College football 2024: What time does North Carolina at Minnesota start? FREE live steam

North Carolina will visit Minnesota to start the season and open the post-Drake Maye era after the departure of the star quarterback to the NFL.

You can watch the game on Fox at 8 p.m. EDT Thursday or live streaming on fubo TV (FREE trial), Sling TV (discount) and DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount).

Maye was the third overall pick in the draft. Coach Mack Brown has so far declined to name a starter.

The new centerpiece of the offense is running back Omarion Hampton. He was a preseason All-America pick by The Associated Press and a second-team Associated Press All-American last year. He ranked fifth in the FBS by averaging 115.7 yards rushing per game to go with 15 touchdowns. With Maye gone, he’s the centerpiece of the offense.

The Tar Heels have a prime opportunity for a strong start to the season, with three straight home games against non-power conference opponents followed by a relatively soft ACC slate. This will also serve as an assessment of progress under new defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, the former Temple and Georgia Tech head coach.

Minnesota faces a much tougher schedule in the supersized Big Ten with games against seven of the top 11 teams — and four of the top six — in the league’s preseason media poll, so an opening win against a power conference team would go a long way toward a bounce-back season from a disappointing 6-7 finish in 2023 that only saw the Gophers get to a bowl game because of their academic score. They also have a new defensive coordinator in Corey Hetherman.

Their quarterback is Max Brosmer. The sixth-year transfer from New Hampshire, who led in the FCS in passing yards per game, has wowed coaches and players with his leadership ability, work ethic and arm strength since arriving in the winter. The Georgia native must adjust quickly to Big Ten-level competition.

North Carolina last beat a power conference foe outside the ACC on Sept. 10, 2016, at Illinois.

Meanwhile, Minnesota is 21-2 in nonconference games under P.J. Fleck. The Gophers open the season at home for the 12th straight year and are 10-5 overall in home openers at Huntington Bank Stadium.