UNC Tar Heels Football Team Staves Off App St. on the Road in a Score Fest

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina football team traveled up to Boone, NC for their first road game of the season against Appalachian State on Saturday afternoon. It was a sellout crowd for this game and the most fans ever in attendance for an Appalachian State home football game. Appalachian State came out with a lot of confidence and scored touchdowns on their first three offensive drives to go up 21-7 early in the second quarter.

App State’s offense was clicking on all cylinders and exploited UNC’s secondary. North Carolina’s defense would make some adjustments and got three straight stops going into halftime. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels were great on offense. In the first half alone, Drake Maye was 17-21 for 224 yards and 3 touchdowns and led the Heels on touchdown drives on four of their first five offensive drives.

After weathering the early App State storm, UNC would have a 28-21 lead going into halftime. On the first offensive possession of the second half, the Heels would march down the field to score another touchdown, which would be 28 unanswered points for the Tar Heels. The momentum had completely swung to North Carolina. The Carolina defense would hold Appalachian State scoreless in the 3rd quarter and the Heels would lead 41-21 going into the fourth quarter.

However, Appalachian State would not back down and went on to score on their next drive to cut the Tar Heels’ lead to 13. On the very next Carolina offensive possession, App State forced a fumble and 3 plays later scored another touchdown. Only up 6 at this point, the North Carolina offense would strike quick after a 71-yard run by Caleb Hood and a 2-yard touchdown run by Omarion Hampton. App State would counter with 14 unanswered points to tie the game up at 49 with 4 minutes left in the game. The Tar Heels would have to regroup and dig deep to pull this game off with Appalachian State giving them all they had out there on the field.

Next, with 2:50 left in the game and the most important offensive play of the game for the Tar Heels, Drake Maye threw a pass with defenders all in his face to a wide-open DJ Jones who then ran 42 yards for a touchdown to put them up 56-49. The North Carolina defense, however, could not get a stop, and App State drove down the field in 2 minutes to score again.

Down by 1, the Mountaineers decided to go for two to take the lead but failed after an incomplete pass by App State quarterback Chase Brice. Appalachian State went for the onside kick on the next play, but the Tar Heels recovered and Bryson Nesbit returned it for a touchdown.

Then, with 19 seconds left in the game, the UNC defense once again as they did all game allowed the Mountaineers to drive down the field and score their sixth touchdown of the fourth quarter.

Finally, with one last chance to send the game to overtime, App State went for 2, but North Carolina defensive lineman Noah Taylor got the game-saving tackle on App State quarterback Chase Brice to finish off the Mountaineers with a 63-61 Tar Heels victory.

UNC Game Stats

UNC Total Offense– 567 yards

Rushing 215 Passing 352

UNC Passing: Drake Maye 24-36-352 yards 4TDs

UNC Rushing: Caleb Hood 6-87 yards, Drake Maye 12-76 yards 1TD, George Pettaway 6-34 yards 1TD, Omarion Hampton 8-17 yards 1TD

UNC Receiving: Kobe Paysour had 8-92 yards 1TD, JJ Jones 4-69 1TD, Bryson Nesbit 3-47 yards 1TD, DJ Jones 2-43 yards 1TD

App St. Total Offense– 664 yards

App St. Passing: Chase Brice 25-37 376 yards 6TDs 1INT

App St. Rushing: Nate Noel 14-116 yards 2TDs, Camerun Peeples 13-65 yards 1TD

App St. Receiving: Christian Horn 3-74 yards 1TD, Dashaun Davis 6-72 yards 1TD, Kaedin Robinson 2-48 yards 1TD, Henry Pearson 4-46 yards 1TD

UNC Bright Spots

Drake Maye threw for 352 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also had 12 rushes for 76 yards and a rushing touchdown.

Caleb Hood rushed 6 times for 87 yards

George Pettaway rushed 6 times for 34 yards and one touchdown.

Kobe Paysour had 8 catches for 92 yards and one touchdown

J.J. Jones had 4 catches for 69 yards and one touchdown.

Bryson Nesbit had 3 catches for 47 yards and one touchdown.

DJ Jones had 2 catches for 43 yards and one touchdown.

Cedric Gray had one interception.

Needs Work

The UNC defense needs much work. The secondary struggled mightily against App State’s passing attack. The defense had blown coverages, several missed tackles, and missed assignments in the secondary. More importantly, they allowed 61 points, which is totally unacceptable. The defensive line’s lack of pass rush and inability to blow up plays in the backfield is really hurting the team The secondary is not playing well and needs all the help they can get from the front 7, which is the strongest part of the defense.

Also, the Tar Heels must be more discipline and cut down on the penalties. They had 12 penalties for 112 yards,

Final Observations

The Tar Heels pulled out one of the wildest games in the program’s history and move to 2-0 on the season. North Carolina needed this win, but has much work to do to become the team they expect to be. The defense’s performance in both games thus far has been terribly bad and should be concerning for the Tar Heels going forward.

The secondary has been torched and exploited badly and the defensive front 7 has struggled to get pressure on the quarterback and blow-up plays in the backfield. The defense had blown coverages, several missed tackles, and missed assignments in the secondary, which are the same issues that plagued them a year ago. For a defense that was supposed to be the stronger of the two units on the team, it is a big issue for the Tar Heels that must be addressed.

The offense has obviously been the stronger unit and has been exceptional in both games. Drake Maye is doing a tremendous job and is spreading the ball around to multiple receivers. The passing game along with the running game is clicking on all cylinders and has exceeded expectations so far this season. If the defense can get their issues addressed, this team can make some noise in the ACC. Next up is Georgia State on September 10th at noon.