The 2023 Gophers football team was 2-0 when it traveled to North Carolina to play the Tar Heels in mid-September.

“They took it to us pretty good,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck remembered that 31-13 loss in Chapel Hill, N.C.

It was the first defeat in what became a disappointing 6-7 season. And that day between the pines at Kenan Memorial Stadium was the first noticeable fissure between the program and quarterback Athan Kaliamanis, who briefly left the game due to muscle cramps and completed only 37 percent of his passes with no touchdowns and one interception.

Both Fleck and Kaliakmanis glowered in the post-game news conference. They even took turns falling on the sword.

Fast forward 50 weeks and Minnesota gets a shot at revenge to finish the home-and-home series with North Carolina in the 2024 season opener at 7 p.m. Thursday at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Hope springs eternal for a new Gophers team that is strongest along the offensive and defensive lines and will break in new transfer quarterback Max Brosmer.

But a nationally televised game against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent is a world away from the first five years Brosmer spent at FCS-level New Hampshire.

“My (current) team has done a really good job of preparing me for these new things,” Brosmer said last week. “And a lot of that’s me asking them questions of what to expect with the game-day environments, like, other than watching a YouTube video.”

Fleck, assistant coaches and teammates have raved about Brosmer’s leadership and intellect, but Thursday will be a prove-it moment against a Power Four conference opponent.

“This is my first time playing in the Big Ten and I’m super excited to do it with this new team,” Brosmer said. “We have a lot of skillful and talented people here. And honestly, it’s the excitement of playing at a new level.”

Brosmer has aspirations of playing in the NFL, and to reach that height, he will need to lead an offense that has more run-pass balance than it showed under Kaliakmanis last season. On the other side of the ball, new coordinator Corey Hetherman will need to improve a run defense that was worst in the Big Ten in conference games.

The Gophers opened the 2023 season with a nail-biting 13-10 conference win over Nebraska in front of an announced crowd of 53,629. Thursday’s game — a “Gold Out,” which encourages fans to wear gold gear — is expected to have another strong crowd. That is aided by the university’s “Welcome Week” bumping up the amount of first-year students inside the stadium.

“Where we are trending now, and certainly (the forecast for rainy) weather can change things a little bit, is a capacity crowd,” said Mike Wierzbicki, senior associate athletic director for external affairs. “We are expecting a number over 50,000 for the opener, which would be great.”

If the Gophers can beat North Carolina, a two-point betting favorite, in the opener, the U has a chance for 4-0 start to the season.

The U welcomes FCS-level Rhode Island on Sept. 7 and then Nevada, which is picked to finish last in the Mountain West Conference, on Sept. 14. After that, Minnesota hosts a rivalry game against No. 25 Iowa on Sept. 21.

To be bowl eligible, the Gophers might need that undefeated (or at least 3-1) start because the schedule gets much tougher in the final two-plus months. A 2-2 start will engender a here-we-go-again vibe.

The U’s first road game to end September is at defending national champion Michigan, which is ranked ninth to start 2024. The most marquee home game of the season follows in 23rd-ranked Southern Cal. Fleck said he wished the Trojans were coming to Minnesota in the biting weather of November, not on Oct. 5. November actually holds a home game versus No. 8 Penn State and rivalry road game at Wisconsin on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Not much is expected of the Gophers in 2024, with the season win total set at 5.5 wins by Las Vegas oddsmakers. But Fleck said, “internally we feel like we are a really good football team.”

The Gophers will need to prove it starting with the opening kickoff on Thursday night.

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