Getty Drake Maye and the North Carolina Tar Heels take on South Carolina in their season opener.
The No. 21 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels (0-0) will open their 2023 campaign hosting the South Carolina Gamecocks (0-0) on Saturday, September 2 at Bank of America Stadium.
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The game will be televised on ABC, but if you don’t have cable or don’t have that channel, you can watch a live stream for free on FuboTV or DirecTV Stream.
Here’s how:
FuboTV
You can watch a live stream of ABC and 100-plus other live TV channels on FuboTV, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can watch North Carolina vs South Carolina live on the FuboTV app or FuboTV website.
Compatible devices for the FuboTV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a participating internet service provider to watch this way (game labeled as ESPN3), but if you don’t have that, you can use your Fubo credentials to login and watch.
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ABC is included in all of them, and you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch North Carolina vs South Carolina live on the DirecTV Stream app or DirecTV Stream website.
Compatible devices for the DirecTV Stream app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a participating internet service provider to watch this way (game labeled as ESPN3), but if you don’t have that, you can use your DirecTV Stream credentials to login and watch.
Sling TV
If you’ve used up all your free trials for other streaming services, Sling TV is the cheapest long-term streaming service that includes this game. ESPN3 (which simulcasts games on ABC) is included in the “Sling Orange” bundle, which is just $20 for your first month:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch North Carolina vs South Carolina live on the Sling TV app or Sling TV website.
Compatible devices for the Sling TV app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com. You’ll need to sign in to a participating internet service provider to watch this way (game labeled as ESPN3), but if you don’t have that, you can use your Sling credentials to login and watch.
UNC vs USC Football 2023 Preview
The Tar Heels finished the 2022 season with a 9-5 overall record and ACC championship game appearance, falling to Clemson, 39-10.
Last season, the Tar Heels scored 34.4 points per game on offense, while allowing 30.8 points per contest on defense. Quarterback Drake Maye was a huge reason for UNC’s offensive successes. Maye cometed 66.2% of his passes for 4,321 yards, 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season
“Last year, we just knew what to do — we didn’t know why we were doing it or how we were gonna do it,” North Carolina’s senior linebacker Cedric Gray said. “I think that’s very important to know those things because it gives you a better understanding of what you’re trying to do, what to expect and how to accomplish it. … I think you’re gonna see a defense that’s a lot more comfortable and confident in what we’re doing.”
On the other side, the Gamecocks averaged 32.2 points per game on offense while giving up 28.8 points a game on defense. Led by QB Spencer Rattler, the South Carolina offense promises to be a formidable one yet again.
South Carolina finished with an 8-5 mark season, and the team is relatively healthy to start the season. “Health of the team is good. I would say that JT Geer and Bam Scott and Connor Cox are questionable. Everybody else is good to go,” Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer said, also noting how his team planned to attack UNC’s offense.
“For us, it always starts with stopping the run. If they can go out Saturday night and run the football, it is going to be a long night for us,” Beamer noted. “If they are able to run the ball effectively and you have Drake Maye at quarterback. Every game, whether we are playing North Carolina or Furman, for us, it starts with stopping the run.”
North Carolina leads the all-time series, 20-35-4, but South Carolina has won four of the last five games.