Carolina Opens 2017 Saturday With Cal

CHAPEL HILL --- Carolina kicks off its 127th season of football Saturday when the Tar Heels host California at 12:20 p.m. at Kenan Stadium. Led by head coach Larry Fedora, who is now in his sixth season at the helm, UNC finished 8-5 in 2016. The Tar Heels won 19 games over the last two seasons, the best two-year run for the program since 1996-97 (21 combined wins). Cal went 5-7 a season ago and enters 2017 with a new head coach in Justin Wilcox, who came to Berkeley after 16 seasons as an assistant, most recently as the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin.

Both teams enter Saturday's contest unranked. The game will be televised live by the ACC Network with local coverage on WRAL in the Triangle as well as in 120 different markets nationally, including nine of the top 10 markets in the country, 39 of the top 50 and 81 of the top 100.

AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 0-0 (0-0 ACC), Cal (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
Rankings: Both teams are unranked.
TV: ACC Network (click for affiliate information).Tom Werme (play-by-play), Dave Archer (analyst) and D.J. Shockley (reporter) have the call.
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (click to listen), a division of Learfield Communications. Jones Angell (play-by-play), Brian Simmons (analyst) and Lee Pace (sideline) have the call.
On The Web: GoHeels.com | UNC Notes | Cal Notes
Twitter: @TarHeelFootball, @CoachFedora | @CalFootball

HOME OPENER
• Carolina is a perfect 5-0 in home openers under Fedora, including last year's 56-28 victory over James Madison.
• UNC's last home opener against FBS competition came in 2013, when Carolina doubled up Middle Tennessee at Kenan, 40-20.
• The Tar Heels have won their season opener in six of the last nine years, but all six wins have come against FCS opponents. The last time the Tar Heels beat an FBS team in the season opener was 2000 vs. Tulsa. The last time Carolina opened the year with a win over a Power 5 program was 1997 vs. Indiana.
• Carolina has not opened the season against a Pac-12/10 opponent since 1993. That year, the Tar Heels faced Southern California in the Disneyland Pigskin Classic in Anaheim, California, and scored a famous 31-9 victory en route to a 10-win campaign and a spot in the Gator Bowl.

CAROLINA-CAL SERIES NOTES
• Despite both programs having sponsored football since the late 19th century, Carolina and Cal have never met on the gridiron.
• Saturday will mark UNC's second straight game against an opponent from the Bay Area following last year's Sun Bowl against Stanford.
• Carolina last hosted a team from the Golden State in 2014, when the Tar Heels beat San Diego State 31-27.
• UNC will make a return trip to Berkeley to open the 2018 season. That game will be Carolina's first trip to the west coast since a 37-34 loss at Stanford in 1998.

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