How to watch UNC Tar Heels football vs. Minnesota in ACC-Big Ten matchup
If Kaimon Rucker was a defensive disruptor in North Carolina’s first game this season, it was Desmond Evans in the second.
Evans, hard to miss on the defensive front at 6-6 and 275 pounds, was active and relentlessly effective Saturday in the Tar Heels’ 40-34 double-overtime victory over Appalachian State. He had six tackles and two of UNC’s nine quarterback hurries as the senior chased after ASU’s Joey Aguilar.
No sacks – for Evans or anyone else on the UNC defense. But Aguilar felt Evans’ presence and pressure.
“I really think he’s in the process of putting his game and taking his game to the next level, which it’s time to do that,” Gene Chizik, UNC’s assistant head coach for defense, said this week.
The No. 20 Tar Heels (2-0) likely will need more “next-level” play from Evans and the others on “D” this week as Minnesota comes into Kenan Stadium. The Gophers (2-0) believe they can get the passing yards needed from quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, but Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, a no-nonsense type, intends to rely on a strong running game to keep the ball and keep it away from UNC’s Drake Maye and the offense.
“We have to instill a mentality: run the football,” Fleck said at his weekly press conference. “In the Big Ten, you better be able to run the football, period. Everyone has to. That’s our M.O. Everybody knows that.”
In analyzing UNC’s defense, Fleck called it “very disciplined,” which he said was one of the best compliments one coach can give another.
Evans is one of those guys at UNC who has become more disciplined and better, now with a less-is-more approach. As Chizik put it, he has honed in on his best pass-rush moves. With better depth up front this season, Evans might be used for fewer plays – maybe 45 instead of 75, Chizik said – and that will keep him fresher.
“Last year was the first year he actually put his hand in the dirt and rushed the passer,” Chizik said. “So there was a lot of learning. There was a learning curve there that had to take place and I think it did.”
Fact: not every five-star high school football player immediately becomes a five-star college player.
Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence came out of Wake Forest High in 2016 a five-star guy, won a national championship at Clemson and was a first-round pick by the New York Giants in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Evans was a five-star recruit at Sanford’s Lee County High, more or less knocking people out of the way to make plays with ease -- “All speed and power,” he said. ESPN rated him the No. 1 player in the state in 2019 and the nation’s best defensive end prospect, and it was a huge signing for UNC coach Mack Brown..
“When I came here, people really didn’t know, like, who I was going to be,” Evans said this week. “Maybe I wasn’t ‘the guy’ at first, but we’re in a system now for two years with the ‘Chiz’ defense and we’re just getting comfortable, you know, playing fast.”
As far as expectations being too high, he quickly shrugged that off, going , “No, no, no.” He said he’s using his God-given ability as best he can, saying, “I’ve got to produce at a high level.. That’s just the way it is.”
Evans played in 30 games his first three seasons, being used on the defensive line and at outside linebacker, Last season, he went out in the eighth game with a season-ending upper-body injury.
Evans missed some time in preseason camp – “Banged up,” Chizik said. But was ready for the opener against South Carolina, had one of UNC’s nine sacks, and a stronger game against App State.
“He’s relentless in everything he does, and he was coming into his own last year before he got hurt,” defensive line coach Tim Cross said Wednesday. “Now he’s taking that length and that drive and putting it all together.”
How to watch
Now that the Spectrum/Disney showdown is being resolved, the ESPN game can be seen on Spectrum. Those without cable or Spectrum can watch it on satellite services like DirecTV and Dish Network or stream it on such services as DIRECTV Stream, fuboTB, Hulu + Live TV, SlingTV and YouTube TV.
North Carolina (2-0) vs Minnesota (2-0)
Who: Minnesota Golden Gophers (2-0) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (2-0)
When: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Where: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill.
TV: ESPN
Series history: It will be the first football game between the Heels and Gophers. UNC is scheduled to play at Minnesota next season.
