College Football Classic - TCU 10 - 15 UNC
On Saturday the 2026 College Football season kicked off at the Aviva Stadium in Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Opening the college football season in Ireland has become a regular feature of the schedule, with the Irish time zone leading to midday football if you are on the east coast and morning football if you are elsewhere in the USA. This year the College Football Classic was contested by the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs and the North Carolina Tar Heels. TCU were the administrative home team and thus had a significant share of the ticket allotment and indeed, most of the jerseys I saw when I was at the pub before the game were the purple of TCU. Although it is the convention to display the away team first in American sports, I noted that TCU were listed first on the scoreboards, which is in keeping with the convention of European sports so I have reproduced it as a feature of the venue. As the home team, TCU had its slogan "Fear the Frog" printed on the banners as well as its Irish translation, "Eagle Roimh An Loscáin" - Fear Before the Frog. These twists are common when American football is hosted over here, with the Pittsburgh Steelers logo having a Celtic glass style design presented at Croke Park, where they hosted the Minnesota Vikings last year.
The visitors (administrative visitors!) were UNC, with Bill Belichick as head coach, winner of numerous Super Bowls and in his first coaching role in college football. His first game as head coach of UNC last year was against TCU, a game which UNC opened with an immaculately choreographed first drive resulting in a touchdown - after which TCU put up 48 points with only one touchdown in response. UNC went on to finish 2-6 near the bottom of the ACC conference and 4-8 overall. This year UNC aimed to put right where they started wrong last year.
I was at the Iowa State Kansas State game last year, the infamous "Farmageddon". With that being a Big 12 rivalry. That game had a very lively crowd that was very excited for local clash but abroad. The travelling fans didn't quite anticipate that after the game Kansas State quarterback Aver Johnson's father and brother would get into a fight on the road outside the stadium. It was quite rainy in the lead up to the game and it rained during the game too. As a result, there were a lot of fumbles in the game, especially early on, a lot of slipping and sliding. These conditions are quite common in Ireland in August, but are certainly not normal conditions in America in August. It would be more comparable to conditions in certain state such as Maine or Washington in November. This year the weather conditions were very similar. What could possibly go wrong?
The atmosphere was lively as always, but I would say it didn't quite have the same edge as last year. Of course these two teams had played last year so there is a certain revenge factor but these two teams are nowhere near as close geographically as Kansas State and Iowa State. With it having been a rainy week and a very rainy Saturday, there were still many fans about on the streets around Lansdowne Road. The pub we went to for a pre drink was pretty jammed, mainly with TCU supporters, who were all very polite and in good spirits (literally too). We arrived at the stadium just in time for tipoff and I was a little surprised to see that the upper sections of the stadium were not as full as I expected. The back upper sections were more or less unoccupied. There was a very big travelling contingent from the USA but I am not sure how big the attendance of Irish people was. The game has certainly been growing over here and I notice more and more people wearing American sporting franchise clothing every week. The first ever NFL regular season game over here last year certainly helped but even after many years of having hosted college football, the sport still has a long way to develop over here. This is not a bad thing: I would like to think that we are quite early on over here and that it will only get better.
TCU were favoured by about 9 points before tipoff with a win price of about 75c. I took UNC +9.5 and game total under 46.5 points. The former was largely me taking the official pick for this game and I didn't want to overthink a game that I wanted to enjoy more than anything else, as a spectator rather than a bettor so I kept things simple and took the official pick. I had a smaller position on the under because I saw weather conditions very similar to last year and I found it plausible that this would be a game where the conditions are unexpectedly slippery for college football conditions and that would make scoring drives more difficult. I'm not saying I would automatically bet the under (last year's game even with all the slipping and sliding still snaked under and would have gone over if not for the last drive ending just before the end zone), but these conditions can be deceptively difficult and in any case I only had a rather modest amount on it.
The game started with UNC having first drive and they ended that with a field goal. That they didn't end this opening drive with a touchdown was not of any major concern as the real contest was making subsequent drives into scoring opportunities. Next TCU ran the ball a long way down the field with their first drive and ended that with a field goal. TCU were then the first to score a touchdown and in those early stages, UNC had shown promise but a little lack of cutting edge in converting first downs. TCU scored the first touchdown and the feeling for me was that TCU might not have been consistently dictating the play yet but they were capable of going up a gear at any moment. The game was there to be won if they could keep on interspersing good throwing with breakthrough runs down the field. UNC responded with a touchdown and the first quarter ended 10-10. UNC were hanging in there but it looked like the under was in danger.
The second quarter was where the game turned a bit in its tempo and it got bogged down. It was raining now and though we were under shelter the wind was blowing it in. It was warm earlier in the day but the rain had a bit of an icy sting to it. Both offences had trouble stringing first downs together and there were turnovers on the field as the ball wouldn't quite stay in anyone's hands. It may not have been quite as comical as last year's fumbles but it was if anything more inhibitive of attacks as the game turned into a grind. Late in the half a stray ball back from TCU went over their quarterback's head and the ball went out for a safety. UNC led 12-10 at half time.
In the third quarter UNC extended their lead to 5 points with a field goal. This turned out to be the last score of the game as both teams kept plugging away on offence but never enough to move the needle. TCU pushed for a touchdown with a field goal not being good enough if they wanted to prevent UNC from running the clock down. UNC managed to stop their offence and they ran down the clock for a 15-10 win. Not the most glamorous game but the UNC fans (who we were seated amongst not too far from the 50 yard line) didn't care, a win was a win and last year's defeat was avenged. Still, the mood was generally good and I didn't hear about any quarterback's families getting into fights out on the streets so I'm assuming that a good day (and night) was had by all.
It is a pity that the NFL will not be returning to Ireland this year. It was not for any lack of enthusiasm. The Pittsburgh Steelers was always a natural franchise to be the administrative home side for the first NFL regular season game in Ireland and Aaron Rodgers was keen to return after last year's game. Despite reports of Steelers backup quarterback at the time Skylar Thompson getting mugged in Temple Bar (even if they weren't corroborated by the Guards), the whole event was agreed upon to have been a success. It is good that the College Football season begins over here every year and I have no doubt next year's confirmed fixture between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Wisconsin Badgers will be a success as well.
