To put it lightly, the Tar Heels have a history of struggling when facing a formidable opponent in the first game of the season. Even in Larry Fedora’s best years, he consistently failed to get his team ready for week one. In fact, the last Carolina coach to not have this problem was none other than current head coach Mack Brown.
The last time the Heels defeated a power conference team in their season opener was in 1997 against Indiana, Brown’s last season in Chapel Hill (they haven’t done it on a neutral site since 1993 vs.