UNC Tar Heels Football Team Holds Off a Late Boston College Rally 

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

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After three weeks off, the North Carolina football team traveled to Boston College for their second game of the season. The Tar Heels started the game clicking on all cylinders on offense with two scoring drives on their first two offensive possessions. However, UNC’s offense stalled, and Boston College scored on three straight possessions, which led to a 21-16 halftime lead for the Heels.

In the second half, North Carolina struggled offensively and failed to score a touchdown. The Tar Heels defense made up for their offensive struggles by holding Boston College to field goals on three of their five RedZone possessions.

Late in the fourth quarter down by eight, Boston College scored a touchdown with under a minute to go pulling within two points. The Eagles would go for the two-point conversation to tie the game, but safety Trey Morrison would intercept the pass on the play and return it 100 yards to score two points leading to the Tar Heels’ 26-22 victory.

UNC Game Stats

UNC Total Offense – 401 yards

Rushing 176 Passing 225

UNC Passing: Sam Howell 14-26-225yds 2 TD’s 1 Int

UNC Rushing: Michael Carter 16-121yds, Javonte Williams 11-57yds 1TD

UNC Receiving: Dyami Brown 4-60yds, Javonte Williams 2-56yds 1TD, Khafre Brown 3-35 yds 1TD, Beau Corrales 2-35yds

Boston College Total Offense- 353 yards

Boston College Passing: Phil Jurkovec 37-56-313yds 2TDs

Boston College Rushing: David Bailey 7-28yds

Boston College Receiving: Hunter Long 9-96yds, Zay Flowers 8-61yds, CJ Lewis  3-45yds

UNC Bright Spots

Michael Carter rushed 16 times for 121 yards

Javonte Williams rushed 11 times for 57 yards and one touchdown and had 2 catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Dyami Brown had 4 catches for 60 yards

Khafre Brown caught his first touchdown of his career and had 35 receiving yards.

Trey Morrison had an interception on the opposing team’s two-point conversion play to seal the win.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to be more disciplined on both sides of the ball. The team had 10 penalties for 96 yards.

The defense has to do a better job of finishing their tackles and bringing the quarterback down when they are in a position to get the sack.

Sam Howell needs to do a better job of throwing the ball away when he is pressured in the pocket to avoid the number of sacks he takes.

Sam Howell also needs to take advantage of what the defense gives him by throwing to the underneath and intermediate routes more often instead of always going for the big play down the field.

Special Teams needs to continue to improve and cut down on mistakes to help give the offense better field position.

Final Observations

The Tar Heels are now 2-0 and their best football is still ahead of them. There are still things that they can improve on both sides of the football, but there is still a tremendous upside for this team.

Sam Howell has not played up to his high expectation yet this season so the offense can get so much better. In addition, the defense is young and talented and will continue to get better with each game. Now that the Heels are back on their regular schedule with games every week, the team can get their rhythm and timing back, which will lead to even better play.