CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina will hold its spring football game Saturday at Kenan Stadium, giving the general public its first look at Mack Brown’s team as it concludes spring practice.

The game will kickoff at 5 pm and cap a day filled with UNC athletics events that include men’s and women’s lacrosse matches versus Syracuse and a softball game versus Florida State. In addition, there will be football-related activities, including tailgating at the Kenan amphitheater and a fan fest that opens at 2:30.

The main attraction, of course, are the Tar Heels un Brown’s return as head coach. Don’t expect a full game or all elements that encompass a real game, Brown says.

“It will be just like a game with the offense and defense (but) we will not have live kicking,” Brown said earlier this week following practice at the new indoor facility. “We will have extra points and field goals live, but the punting, kickoff coverage, kickoff returns, we really don’t have enough depth to do that, and a lot of injuries occur in those areas. We’ll punt against air and kickoff against air and probably won’t even return.”

They won't play four quarters because they don’t have enough players, Brown said. Injuries and a general lack of depth is the issue, and there’s no point in risking even more injuries. The staff will get a good look at some players in front of a crowd and the fans will get a taste of things to come.

“We’re really not two-deep on defense, so there’ll probably be five defensive starters that possibly won’t be dressed,” Brown said. “We’ll go an hour and it will be about 70 plays, just like we have our last two scrimmages…

“Defense will be in white, offense will be in blue and we’re just going to do like we have, we’re going to have a game against each other.”

“The biggest thing that I will be looking for with the spring game is how the guys respond to people around them for the first time for people to see the new era, the new team and see who steps up…," Brown said.

“You’ve got these six high school seniors that are here, basically, as early enrollees, how will they respond to people being in the stands for the first time, how will they respond to a game-day routine because we’ll actually go through a full game-day routine and have the pre-game meal and have the pre-game stretch and all of those things.”

* Warm-ups at 4:15 p.m. (46 minutes on the game clock)

* Clear the field at 4:46 p.m. (15 minutes on the game clock)

* Team entrance at 4:57:30 p.m. (3:30 minutes on the game clock)

* Kickoff at 5:01 p.m.

* 60-70 play scrimmage which should last about an hour (30-35 plays per half)

* two 2-minute breaks in the first half

* 15-minute half time (Enjoy the Punt, Pass & Kick student competition finals)

* one 2-minute break in the second half

* Score will be kept based on which end zone the team scores in. If a team scores in the ‘Carolina’ end zone, those points are for ‘Carolina.’ If a team scores in the ‘Tar Heels’ end zone, the points are for ‘Tar Heels.’ Same with field goals. If there is a defensive touchdown, whichever end zone the points are scored in will count for that team.

Defense and Specialists

White Helmets

White Jerseys

Carolina Blue Pants

Offense

Carolina Blue Helmets

Carolina Blue Jerseys

White Pants

Quarterbacks

Carolina Blue Helmets

Navy Blue Jerseys

White pants