UNC Tar Heels Football Team Cruise past the Blue Devils!

by Derrick Clyburn

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The North Carolina Tar Heels football team looked to bounce back from the disappointing loss at Georgia Tech. They came out sluggish and uninspired the first two series, then on a broken play the next series Sam Howell found Ty Chandler streaking down the sideline for a 72-yard scamper for the first touchdown.

Then Trey Morrison picked up a fumble caused by Kevin Hester and ran it back for a 63-yard touchdown. The momentum had swung for the Tar Heels that they would never relinquish. North Carolina went into half-time with a 24-0 lead.

In the second half, the Tar Heels gave up an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of scrimmage to wide-out Jalon Calhoun. They seemed to be still celebrating in the locker room and not prepared for that play. After that, UNC put the lockdown on the Duke offense and didn’t allow another score.

UNC Game Stats

UNC Total Offense- 455 yards

Rushing 134 Passing 321

UNC Passing: Sam Howell 18-34-321 yards 3TDs

UNC Rushing: Ty Chandler 12-53 yards 1TD, Sam Howell 13-29 yards

UNC Receiving: Josh Downs 8-168 yards 1TD, Ty Chandler 2-87 yards 1TD, Kamari Morales 3-14 yards 1TD

Duke Total Offense– 308 yards

Duke Passing: Gunnar Holmberg  17-24-184 yards 1TD 1INT

Duke Rushing: Mataeo Durant 19-114 yards

Duke Receiving: Jalon Calhoun 6-103 yards 1TD

UNC Bright Spots

Sam Howell threw for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Ty Chandler had 2 receptions for 87 yards and 1 touchdown.

Josh Downs had 8 receptions for 168 yards and 1 touchdown.

Trey Morrison had one fumble recovery for a 63-yard touchdown.

Needs Work

The defensive coordinator Jay Bateman needs to do a better job of using the 4-3 defensive front to help eliminate the big runs up the middle. The 4-2-5 is not a great scheme to stop the run.

The offensive coordinator Phil Longo needs to call more quick-hitting plays to get the ball out of Sam Howell’s hands. He tends to hold the ball too long and takes unnecessary hits and sacks.

He must also find a way to build some continuity on the offensive line. They run too many stunts and pulls on the offensive line. North Carolina needs to run more power runs from snaps under the center.

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Final Observations

We still haven’t seen a complete game from the offense or defense. The coordinators have to be better with in-game adjustments. The offense has to build some type of identity. The Tar Heels have the talent but the coordinators must begin to earn their paycheck making better play calls.

North Carolina still has a chance to achieve some of their goals this season but they must take care of business one game at a time. They have to clean up some of their mistakes on the offensive line and just play more sound football. The defense has played their best game of the season so far. Next up Florida State at home.