Five takeaways from Gophers' season-opening loss to North Carolina

Minnesota was inches away from it being a season-opening victory.

North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton (28) runs the ball against Minnesota during the first half at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Aug. 29, 2024. / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Gophers football team was inches away from beating North Carolina in its season opener Thursday night at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. But Dragan Kesich's attempt at a 47-yard field goal went wide right as time expired, resulting in a 19-17 season-opening defeat.

Here are five takeaways from the first loss of the season.

1. Unspecial teams

While missing a potential game-winning field goal as time expires will certainly be what's remembered most, that wasn't the only special-teams blunder and certainly not the most egregious. It wasn't a strong showing for the unit Thursday making its debut under first-year coordinator Bob Ligashesky.

The Gophers had illegal formation penalties on two of their first three punts — the first also featured a 15-yard return from UNC's Alijah Huzzie and the second required a redo punt, a wounded duck that traveled only 30 yards off Mark Crawford's foot. The missed field goal as time expired was Kesich's second miss of the night — his 27-yard attempt in the first quarter went off the right upright.

While Crawford's second punt was downed at the North Carolina 3-yard line and his first punt of the second half was also downed inside the 20, and Kesich did make a go-ahead, 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter and was 2 for 2 on extra points, it was an overall disappointing showing from the unit.

2. Playing a Major role

With star running back Darius Taylor ruled out ahead of the game, the Gophers turned to Oklahoma graduate transfer Marcus Major to carry the load. Major quickly established himself as a more than capable No. 2 running back, carrying the ball 20 times for 73 yards and a score. 

Major also made one of the plays of the game at the time. Trailing 16-14 in the third quarter with time winding down, Max Brosmer hit Le'Meke Brockington for a 22-yard gain, but Brockington fumbled. Major scooped up the ball and ran it 16 more yards to the North Carolina 10-yard line.

The drive culminated in Kesich's go-ahead 30-yard field goal.

Overall, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck continued the trend of using one primary running back. While Jordan Nubin also saw some action out of the backfield, he ran the ball just twice for three yards. Nubin was one of just three players with multiple receptions, catching two passes for 22 yards. Receivers Daniel Jackson and Cristian Driver each had a carry. Transfers Sieh Bangura and Jaren Mangham didn't see any action or touches out of the backfield.

If Thursday’s opener was any indication, the Gophers will likely split carries with Taylor as the primary back and Major as the secondary once Taylor returns. There may not be many carries for the trio of Nubin, Bangura or Mangham barring further injuries in the running back room. 

3. Rough debut for Brosmer

One of the biggest changes this offseason was adding New Hampshire transfer quarterback Max Brosmer to replace last year’s starter, Athan Kaliakmanis, who transferred to Rutgers. The hope was that Brosmer would help rejuvenate a passing attack that struggled mightily in 2023.

Thursday didn't bring the turnaround the Gophers would've liked to see.

Brosmer struggled with accuracy early on, missing on his first two pass attempts, including a bad overthrow while targeting an open Jameson Geers on the U's opening drive. The Gophers offense was still run-heavy, too, with Major shouldering most of the load.

They ran the ball 33 times while Brosmer attempted 22 passes.

Brosmer had some moments — he hit Jackson for a 20-yard gain during a first-half touchdown drive — and did make plays when it mattered most in the fourth quarter, leading the U on a seven-play, 46-yard drive that set up the potential game-winning field-goal attempt.

Brosmer also ran for a score on a quarterback sneak on the first-half touchdown drive.

But Brosmer's fumble on a scramble set up a go-ahead, 42-yard field goal from Tar Heels kicker Noah Burnette with 9 minutes, 5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and he completed just 13-of-21 passes for 166 yards overall. While there were positive moments, the Gophers passing attack mostly struggled against a North Carolina defense that brought a lot of pressure and got home five times.

4. Mostly strong debut for Hetherman's defense

First-year defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman was tasked with turning around a Gophers defense that had uncharacteristic struggles a season ago. The early returns were mostly positive.

While penalties did prove costly early on — a defensive holding on Aidan Gousby negated Jai’Onte McMillan’s strip sack that Cody Lindenberg recovered on a drive that eventually culminated in North Carolina quarterback Max Johnson running for a 3-yard score — they didn't allow another TD.

Defensive back Justin Walley turned the game around with an interception he returned 70 yards to the North Carolina 6-yard line. That led to a 5-yard touchdown run from Major that knotted the game at 7-7. Prior to that, Za’Quan Bryan nearly had an interception that would likely have been a pick-6, but the ball slipped through his hands. The U defensive line broke through for a pair of first-half sacks. 

North Carolina was able to move the ball on a several drives in the second half, mostly behind running back Omarion Hampton, who carried the ball 30 times for 134 yards. One of those drives was a six-play, 48-yard drive that set up the go-ahead field goal from Burnette with 1:44 remaining. But the U did hold UNC to only field goals in the second half. UNC had just 252 yards of total offense.

5. Conservative call

It hasn't been unusual for Fleck and the Gophers to lean on the conservative side of play calling, but one particular play in the first half raised eyebrows. On third-and-goal from the North Carolina 9-yard line, the Gophers handed the ball to Major, who was stopped for a short gain well before the goal line.

That was the Gophers' most promising drive to that point in the game — a 13-play, 52-yard journey. The drive culminated with Kesich's missed 27-yard field-goal attempt. Fleck said after the game they felt they had a good opportunity to run the ball there based on North Carolina's scheme.

"Just because we're at the 9 doesn't mean the best play is not a run," Fleck said. "In certain positions, it does not mean we're just playing it safe. We're not. I mean, we threw the football a lot. We also threw the football and got sacked, we threw the football and got a lot of pressure on us."