the team last season) four receivers who had at least 20 catches last season. Their problems are on defense where they’ve allowed right at 30 points per game or more each of the last three seasons.
North Carolina coach Mack Brown at ACC Kickoff
Defensive starters returning (7): DB Gio Biggers, DB DeAndre Boykins, LB Power Echols, DL Desmond Evans, LB
Cedric Gray, DL Kevin Hester Jr., DL Myles Murphy
Defensive starters lost (4): DB Storm Duck, DB Tony Grimes, DB Cam Kelly, JACK Noah Taylor
Offensive starters returning (8): OL William Barnes, OL Corey Gaynor, RB Elijah Green, WR J.J. Jones, QB Drake
Maye, OL Ed Montilus, TE Kamari Morales, OL Spencer Rolland
Offensive starters lost (3): WR Josh Downs, WR Antoine Green, OL Asim Richards
Specialists starters returning (5): PK Noah Burnette, P Ben Kiernan, DS Drew Little, P/H Cole Maynard, DS
Spencer Triplett
2023 North Carolina Schedule
Sat. Sept. 2 South Carolina Charlotte, N.C. 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
Sat. Sept. 9 App St. Chapel Hill, N.C. 5:15 p.m. (ACCN)
Sat. Sept. 16 Minnesota Chapel Hill, N.C. 3:30 p.m. (ESPN/2)
Sat. Sept. 23 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pa.
Sat. Oct. 7 Syracuse Chapel Hill, N.C.
Sat. Oct. 14 Miami Chapel Hill, N.C.
Sat. Oct. 21 Virginia Chapel Hill, N.C.
Sat. Oct. 28 Georgia Tech Atlanta, Ga.
Sat. Nov. 4 Campbell Chapel Hill, N.C.
Sat. Nov. 11 Duke Chapel Hill, N.C.
Sat. Nov. 18 Clemson Clemson, S.C.
Sat. Nov. 25 N.C. State Raleigh, N.C.
2022 Results
8/27/2022 Florida A&M Chapel Hill, N.C. W 56-24 Recap
9/3/2022 at Appalachian State Boone, N.C. W 63-61 Recap
9/10/2022 at Georgia State Atlanta, Ga. W 35-28 Recap
9/24/2022 Notre Dame Chapel Hill, N.C. L 32-45
10/1/2022 * Virginia Tech Chapel Hill, N.C. W 41-10
10/8/2022 * at Miami Miami Gardens, Fla. W 27-24
10/15/2022 * at Duke Durham, N.C. W 38-35
10/29/2022 * Pitt Chapel Hill, N.C. W 42-24
11/5/2022 * at Virginia Charlottesville, Va. W 31-28
11/12/2022 * at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, N.C. W 36-34
11/19/2022 * Georgia Tech Chapel Hill, N.C. L 17-21
11/25/2022 * North Carolina State Chapel Hill, N.C. L 27-30 2OT
12/3/2022 vs. Clemson Charlotte, N.C. / Subway ACC Football Championship Game L 10-39
12/28/2022 vs. Oregon San Diego, Calif. / San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl L 27-28
