Week 0 opens in Dublin on Saturday with North Carolina and TCU meeting at 12 p.m. EST, and the Tar Heels are walking into the 2026 season as 7.5-point underdogs in a neutral-site matchup that already tilts toward the Horned Frogs.
TCU finished 2025 on a roll, winning its final three games to end up 9-4 and cap the year with an Alamo Bowl victory over USC. The challenge now is replacing Josh Hoover, who transferred to Indiana, but the Horned Frogs do have a new arm ready to run the offense in former Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig.
Craig brings a strong résumé with him. Over three seasons at Harvard, he threw for more than 6,000 yards with 52 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and in 2025 he accounted for 28 touchdowns overall, including 25 through the air and three on the ground.
He also ranked third in the FCS in big-time throw rate last season at 8.6 percent, which gives TCU a quarterback who can create explosive plays. That fits a Horned Frogs offense that was inside the top 40 nationally in EPA/Play last season.
North Carolina is also turning to a new quarterback after Billy Edwards Jr. won a four-man competition this summer. Edwards has been in 28 college games, with just two of those coming at Wisconsin in 2025. He has completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 3,435 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and 2024 was the only season in which he held a starting job.
That uncertainty matters for a Tar Heels team that went 4-8 in 2025 and struggled badly on offense. UNC posted a net EPA/Play of minus-0.03 last season and ranked 99th nationally in EPA/Play on offense. Bill Belichick is heading into Year 2 in Chapel Hill, but the source material makes clear there are still major questions about whether he has shown he can recruit and coach at a high level in college.
TCU, meanwhile, brings back key offensive pieces in Jeremy Payne and Jordan Dwyer, and oddsmakers seem to trust the Horned Frogs’ setup more than North Carolina’s. The line reflects that confidence, and so does the matchup history from 2025, when TCU beat UNC by 34.
Unless Edwards has transformed himself into a completely different quarterback, this feels like a tough spot for North Carolina to flip the script right away. TCU may not enter 2026 ranked, but the Horned Frogs look capable of winning by a touchdown or more.
In Other News...
TCU Opens With One Sudden Test For Sonny Dykes New-Look Team
TCUs season opener against North Carolina already had plenty of intrigue with a new offensive coordinator in Gordon Sammis, a pro-style system to install and Harvard transfer Jaden Craig taking the first snap at quarterback. Now the Horned Frogs head into the game with another change in the secondary after announcing the dismissal of senior free safety Jacob Fields for a violation of team rules, a late shift that adds one more wrinkle to a roster still settling into a new look.
Senior Jordan Lester is set to start at free safety in Fields place, giving TCU a quick answer at a spot that will be tested right away. For Sonny Dykes, the opener was always going to be an early measuring stick for how smoothly the new pieces fit together, and the loss of a veteran defender only raises the stakes for a team trying to balance a fresh offense with enough stability on defense to get through the first big challenge. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Has The Talent To Shake Up The Big 12 Again
The Big 12 is headed into another season with the usual mix of uncertainty and opportunity, and TCU has a familiar place in that conversation. With Texas Tech sitting as the reigning champion and the early favorite in the conference, the Frogs are part of a group of teams trying to close the gap in a league that rarely settles into a neat hierarchy for long. Returning players, coaching changes and shifting expectations across the conference only add to the sense that there is plenty of room for movement near the top.
For TCU, that matters because the program has shown it can get into the mix when the pieces line up, and the talent level is once again good enough to make people look twice. The broader Big 12 preview paints a picture of a league where no contender is safe and no outsider is out of it, which is exactly the kind of setting that has suited the Frogs before. The real question is whether this group can turn that talent into the kind of week-to-week consistency that separates a decent season from one that changes the league race. [Read more 🡒]
TCU Gets First Shot At UNCs New-Look Offensive Fix
North Carolina has settled on Billy Edwards Jr. as its starter for the season opener against TCU in Dublin, giving the Tar Heels a veteran hand as they begin a new chapter on offense. Edwards earned the job over other candidates because of his experience and consistency, and his first assignment comes with plenty of pressure attached. Bobby Petrino is in as the new offensive coordinator, and the staff is banking on a cleaner, more reliable attack after last season's struggles.
For TCU, the matchup offers an immediate look at how far UNCs offensive reset has come before the calendar even gets serious. Opening in Dublin adds a little extra unpredictability, but the bigger storyline is whether Edwards can steady a unit that needs a better start right away. The Horned Frogs get the first crack at that answer, and it should tell them a lot about how much the Tar Heels have changed. [Read more 🡒]