Minnesota Golden Gophers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 09/16/2023

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 16, 2023

Venue:  Kenan Memorial Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Minnesota +7.5, UNC -7.5; Over/Under:  51 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Minnesota +7.5, UNC -7.5; Over/Under:  51 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Minnesota +7.5, UNC -7.5; Over/Under:  51 points

Minnesota Golden Gophers:  2-0 (1-0) (1st place, Big Ten West)

North Carolina Tar Heels:  2-0 (0-0) (7th place, ACC)

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Minnesota Golden Gophers:  won their last game at home against the Eastern Michigan Eagles 25-6.

North Carolina Tar Heels:  won their last game at home against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in overtime 40-34.

Minnesota is entering this game with a 2-0 record overall and they have a 1-0 record in their conference games too. They are 2-0 in their home games, 0-0 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They won their last game against EMU 25-6. Athan Kaliakmanis was the starting QB and he completed 10/15 passes for 117 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Darius Taylor led the team in rushing yards with 193 and 1 TD. Corey Crooms led the receivers with 45 receiving yards on 3 receptions. Darius Green led the defense in that game with 5 solo tackles and 2 assisted tackles while Kyler Baugh led the defense in sacks with 2. Devon Williams came away with the only interception for them in that game.

 

 

 

North Carolina is entering this game with a 2-0 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 1-0 in their home games, 0-0 in their road games, and they are also 1-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They won their last game against App State in OT 40-34. Drake Maye was the starting QB and he completed 21/30 passes for 208 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Omarion Hampton led the team in rushing yards with 234 and 3 TDs. JJ Jones led the receivers with 91 receiving yards on 5 receptions. Cedric Gray led the defense in that game with 7 solo tackles and 4 assisted tackles while no one on the defense recorded a sack in that one. Don Chapman came away with the only interception for them in that game.

The current betting odds have North Carolina listed as a 7.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. North Carolina is 2-0 this season and looked really good in their win over South Carolina to open the season but they struggled more last week, needing OT to beat App State. North Carolina doesn't have the best defense but they do have a really good offense and they are going to put up points in this home game. Minnesota is also 2-0 this season but they are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. Their offense has been terrible this season while their defense has been keeping them in games. They opened the season with a really tight win over Nebraska, a game they only scored 13 points in, and then beat Eastern Michigan in their last game at home but only scored 25 points with plenty of opportunities to do more. North Carolina is going to struggle at times to move the ball on this defense but Minnesota is going to struggle too. As good as Minnesota is on defense, there will be a point when the UNC offense starts pulling away and Minnesota won't have the offensive power to come back with the crowd against them too. The best way to place a bet here is on North Carolina to cover the spread in this game. 

Minnesota North Carolina Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 16, 2023 (3:30 pm ET start time) is North Carolina 35 Minnesota 20.

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Minnesota Golden Gophers: 8-2 ATS off a home win. 11-6 ATS after 1 or more consecutive straight up wins. 8-3 ATS after allowing 100 or less rushing yards last game. 7-1 OVER after allowing 75 or less passing yards in their last game. 22-15 OVER off 2 or more consecutive unders.

North Carolina Tar Heels: 7-13 ATS as a favorite. 18-41 ATS after scoring 31 points or more in 2 straight games. 9-5 OVER in home games. 6-2 OVER after playing a non-conference game.

Minnesota Golden Gophers:  L. Finnessy (DL) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. D. Jefferies (DL) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. D. LeCaptain (LB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. C. Lindenberg (LB) Ques Sat - Leg. C. McDonald (DB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. C. Autman-Bell (WR) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. J. Tinnen (LB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. B. Williams (RB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed. B. Spann-Ford (TE) Ques Sat - Undisclosed.

North Carolina Tar Heels:  B. Brooks (RB) Ques Sat - Lower Body. D. Walker (WR) out for season - Eligibility. J. Randolph (TE) out for season - Lower Body. L. Cavazos (DB) Out indefinitely - Lower Body. R. Grigsby (OL) Out indefinitely - Lower Body.

“It was everybody. It's a whole run game. And Lemeke Brockington had one of his best games blocking. In the Big Ten, you better be able to run the football, period. Everybody has to at some level, right? And that's our M.O, everybody knows that. But that doesn't mean we're running the triple option. It just means that we're going to be different than we used to be because it's a different team.” - P.J. Fleck on his team’s running game this season.

“We finished when it mattered at the end. They picked themselves back up and went right back to work.” - Mack Brown after his team’s win against App State in their last game. 

WR Autman-Bell, Chris

WR Jackson, Daniel 

WR Crooms Jr., Corey 

TE Spann-Ford, Brevyn 

QB Kaliakmanis, Athan 

RB Tyler, Sean 

WR Walker, Devontez 

WR Blackwell, Gavin 

WR Paysour, Kobe 

TE Copenhaver, John 

QB Maye, Drake 

RB Brooks, British 

Passing: A. Kaliakmanis (313)

Rushing: D. Taylor (196)

Receiving: D. Jackson (110)

Touchdowns: D. Jackson (1)

Passing: D. Maye (477)

Rushing: O. Hampton (271)

Receiving: K. Paysour (139)

Touchdowns: O. Hampton (5)

Coaches:

Minnesota Golden Gophers: P.J. Fleck (7th season)

North Carolina Tar Heels: Mack Brown (5th season)