After defeating Eastern Michigan 25-6 on Saturday night, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, now 2-0 on the season, have opened as a six-point underdog to the North Carolina Tar Heels for their matchup next Saturday in Chapel Hill, according to DraftKings.
The Tar Heels also are 2-0 after their first two weeks of action after escaping an upset bid from the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon, pulling out a 40-36 victory in double-overtime.
It will be the first-ever matchup between the two programs. All time, the Golden Gophers are 16-7 against current ACC programs, though they've only played Pittsburgh (9-3) and Syracuse (4-2) more than once.
North Carolina is 52-45-1 against current Big Ten programs all time, with a majority of their matchups coming against the Maryland Terrapins (37-32-1). The Tar Heels, currently ranked 17 in the AP Poll, are one of the better teams the Gophers will face all season. They're also led offensively by quarterback Drake Maye, a potential top-five draft pick in next April's NFL Draft.
Through two games, the Tar Heels offense has averaged 35.5 points per game with 31 and 40-point scoring efforts. Their offense has also averaged 482 yards per game, which included totaling 527 yards this past weekend against Appalachian State. Defensively, the Tar Heels were impressive against South Carolina's rushing attack, keeping them to -2 yards, but struggled against Appalachian State, allowing 219 yards over 44 carries, an average of 5.0 yards per carry. The Tar Heels pass defense hasn't been great either week, allowing 628 passing yards through two weeks, including 353 in week one to South Carolina.
Kickoff next Saturday is set for 3:30 p.m. at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
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