Today marks the one week warning until the North Carolina Tar Heels open the 2026 football season against TCU in Dublin, Ireland. While your mileage may vary on how you think that game — and the season as a whole — is going to go, the first game of a new season is always exciting. No matter what your preconceived notions of a team are, they all start with a 0-0 record, and anything is possible.
The fact that we are now this close to the start of football season had me thinking not just about that, but about season openers in general. That’s why, for today’s question of the day: what’s your favorite ever UNC season opener? I’m not just talking football either, you can go basketball or any other Tar Heel sport.
However, I personally will stick to football. (Mostly because a lot of basketball season openers come against small conference opposition and don’t end of sticking in the mind, weird 2004 loss to Santa Clara excluded.) In 2019, UNC weren’t just opening a new season against South Carolina, but they were opening the Mack Brown 2.0 tenure, and for an afternoon, the sky looked like the limit.
With the Tar Heels entering a new era and also starting a true freshman quarterback in Sam Howell, they got off to a bit of a so-so start, with the Gamecocks taking a 13-6 lead into halftime and a 20-9 one into the fourth quarter. However, the real Carolina came to life in the fourth quarter. UNC scored 15 unanswered points, coming on two 90+ yard drives led by Howell and the dynamic running back duo of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter. Howell connected with Beau Corrales for a 17-yard touchdown pass with just over eight minutes left, giving the Heels a 24-20 lead. The defense held up from there and UNC had picked up a memorable win to start the season and Brown’s second reign in Chapel Hill.
Of course, as we all now know, while there were still some memorable moments yet to come, the Brown tenure did not end well. The team is now coached by Bill Belichick, and things still aren’t going great. However, that day in 2019 was a fun one to be a UNC fan.
That’s my choice, but now we want to hear from you. What’s your favorite ever UNC season opener from any Tar Heel sport?
