UNC to Face West Virginia In Duke's Mayo Bowl
North Carolina is headed to the same place where it began the 2023 football season to close the campaign, as the Tar Heels will face West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on December 27.
UNC opened the campaign with a 31-17 victory over South Carolina, triggering a 6-0 start to the season. Carolina last played in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl two years ago when it lost to the Gamecocks.
The Tar Heels are one of 11 ACC teams playing in bowl games, though the announcement came well into Sunday evening, as several league members and the bowls haggled over who would play where. It was originally believed the Heels would play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL, but when Florida State was snubbed from the College Football Playoff, the trickle-down effect sent some of the bowl placement process into chaos.
The Tar Heels will face a West Virginia team that is 8-4 and went 6-3 in the Big 12 Conference. The Mountaineers and Tar Heels have one common opponent, as WVU beat Pittsburgh in Morgantown, 17-6, and UNC beat the Panthers on the road 41-24.
"We’re excited to be headed to Charlotte to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl," Carolina Coach Mack Brown said in a release by the school. "The good people with the Charlotte Sports Foundation do a great job with the game and all the events during the week. We’re looking forward to diving into bowl practice, heading to Charlotte, and taking on a tough West Virginia team later this month."
West Virginia also has wins over Texas Tech, at TCU, at UCF, BYU, Cincinnati, and at Baylor.
More about WVU: It is No. 27 nationally in total offense averaging 438.2 yards per game; is No. 3 in rushing offense at 234.3; 38th in scoring at 31.6; No. 70 in total defense allowing 384.2yards per contest; No. 47 in rushing defense (144.3); No. 82 in pass efficiency defense; and 75th in scoring defense giving up 27.5 points per game.
The Tar Heels started the season showing signs this was a different team than in past years. They were very good defensively in the second halves of games, the balanced passing and running games were a force opponents couldn’t stop.
So, UNC stood at 6-0 and ranked No. 10 in the nation after a 41-31 victory over Miami on October 14. However, that was the Tar Heels’ peak point for this season.
Since then, they have gone 2-4, with one of the wins over FCS member Campbell, and the other at home in two overtimes over a Duke team playing a true freshman third-string quarterback.
The poor close to the regular season culminated with an ugly 39-20 loss at NC State in which the Wolfpack scored on its first eight possessions.
Carolina will head to its bowl game without the services of a number of players who were a part of its regular season, though so far, only tight end Kamari Morales had a significant role this season. On Sunday, redshirt freshman receiver and kick returner Doc Chapman announced on Twitter he will enter the portal, as well. With the portal formally opening Monday, it’s expected more players will move on.
Whether or not quarterback Drake Maye plays in the bowl game has not been revealed at the time of this announcement.
Carolina owns a 15-22 record in bowl appearances. This will be the 27th bowl game for Brown, who owns a 15-11 record in postseason games.
UNC has a history playing in the Mayo Bowl. The Tar Heels lost to South Carolina, 38-21, two years ago, and is 1-5 in six trips to the bowl located in Charlotte. UNC’s history there:
*December 30, 2004: Boston College 37, UNC 24
-It was known as the Continental Tire Bowl at the time
*December 27, 2008: West Virginia 31, UNC 30
-It was then known as the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
*December 26, 2009: Pitt 19, UNC 17
-Still the Meineke Car Care Bowl
*December 28, 2013: UNC 39, Cincinnati 17
-It was known as the Belk Bowl at the time.
*December 30, 2021: South Carolina 38, UNC 21
-It was known then as it is now, as the Duke’s Mayo Bowl