The North Carolina Tar Heels are just two days away from opening their 2024 football season, when they face Minnesota – on the road – in a rematch from last season.

The Golden Gophers came into Kenan Stadium last year, with UNC winning 31-13 in the two programs' inaugural matchup. Drake Maye threw for 400 yards against Minnesota's strong defense, leading many to believe North Carolina could actually compete for an ACC Championship.

Entering 2024, North Carolina has a quarterback conundrum to solve and a younger roster, although talented, even in spots with new starters. The Tar Heels are aided by the return of Omarion Hampton, who burst onto the scene in 2023 as one of the nation's top running backs, plus an unusually experienced defense led by sack leader Kaimon Rucker.

Fans have to be particularly intrigued about UNC's defense, as the team hired Geoff Collins to be its new defensive coordinator in the offseason. Despite struggling as Georgia Tech's head coach from 2019-2022, Collins led several top-ranked defensive units in the SEC, including Florida in 2015 and 2016.

Most importantly, North Carolina starts with a clean slate. The Tar Heels began 2023 with a ton of, rising to 6-0 and a Top-10 ranking in the AP Polls, before tumbling to 8-5 and losing yet another bowl game.

There's a lot to preview ahead of Thursday's opener, but we're narrowing our preview to five specific areas, including how you can watch.

Key to victory for UNC

Fans will be watching how the Tar Heels can execute in a tough road environment, with a majority of that focus – I imagine – on their new defense.

I'm not talking new in terms of players, but in terms of a new scheme under Collins. UNC looked severely out of place the last two seasons under Gene Chizik, failing to make tackles and allowing several easy completions.

Collins has a history of success leading SEC defensive units – and he's now tasked with turning around a North Carolina group amongst the FBS' worst. Collins has plenty of talent on the defense to work with, such as Kaimon Rucker, Desmond Evans, Alijah Huzzie and Power Echols, so producing defensively shouldn't be a problem for the Tar Heels.

If UNC can execute defensively, it should win Thursday with few issues. Minnesota doesn't have the world's greatest offense, plus it could be missing star running back Darius Taylor.

Something to watch

This might go without saying, but plenty of people will be locked into the Tar Heels' quarterback battle – which head coach Mack Brown previously said would continue into the Minnesota game.

The one advantage I can think of playing both Johnson and Harrell: teams can't fully gameplan for one guy. From what I watched in the Spring Game, Johnson is more of a precision passer, while Harrell can beat defenses with his strong arm.

On the contrary, it's difficult to build your gameplan not having committed to a starter. Harrell or Johnson's rhythm could be messed up, leaving either to feel they're not producing.

There is going to be a lot of experimenting this season at the quarterback position, though, so why not get it out of the way in Week 1?

Each team's top returning rusher

UNC: Omarion Hampton (1,504 rushing yards, led the ACC and finished fifth in FBS last year)

Minnesota: Darius Taylor (808 rushing yards in just six games)

Mack Brown on UNC at the line of scrimmage

"We feel like we're improved in our defensive line," Brown told InsideCarolina's Jeremiah Holloway. "And then you take our offensive line, there's only one offensive lineman on our team that's ever started a game. I mean, they're totally inexperienced. And I told Randy Clements… I said, 'It's not an excuse, it's a fact.' And (Minnesota has) a new defensive coordinator we've never seen before. So we're going to have to do a great job of figuring out who they are (and) what they're going to do."

What you need to know

WHAT? North Carolina Tar Heels (0-0) vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers (0-0)WHEN? Thursday, Aug. 29 at 8 p.m. ETWHERE? Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn.TV? FOX (Watch and stream the game live on Fox Sports)RADIO? SiriusXM (Channel 84 and 193)WEATHER?  60 degrees, 80% chance of rain, 5-10 mph windsLINE? Minnesota -2LAST MEETING? 2023, UNC 31-13ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads, 1-0PREDICTION? UNC 20, Minnesota 13

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire : Previewing 2024 UNC football season-opener at Minnesota