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Welcome back College Football! Week Zero game week is here as the Horned Frogs travel across the pond to Dublin, Ireland for a showdown with the North Carolina Tar Heels. The programs faced off to open the 2025 season as well, with TCU spoiling Bill Belichick’s collegiate coaching debut with a dominant 48-14 romp. Both programs brought in new quarterbacks and new offensive coordinators this offseason. The Horned Frogs look to capture a taste of glory days and the Tar Heels aim for redemption to quiet the outside noise surrounding the program. Here’s how the key positions stack up for Saturday’s contest Tale of the Tape: TCU Horned Frogs vs. North Carolina Tar Heels Breaking down the key matchups for the season opener in Dublin Quarterback: TCU Jaden Craig 6-foot-3, 225 lbs Transfer from Harvard (2026) Career stats: 28 games played. 61% completion, 6,074 yards, 52 TDs, 12 Interceptions. 214 rush yards, 11 rush TDs North Carolina Billy Edwards 6-foot-3, 220 lbs Transfer from Wisconsin (2026) Career stats: 28 games played. 62% completion, 3,435 yards, 19 TDs, 10 interceptions. 375 rush yards, 13 rush TDs. A pair of super seniors brought in to bring experience and leadership to an offense with a hole at the sport’s most important position following transfer portal departures. Edwards has bounced around major college football, unable to secure a long-term starting opportunity. With stops at Wake Forest, Maryland and Wisconsin, his only shot as the starter was with the Terrapins in 2024, reaching a 4-7 record in games he played, highlighted by a stunning 39-50 for 373 yards and 2 scores to lead a 29-28 win over USC. Edwards was able to beat out true freshman four-star Travis Burgess to secure the starting role in Ireland. Craig meanwhile spent his previous collegiate years at Harvard, starting the last three seasons leading the Crimson to an incredible run of success with three straight Ivy League Titles and a 25-6 overall record. Craig’s resume and statistical profile are eye-popping, but it comes with the caveat of having occurred at the FCS level. Advantage: 🐸 Running Back: TCU Jeremy Payne 5-foot-10, 180 lbs 4-Star, Class of 2024 Career stats: 24 games played. 862 rush yards (5.3 ypc), 8 rush TDs. 34 receptions, 306 yards, 2 receiving TDs North Carolina Demon June 5-foot-11, 225 lbs 3-star, Class of 2025 Career Stats: 12 games played. 464 rush yards (5.5 ypc), 2 rush TDs. 17 receptions, 159 receiving yards, 1 TD Jeremy Payne was a solid contributor as a member of a crowded RB committee before breaking out in the second half of 2025, helping the Horned Frogs win three straight to salvage the campaign. In those three games, Payne rushed for 350 yards, caught 8 passes for 109 yards, and scored 4 total touchdowns, including the iconic game winner over USC in the Alamo Bowl. While the TCU RB room still has great depth, Payne now stands as the lead dog, ready for an even larger role in new TCU OC Gordon Sammis’ scheme. The Tar Heels have a budding young star in the backfield as well, Demon June actually had his breakout game early in his true freshman campaign. After seeing no action vs. TCU, June was a star through the rest of UNC’s non-conference slate, slashing through Charlotte, UCF, and Richmond for 250 rush yards. Not just a non-con merchant, June also topped the century mark in the win at Syracuse. UNC also has a new OC with Bobby Petrino joining Belichick’s staff looking to rejuvenate this attack. June will share the workload as the Heels added former top-10 RB recruit prospect Kaleb Jackson from LSU and still have bruising back Benjamin Hall. Although Jones is on the Doak Walker Award preseason watch list while Jeremy Payne was suspiciously left off the SMU-run award, Payne has the proven production against top competition to tip the scales for the Frogs of the UNC three-headed monster. Advantage: 🐸 Wide Receiver TCU Jordan Dwyer 6-feet, 190 lbs Transfer from Idaho (2025) Career stats: 163 receptions, 2,381 yards, 25 TDs North Carolina Jordan Shipp 6-foot-2, 200 lbs 4-Star, Class of 2024 Career stats: 69 receptions, 785 yards, 7 TDs If there was any question whether Jordan Dwyer’s game would translate to the FBS level after transferring to TCU from Idaho, those questions were answered with authority in the season opener in Chapel Hill last year when he went 9-136-1 over the UNC defense. Now with Eric McAlister gone, Dwyer steps into the WR1 role, a role that Skyler Bell rode to a consensus All-American and Biletnikoff season in Gordon Sammis’ offense at UConn last season. Dwyer will be surrounded by solid talent, with Jeremy Scott & Ed Small to likely join him in the starting lineup, with highly touted redshirt freshman Terry Shelton set to make a major impact and Major Everhart as a Swiss Army Knife, along with a deep stable of Tight Ends. The TCU air attack will not be the same after the departure of Josh Hoover and Kendall Briles, but it will remain dangerous. Jordan Shipp was unquestionably the best player on the field for the Tar Hells when these teams played last season, catching four balls for 84 yards. With another year of development for UNC’s top prospect from the 2024 Class, Shipp has a chance to become a breakout weapon in Petrino’s offense and with what should be a more efficient passer in Edwards. North Carolina expanded its WR room with portal additions from Tennessee, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Lehigh along with a major haul of pass catchers coming in as true freshmen, highlighted by a pair of 4-stars. I’d score the Dwyer-Shipp battle of the Jordans as a coin flip, each capable of dominating a game and single-handedly delivering the game-changing moment for his team. TCU has some proven depth advantage, but UNC’s new additions bring dangerous upside. We’ll call this position a draw. Advantage: Defensive X-Factor TCU Jamel Johnson, Safety 6-foot-1, 205 lbs 2025 stats: 96 tackles, 5 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery North Carolina Melkart Abou Jaoude, Defensive Line 6-foot-5, 260 lbs 2025 stats: 47 tackles, 12 TFL, 10.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovery A preseason All-Big 12 selection after leading the conference in interceptions last season, Jamel Johnson is now a captain and leader of the secondary. With Bud Clark in the NFL and his replacement Jacob Fields dismissed from the team just before game week, Johnson will take over a major burden of protecting the field against those capable Tar Heel pass catchers. Last season’s game in Chapel Hill went from interesting to blowout because of turnover creation, with a pick-six and a scoop-and-score. Johnson is a turnover machine for the Frogs an can provide that instant game-changing impact. Abou Joaude was a Second Team All-ACC selection last season after leading the conference in sacks and is set to be a terror along the defensive front again in 2026. While his stats are indeed eye-popping, he only had a full sack in four games, being shut out in seven games. When he was defeating the O-Line it was dominant as each of his game with a full sack was multiple full sacks, including three in an OT win over ACC runner up Virginia. TCU OT Ben Taylor-Whitfield will have his hands full containing Abou Jaoude in Ireland; if BTW loses that battle often, it will be a very difficult day for Jaden Craig and the TCU offense. Each side has its chaos agent, TCU its ball-hawking Safety and UNC with its productive pass rusher. Perhaps purple-glasses, but the supporting cast surrounding Johnson at all levels of the defense will elevate his play and ease his burden in the secondary. The Frogs have AllBig-12 caliber players on the defensive line and at linebacker to push this to a slight TCU advantage Advantage: 🐸 Most Popular - Tale of the Tape: TCU Horned Frogs vs. North Carolina Tar Heels - 2026 TCU Countdown to Kickoff: 2 Days Until Horned Frog Football - 2026 TCU Countdown to Kickoff: 3 Days Until Horned Frog Football - National Signing Day 2019: BOOM! The Frogs’ most recent commit makes it official - TCU adds 3* defensive end Adam Plant