Tag: UNC Tar Heels

Noah Burnette’s perfection shined in UNC football’s narrow win

North Carolina came away with a win in Week 1 because Noah Burnette was perfect on the field.

Last night’s win was not a spectacular performance on offense or defense for UNC football. The Tar Heels had severe weaknesses on both sides of the ball, except the special teams group.

Kicker Noah Burnette was not only considered the most valuable player of the winning team, but he was also perfect from the field hitting four field goals and scoring the most points of any player on either team.

After Minnesota’s kicker doinked a “chip-shot”, it was quickly realized that the difference between the kickers would be the difference in the score. That sentiment proved correct as the Gophers missed a game-winning field goal with four seconds left in the game for his second missed field goal.

Last season, his sophomore year, Burnette went 18/19 on field goals in 6/6 from over 40 yards and hitting zero field goals of over 50 yards. Last night, he not only started perfect, but he also did something he didn’t do at all last season.

He is now 2/2 from over 40 yards and 1/1 from over 50 yards with 100% total accuracy heading into Week 2 of the college football season.

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PHOTOS: UNC football’s season opening win at Minnesota

Check out the photos of UNC football taking down Minnesota in the season opener!

The UNC football program went on the road in Week 1 and took down Minnesota. For the first time in over three decades, the Heels are winners of a true road season opener.

Max Johnson scored the only touchdown of the game for North Carolina before heading to the locker room late in the third quarter with an injury. The injury was to his lower leg, and he was barely able to put weight on it.

Conner Harrell ended the game at quarterback, but it was kicker Noah Burnette who can be credited with the win. He went four-for-four on the night including a 50+ yarder.

Here are some photos from the win tonight:

UNC football starting QB Max Johnson leaves game with injury in opener

UNC starting quarterback Max Johnson goes down after being hit and twisted in his knee.

North Carolina opened its season tonight with a game on the road against Minnesota. Heading into the halftime, the Heels had just 28 yards through the air, and starting quarterback Max Johnson was struggling to get things going.

He came out into the second half and started to click with different receivers. Only two players caught passes in the first half and six different players caught passes on the first drive out of the break.

In the middle of the third quarter, Johnson went down on a third down and was hit low by two Minnesota players twisting his knee and landing awkwardly. Johnson immediately grabbed his knee.

With just over two minutes left in the third, the entire stadium was silent as Johnson could barely make it over to the cart and was obviously in extreme pain.

Conner Harrell will take over as quarterback with UNC down 14-10 and just over a quarter left to play. Johnson, who had one interception and a rushing touchdown earlier in the game, is on his way to the locker room to be evaluated.

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UNC women’s basketball lands five-star player in 2025 class

The Class of 2025 just got that much better as UNC basketball landed this five-star wing from Virginia.

Just a few weeks ago, UNC women’s basketball signed Taliyah Henderson, a five-star wing and the No. 21 ranked recruit in the Class of 2025. The class was already looking up before another five-star prospect chose Chapel Hill.

From the state of Virginia in Alexandria at Bishop Ireton High School plays the No. 12 recruit in the same class as Henderson. The 6-foot-1 wing committed to play at the University of Tennessee as a sophomore, but she has since changed her mind after the firing of Kellie Harper.

After receiving a ton of offers and narrowing it down to UNC, Tennessee, Maryland, and Georgia, Nyla Brooks officially announced on social media today that she will be committing to North Carolina.

https://x.com/DushawnLondon1/status/1829258202476884316

The pair of talent that the Heels now have at the guard position between two top-25 recruits will be dominant for years to come. This also can’t come at a better time with the team set to lose Deja Kelly as well.

Brooks and Henderson will join a roster led by Courtney Banghart and try to bring home another championship to the UNC family.

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USA Today sees ACC up for grabs and UNC football could capitalize

With Florida State’s loss in Week 0, many USA Today analysts see the ACC up for grabs with Miami, NC State, and UNC vying for that spot.

UNC football opens up with Minnesota tonight and after a loss by Florida State to open their season, many analysts see the ACC up for grabs including those at USA Today.

Of those analysts, the three names that came up included Miami, NC State, and UNC. Miami drew most of the surprise team’s attention and NC State saw equal voting to win the ACC. However, UNC football was involved in the conversation and can be seen as a dark horse.

Paul Myerberg had this to say about the ACC’s chances.

While Clemson, Miami and maybe North Carolina are seen as the most obvious teams to fill the Seminoles’ shoes atop the conference standings, N.C. State may be the most complete team in the conference.

Two specific games on the schedule will be very influential on the chances of winning the ACC and vying for a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoffs — November 2nd at Florida State and November 30th vs NC State.

If they lose one of those games, there is still a chance, but they can’t lose an easy win and one of those difficult games as well and expect to be the regular season ACC champions.

It all begins tonight with Minnesota and a possible opening road victory over a Big Ten team. Omarion Hampton has the chance to join the ranks of several non-QB Heisman Trophy winners if UNC is to win the conference.

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ACC Network ranks UNC’s Omarion Hampton as top-ranked conference player

UNC football’s superstar running back secured the top spot on ACC Digital Network’s top players this season.

Ahead of the season opener on the road against Minnesota, ACC Digital Network ranks UNC football star, Omarion Hampton, as the No. 1 player in the Atlantic Coast Conference heading into the 2024 season.

Hampton amassed 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground last season. He also caught 29 passes for 222 yards which totals to over 1,700 all-purpose yards over the course of 13 games in his sophomore season at North Carolina.

With Drake Maye and Devontez Walker, two major offensive playmakers last year in the NFL, Hampton is the star of the show and is projected to surpass 2,000 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns on the season.

