Big Ten Football: Minnesota vs North Carolina Preview, Prediction

Coach P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Golden Gophers are traveling to Chapel Hill to play coach Mack Brown and the North Carolina Tar Heels this Saturday. It's a big-time matchup in pseudo Big Ten vs ACC challenge here in Week 3 of the college football season.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Both the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the North Carolina Tar Heels have played college football for more than 130 years,

And yet, Saturday's matchup between the two teams will be their first. 

Coach P.J. Fleck and Minnesota enter at 2-0, having escaped by the skin of their teeth in a 13-10 win over Nebraska, before rolling MAC opponent Eastern Michigan 25-6. 

Coach Mack Brown and North Carolina, meanwhile, had to wrestle for their own nail biting victory over a close regional opponent in Week 2. Hosting the Appalachian State Mountaineers, UNC needed two overtimes to escape with a 40-34 victory over the visitors from the Sun Belt. It was a far more nerve racking endeavor than the Heels' Week 1 game against a different regional rival in South Carolina, who North Carolina handled by a score of 31-17. 

North Carolina enters Saturday's matchup as a 7.5 point favorite over Minnesota, unsurprising given coach Brown's team currently ranks No. 20 in the AP poll Top 25, not to mention that Fleck's Gophers will be on the road. 

A large factor working against Minnesota is the potency of its offense when stacked up against their ACC opponent. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis has struggled mightily through the first two weeks of the season, only completing 34-of-59 passes for 313 yards. Additionally, Kaliakmanis has thrown just one touchdown to two interceptions, and that one score was largely thanks to wide receiver Daniel Jackson making one of the most impressive catches in recent memory. 

TOUCHDOWN MINNESOTA 😱

On 4&10 Daniel Jackson comes up with a HUGE catch for @GopherFootball pic.twitter.com/84QofhnsEe

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 1, 2023

Conversely, all of North Carolina's goals and ambitions for the 2023 season start and end with its quarterback — Drake Maye. 

He is the younger brother of UNC college basketball legend Luke Maye, Drake is consistently regarded as the second-best quarterback in college football right now, behind only projected No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Caleb Williams.

In his first season as a starter in 2022, Maye threw for 4,321 yards and 38 touchdowns while completing over 66 percent of his passes. He's also a creative and mobile dual-threat quarterback for the Tar Heels, having run for 698 yards and seven touchdowns during his redshirt freshman season.

Maye has gotten off to a slightly slower start in 2023, throwing for "just" 477 yards in his first two games, while also posting a middling 2:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

But still, there's no question that the best quarterback on the field on Saturday will be the one wearing Carolina blue. 

a Drake Maye javelin pic.twitter.com/k0rMKSENqe

— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 10, 2023

Minnesota does have an impressive running back room, though. Western Michigan transfer Sean Tyler strung together a 93-yard performance against Nebraska, and true freshman exploded for 193 yards against Eastern Michigan in Week 2. 

However, UNC once again might have an edge. Sophomore Omarion Hampton has rumbled for 271 yards and five touchdowns on 6.5 yards per carry in the first two games of the season. 

Overall, this Minnesota offense just hasn't produced enough through the first two weeks for me to have confidence they can do so today. There's pass-catching talent in Jackson, Corey Crooms and and Brevyn Spann-Ford, but Kaliakmanis has been uninspiring as a passer, and likely won't be able to keep pace with Maye in Chapel Hill. 

PREDICTION: North Carolina 31, Minnesota 16

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