North Carolina travels to Berkeley for a football game at California on October 17 for just the second time in program history. The Tar Heels opened the 2018 season at Cal and lost by a touchdown.
The teams were in different conferences at the time with Cal in the Pac-12 and UNC in the ACC, obviously. The Bears are now in the ACC so this will be a league affair.
It will also mark just the sixth time a UNC football team has ever played in the state of California, though it will be Carolina's third such trip in seven years. The Heels lost by one point to Oregon in the 2022 Holiday Bowl in San Diego in the other game in this period.
On November 8, Stanford visits Kenan Stadium for the second time ever. The Cardinal lost to a top-10 Carolina club in 1997 in Chapel Hill. Stanford is also now in the ACC making this a conference game.
It marks the first time two teams from the state of California have been on Carolina’s schedule for the same season.
Overall, the Tar Heels are 5-4 against California clubs. By mid-November, UNC will have played 11 games in its history against programs from the Golden State with six coming over the last 11 years, and nine taking place since 1997, a span of 28 seasons.
Here is UNC’s history versus teams from California:
California – UNC 0-2
2017 – Cal 35, UNC 30
2018 – Cal 24, UNC 17
*The Tar Heels led 24-21 at home in the 2017 opener but allowed 14 fourth-quarter points to lose. It was the college debut of running back Michael Carter, who ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. He went on the run for 3,403 yards (5th all-time at UNC) and 22 TDs. He also had 6 more receiving scores. Eventual NFL linebacker Chazz Surratt was UNC’s quarterback that day.
*The following season, the Tar Heels ran only three plays on each of their first nine possessions with six ending in punts and three ending in interceptions. Carolina couldn’t get much going until late but still failed in starting the 2018 season off with a win.
Southern Cal - UNC 2-0
1958 – UNC 8, USC 7
1993 – UNC 31, USC 9
*The win in 1958 came a week after the Heels fell to 0-2 with a loss at Clemson. They went across the country and pulled off the 1-point victory triggering a 6-game winning streak. The Heels finished that season 6-4.
*In 1993, Carolina opened the season with a rout of the Trojans in Anaheim. UNC dominated every aspect of the game that was nationally televised and the only game played that night. UNC ended up going 10-3 that season, the first of three double-digit win seasons under Mack Brown.
Stanford - UNC 1-2
1997 – UNC 28-17
1998 – Stanford 37-34
2016 – Stanford 25-23 (Sun Bowl)
*The No. 7 Tar Heels took care of the No. 17 Cardinal at Kenan Stadium on the second weekend of the season. UNC largely dominated the game, with Stanford using a couple of Carolina turnovers to make the game closer than it was at the line of scrimmage.
*A year later, the Tar Heels lost on a field goal as time expired. Tyrell Godwin returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score, and with 3 minutes left Ronald Curry hooked up with Kory Bailed for a game-tying touchdown.
*In the Sun Bowl, the Tar Heels fell short trying to convert a 2-point conversion that would have tied the game with 25 seconds left preserving the Cardinal’s victory.
San Diego State - UNC 2-0
1998 – UNC 20-13 (Las Vegas Bowl)
2014 – UNC 31-27
* The Tar Heels began the 1998 season, its first after Mack Brown departed for Texas, 0-3 but rebounded to win 7 of their last 9 games, capping the season with a win in chilly and windy Las Vegas. A 48-yard TD run by Ronald Curry and David Bomar recovered a blocked punt in the end zone were UNC’s biggest plays on the day.
*The 21st-ranked Tar Heels didn’t perform as well as expected in their second game of the season getting just an interception return for a score from Brian Walker as their only points in the first half. But the Heels scored three TDs and converted a field goal over the final 19:40 of the game to notch the victory.
NOTE: UNC played Oregon in the Holiday bowl in San Diego in 2022 and lost 28-27.
