The UNC football program holds on for nail-biting victory over Minnesota

In sports, what matters is whether you win or lose.

While it wasn't the best performance from the UNC football program, it was good enough to get the job done.

The UNC football program barely hung on to win its first game of the 2024 college football season against Minnesota on Thursday night.

Originally scheduled for 8:00 PM EST, weather delayed the start of the game for an hour, as both teams were very quiet offensively early and often in this one. The Tar Heels broke the scoreless game in the second quarter on a Max Johnson three-yard touchdown run, as Minnesota responded with 14 points prior to the end of the first half.

Johnson, who struggled quite a bit in his UNC football debut, was forced to leave the game in the third quarter due to an apparent leg injury as he was carted off the field. Conner Harrell stepped in at quarterback and essentially helped set up three field goals for the Tar Heels, which ended up being the remainder of the the scoring for North Carolina.

Speaking of kicking, how about Noah Burnette! After connecting on 19 of his 20 field goal attempts a season ago, Burnette got off to a fantastic start, connecting on all four of his attempts. Three of those attempts were longer than 45 yards, as he drilled a career-best 52-yarder near the end of the third quarter.

On the Tar Heels' last offensive drive, Burnette knocked down a 45-yard attempt with just under two minutes to play, as Minnesota had one last chance to tie the game.

Earlier in the game, Minnesota's kicker, Dragan Kesich, hit the goal post on a 29-yard attempt. With four seconds remaining in the game, Kesich was called upon once again in an effort to seal the deal, but was unable to connect once again.

Sure, there's some good, some bad and some ugly you can take from this game, but the good news is that the Tar Heels are returning to Chapel Hill with a win. It marks the fewest points the UNC football program has scored in a regular season win since the Miami win back in 2012, and marks the first time that North Carolina has won a season opener in a true road game setting since 1992 (1993 if you count the game in Anaheim).

Now, the Tar Heels will look to build on this win and improve moving forward. They escaped with a win but need to be much better as the season continues to roll on.