Mack Brown excited to face off against South Carolina to open the 2023 season

North Carolina’s opener versus South Carolina got some extra juice today with College GameDay announcing that they’d be on site for the matchup. Even so, Mack Brown was already excited about what will go down inside Bank of America Stadium between the Tar Heels and Gamecocks to start September.

Brown spoke about North Carolina’s opener in an interview on 99.9 The Fan last week. He said he does like to get the season kicked off with a big-time matchup. However, he admitted that he wishes that UNC had another game beforehand to appropriately ramp up to play how they’ll need to in Charlotte.

“I do like this,” said Brown during his call. “I think I would rather have a game that’s an easy one to open with and have this one second.”

“We don’t have preseason games in college football. So we’re going to have to scrimmage more. We’re going to have to be more physical in preseason because we won’t have any time to learn how to play,” Brown said. “We’ve got to have the foot on the gas and be ready to go in that opener.”

Brown realizes the challenge that South Carolina was already going to present the Tar Heels with what Shane Beamer is building. How both programs closed last season, though, adds another layer of respect that UNC will have to have for the Gamecocks.

“Shane Beamer has done a tremendous job,” Brown said. “South Carolina is hot. They ended up beating Tennessee and Clemson at the end of the year. They’ve got a lot of momentum. So, as we tailed off toward the end of the year, they just kept gaining momentum.”

The Battle Of Carolinas will have College GameDay on hand for a reason. It should be one of the best matchups in the first official week of the season, if not the best. That’s why, considering all things, Brown is rearing to go for that one to kick off on September 2nd.

“It’ll be two of the best quarterbacks in the country. It’ll be a primetime game,” said Brown. “I’m really excited about it and our players are.”

“It’s going to be a great crowd. It’s going to be a fun game,” Brown said, “We’ll have an idea and know who we are really quickly.”

GameDay announces UNC vs. South Carolina as Week 1 location

The Week 1 matchup between North Carolina and South Carolina will have a little extra excitement surrounding it. College GameDay will be in Charlotte for the game, ESPN announced on Monday.

The game will take place on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m., with College GameDay broadcasting from Charlotte that morning.

There are high expectations for both programs overall entering the 2023 season. UNC is led by one of the top quarterbacks in the country in Drake Maye, while South Carolina returns star quarterback Spencer Rattler and stud receiver Juice Wells.

WE'RE COMING TO THE QUEEN CITY! 👑

See you Week 1 in Charlotte for a battle of the Carolinas 🍿@UNCFootball | @GamecockFB pic.twitter.com/OJ7J7SOM6b

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) July 24, 2023