That is a large part of why he draws this No. 1 ranking of the top players in the conference. He beat out newcomers to the ACC Preston Stone and SMU, Ashton Gillotte of Louisville, and Xavier Restrepo of Miami, who were the No. 2 through No. 4 players respectively.

Hampton gets his season underway against Minnesota this week and with the weather projected rainy, might get all the work on the ground as one of the most stable pieces of this revamped UNC offense.

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Former UNC running back makes Houston Texans 53-man roster

Former UNC football running back British Brooks made the Houston Texas 53-man roster today.

Former UNC football players around the league held their breath as all NFL rosters had to be cut down to 53 men today. After a training camp and preseason roster of over 70 men, 20+ of them theoretically, had to be waived from 32 teams.

One of those former Tar Heels, British Brooks, was one whose name was easily on the chopping block. The running back room in Houston brought in Joe Mixon from Cincinnati and had Dameon Pierce, Dare Ogunbowale, and Cam Akers along with more.

However, Brooks was not one of the players that the Texans decided to cut and did enough in the preseason to warrant a spot on a team.

Brooks ran one time for negative two yards in the Hall of Fame game in his first NFL action. He proceeded to run two times for three years in Week 1 of the preseason against the Steelers.

Week 3 is when he exploded onto the scene rushing five times for 23 yards and two touchdowns against the Giants. He capped it off with a five-attempt, 25-yard game against the Rams last weekend.

Houston chose to be thin in other areas to keep five tailbacks on the roster, the four aforementioned ones, and Brooks.

Brooks will now have the opportunity to make a name for himself and North Carolina at the professional level for the time being!

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CBS Sports picks Kansas, Alabama as two most intriguing matchups for UNC

CBS Sports takes a look at Alabama coming into the Dean Smith Center as the highlight of UNC basketball’s schedule.

North Carolina’s non-conference schedule starts with Elon on November 4th and ends with Campbell on December 29th, both at home. CBS Sports picked two games that stand out among the entire non-conference schedule.

Those two notable games that RJ Davis and company will play according to CBS Sports include the road trip to the Jayhawks and the opportunity to see Grant Nelson and the Crimson Tide inside the Dean E. Smith Center.

According to Jeff Borzello from ESPN, Kansas and Alabama are the preseason ranked No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation respectively with North Carolina coming in at No. 10.

Alabama was the team that knocked North Carolina out of the NCAA Tournament last year in the Elite Eight winning the region. Both teams have lost talent and gained talent in the offseason.

 

 

Alabama retained Grant Nelson and Mark Spears who led the team last season. They also added two massive transfers Clifford Omoruyi from Rutgers and Christ Youngblood from USF.

Kansas kept Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams while adding Wisconsin transfer, AJ Storr.

Will the addition of Cade Tyson and Ven Allen Lubin paired with Ian Jackson and Drake Powell be enough to stop Bama from beating the Heels, this time at home?

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Former UNC star showing the value of NIL money for athletes

This former basketball star at UNC is putting on display just how valuable NIL money can be to the future of college athletes.

It is no secret to UNC basketball fans who Armando Bacot is. The center dominated college hoops for almost the entirety of his career in Chapel Hill. Now, he is moving that domination off the court in the next chapter of his life.

Just a few years ago, Name, Image, and Likeness” (NIL, for short) was introduced as a way to pay college players for the money they brought to prestigious universities.

It has since become a method that coaches and colleges use to recruit top talent to their programs. Bacot played college basketball during this transition and because of his rise to stardom early on, he was able to enjoy the fruits of the progress.

In an interview with 247sports, Bacot credits North Carolina with the opportunity to make “life-changing” money.

I had no clue [the effect NIL would have]. I didn’t know what I was doing. You go from [making no money] to being a millionaire fast. It was crazy. We didn’t realize it. I made $2 million-plus. I’m saying that humbly, though. That speaks of the brand at North Carolina. If I didn’t go to North Carolina, I wouldn’t have been doing those deals at Turbo Tax and others.

Bacot has since announced a partnership with a hotel company and breaking ground on his first hotel, he stated on his Twitter account.

The former star is not only using his basketball talent; he’s also using that business education and putting it to work early for a brighter future.

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UNC football head coach Mack Brown addresses retirement questions

How long will UNC football head coach Mack Brown be at the helm of the ship?

With the retirement of Nick Saban from Alabama, UNC football head coach Mack Brown became the oldest head coach in Division I football. The tenured head coach of the Tar Heels will turn 73 before the Minnesota game later this week.

Brown’s first head coaching gig came in 1978 with Appalachian State. With a brief offensive coordinator job with Oklahoma, Brown became the head coach of Tulane. His first stint with North Carolina came from 1988-1997.

He left UNC to be the head coach of Texas for 15 years before coming back to the ACC and the Tar Heels in 2019. He has been with the program ever since. This will be his 35th season as a head coach and his 14th in Chapel Hill.

He is also now the most winningest coach in college football with 282 wins as a head coach. With that type of age and tenure, the natural question that will start being asked is the timeline of retirement.

In an interview with Scott Fowler, Mack Brown had this to say about when he will retire.

Well, Roy retired at 70. Coach Saban retired at 72. Villanova’s coach, Jay Wright, retired at 60. So a lot of people are saying, “I’m not going to put up with this. I’m just not going to do it anymore.” And to me, it’s been more of I’m needed more right now than ever before. The game needs older people with experience that can help make some sense out of this stuff.

The kids need a balance. They need a soothing, confident influence. And I’m a better coach now than I’ve ever been because I’ve still got my energy, but I’ve got more experience and more confidence than I’ve ever had.

From the sounds of it, Brown is in this for the long haul, and despite getting the question asked more and sooner than ever, Brown is committed to the North Carolina Tar Heels and their football program.

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